Course

INN341 Entrepreneurship in Practice

Credits (ECTS):10

Course responsible:Dagfinn Sætra, Dagfinn Sætra

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Norsk

Course frequency:Annually.

Nominal workload:250 hours

Teaching and exam period:This course has teaching/evaluation in the Autumn parallel.

About this course

The course provides students with an introduction to what entrepreneurship entails in practice by working in teams with real business cases. The course covers concepts and methods within practical entrepreneurship, particularly Lean startup and business modeling, as well as their relation to theory and practice. Students gain knowledge about the relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation. Furthermore, the course addresses idea development, customer development, and internal and external analyses. The course also provides knowledge about business planning, business models, and marketing in startup phases. Students develop skills in creating marketing strategies, marketing plans, and gain insight into economics and profit models.

Learning outcome

A student, upon completing the course, will have the following overall learning outcomes defined in knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The student:

  • has good knowledge of the concepts of business idea and business model
  • has knowledge of methods and techniques used in the development and testing of a business idea
  • is familiar with opportunities within the commercialization of research

Skills

The student:

  • can describe and analyze innovation and entrepreneurship theory in relation to practice
  • has the ability to develop an idea or concept into a complete business model and describe it through a business strategy
  • can plan, test, and present business ideas and perform simple economic calculations
  • can gather relevant information from various sources and process and evaluate the information to form a better basis for decision-making

General Competence

The student:

  • can work independently on a concrete and practical business case with a foundation in business or research
  • can collaborate in interdisciplinary project teams, communicate and exchange views with others who have different backgrounds, and resolve team conflicts
  • can apply their knowledge and competence to new and complex areas by exploring business cases, thereby reflecting on and improving their professional practice
  • Learning activities

    The course is based on active participation from the students and utilizes various pedagogical methods.

    1. Experimental learning: Learning primarily takes place outside the classroom through conversations with stakeholders, i.e., users, customers, potential partners, and advisors.

    2. Team-based: The course is team-based, and all work outside of individual studies will be in interdisciplinary teams of 3-4 people. It is expected that everyone in the team contributes to the activities to drive the project forward, and that the teams organize the work themselves.

    3. Conducting experiments: All elements of the business model are assumptions that are tested through experiments. This is done by talking to and observing customers. What is learned through the experiments forms the basis for building the first version of the product or service - Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

    4. Building multiple MVPs: Even early-stage MVPs can provide valuable feedback from customers. The first MVP should be ready by week 3, and several iterations of this are expected.

    5. Flipped classroom: The lectures are online (Udacity) and watched individually before the gatherings. Summaries of the team's progress, which are normally done in a submission, are presented here in front of the class.

    6. Deep dive into the topic: The online lectures are supplemented by shorter lectures.

    7. Presentation of progress: At each gathering, each team will give a 10-minute summary of what they have done and learned since the last gathering.

    8. Shared learning: The feedback given after the presentations is intended as learning for all teams. It is expected that everyone pays attention.

    9. Learning from each other: A goal of the program is to maximize shared learning. It is the students' responsibility to help each other and learn from others' experiences. Students should provide written feedback on other teams' presentations.

    10. Documentation of progress: Before each gathering, the team should summarize and document what they have learned. This is uploaded to a shared database and used as a basis for guidance and assessment.

  • Teaching support

    The students must prepare a team contract that regulates participation and work on the project. Each group member signs this, and the contract is approved by the responsible teachers. If the guidelines in the contract are violated by a group member, the team must convene and conduct a meeting with the course responsible, where all team members are present. The course responsible makes the final decision on the further process and working methods.

    The learning platform Canvas.

  • Prerequisites
    INN301 Innovation or equivalent.
  • Assessment method

    The course is team-based, and 85% of the grade comes from the team's progress, presentations during the semester, and the final presentation.

    The course has an overall assessment consisting of a portfolio and an oral exam.

    The portfolio consists of the following elements:

    • Individual participation (15%)
    • Written documentation of the group's progress (20%)
    • The group's presentations during sessions (30%)

    The oral exam is the group's final presentation (35%)

    There is no resit exam for this course.



  • Examiner scheme

    Portfolio assessment.

    External examiner will participate during the last presentation.

  • Mandatory activity
    Mandatory participation in team work and presentations.
  • Teaching hours
    Lecturing/problem solving two days per week. The number of lecturing hours per day will vary from week to week. Excursions and workshops. Group work at regular basis throughout the semester.
  • Reduction of credits
    The course overlaps 10 ECTS with INN340 Entrepreneurship in practice and theory.
  • Admission requirements
    The course is only for master students in economics with the specialization entrepreneurship and business development.