Hackathons: a challenged-based learning (CBL) tool in entrepreneurship education

BotelhoJunior Sergio, O’Brien Sharon (), Organ John and O’Gorman Bill
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BotelhoJunior Sergio: South East Technological University, Cork Road Campus, Waterford, Ireland
O’Brien Sharon: South East Technological University, Cork Road Campus, Waterford, Ireland
Organ John: South East Technological University, Cork Road Campus, Waterford, Ireland
O’Gorman Bill: South East Technological University, Cork Road Campus, Waterford, Ireland

The Irish Journal of Management, 2024, vol. 43, issue 1, 71-86

Abstract: Entrepreneurship education (EE) is pivotal within the higher education landscape, playing a fundamental role in equipping future leaders with the tools to address societal, environmental and economic challenges, including existential environmental issues. Rapid innovations in this area have resulted in a plethora of experiential and collaborative methodologies, such as challenge-based learning (CBL) and events like hackathons. In recognition of EE’s importance in addressing future challenges, three European universities collaborated to develop a trans-national, multi-disciplinary EE programme based on CBL methodology in a hackathon setting. The case study presented in this paper details a residential (overnight) hackathon that employed the CBL methodology to facilitate an interdisciplinary group of university students to address circular economy (CE) issues. Through an in-depth analysis of this hackathon, we examined the experiences of participants and facilitators to establish whether residential hackathons can foster collaboration, ideation, prototyping and problem-solving skills among participants. Data were collected through participant observations, interviews and analysis of artefacts produced during the event. The findings show that the residential hackathon, using a CBL framework, advanced the EE process improving collaboration between students and provided practical experiential learnings for addressing real-world challenges.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship education; challenge-based learning; hackathon; entrepreneurial skills; societal challenges; design-thinking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:irjman:v:43:y:2024:i:1:p:71-86:n:1002

DOI: 10.2478/ijm-2024-0005

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