Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

Upon completion of the course, the student is expected to be able to:

Apply qualitative and quantitative user analysis and ethnographic study tools.
Identify and define a target market and relevant user segments.
Identify and validate specific problems that present business opportunities.
Devise and develop creative value propositions that significantly impact a group of relevant users through concrete and technically viable solutions.
Develop prototyping, POC or MVP and validation processes based on agile development.
Propose business and distribution models capable of capturing value consistent with the solution and target market.
Plan and structure a plan for launching and operating the enterprise.
Systematize teamwork efficiently, autonomously and collaboratively.
Autonomously develop complex decision-making processes.
Build a global, critical and ethical vision to develop entrepreneurial projects.

Content (course unit)

The Entrepreneurship and Leadership Workshop course is a theoretical-practical course, aimed at students developing knowledge, skills and abilities that enable them to devise and develop entrepreneurial projects, acquire tools that facilitate autonomous management of their projects based on methodologies for agile development. The subject is methodologically based on teamwork and collaboration, the development of projects with field validation, as well as work sessions.

The course collaborates in the deepening and exercise of the following competencies in students which contribute to the graduation profile:

Teamwork and Autonomy;
Problem solving and decision making;
Analysis, critical and ethical thinking;
Creative thinking and innovation;
Global vision, direction and leadership;
Flexibility and adaptation to the environment.

Location and time

Active implementation time: 6 March - 17 May 2023.
Weekly online live sessions on Wednesdays.

Exam schedules

Final Exam online: 17 May 2023, 24 May 2023

Assessment methods and criteria

The course considers individual and team outcomes. Assessments, feedback and grading will come from self-evaluation, team evaluations, coaches evaluations and external evaluation. This course considers a minimum of 80% assistance and tasks & assignments will be graded on a 0 - 5 scale. Grading and feedback will come from your coach, peers and guests. This is to ensure that we have a 360° point of view on your performance as an individual and a team.

Evaluation criteria are based mainly on deliverables during the course, and the grade is on the scale of 0 (fail) to 5 (excellent).

Descriptive criteria will be supplied to students prior to due dates.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

The course is facilitated in virtual synchronous sessions (10 sessions, 3 hours each) between Coach and students in workshop format. Content is co-created and produced amongst coach and students. Students are expected to work asynchronously individually and with their team to prepare, develop learning sessions, read and write and work on their team projects.

The work methodology for this course is based on the coach – student – team relationship, this implies that the teacher assumes a guidance role in the students, rather than a managerial or lecture role, emphasizing the autonomous development of learning processes by the students. In the workshop, the students define the themes of their projects along with some relevant content for their correct development, promoting active, autonomous, and dynamic participation throughout the learning process.

The students are organized into work teams, which develop an entrepreneurship and social innovation project during the semester, with these teams autonomously develop the ability to manage, solve problems and make decisions in uncertain environments. In a complementary way and with the aim of incorporating theoretical content into the process, each team organizes a learning session during the semester (Learning session) incorporating relevant and pertinent complementary content to the course for the projects.

Additionally, and along the same lines, individual reading and writing assignments are considered, which allow discussion and critical thinking to be encouraged along with strengthening the theoretical dimension of the workshop.

Learning materials

Online course material in the Digicampus learning environment.
Recommended and required reading:

The Lean Start-up – Eric Reis
Business Model Generation – Alexander Osterwalder
Start With Why – Simon Sinek
The Startup Owner´s Manual: The step-by-step Guide for Building a Great Company – Steve Blank
Zero to One – Peter Thiel
The Four Steps to the Epiphany – Steve Blank
Value Proposition Design – Alexander Osterwalder

Student workload

5 credits equals approximately 130 hours of studying time. It is scattered evenly during the course.

Content scheduling

Details will be found in the Digicampus.fi LMS course.

Completion alternatives

As personally agreed with the teacher

International connections

The course is offered within the Erasmus+ funded VERSATILE project. The course is open to second, third- and fourth-year students at the participating universities.

Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Finland)
University of Derby (UK)
Rhine Waal University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
Masaryk University (Czech Republic)

Matt Bromley from the University of Derby (UK) acts as another facilitator in this course.