The eSG Project: a Blended Learning Model for Teaching Entrepreneurship Through Serious Games

The paper presents a case study in ICT-enhanced entrepreneurship education. It draws on the Entrepreneurship through Serious Games (eSG) EU project, co-funded by EACEA in the framework of the lifelong learning programme (LLP) in 2011. The collaborative project was carried out in three EU countries (Italy, Spain and the Netherlands), where three different courses in Entrepreneurship for higher education students were designed, delivered and evaluated. This paper focuses on the Italian experience and devotes specific attention to the two courses (one for each of the two years of the project) carried out at the University of Genoa (UNIGE), involving students of non-business faculties (engineering). The two courses were based on a blended-learning model, used gamification techniques and adopted innovative ICT tools, such as Serious Games (SGs). In the paper, the learning/teaching methodology adopted in the Italian courses is described and the overall potential of the blended strategy is highlighted. Actually, following Pankin et al. (2012) the two courses can correctly be classified as blended, as they adopted a learning/teaching strategy based on: different learning or instructional methods (lecture, discussion, guided practice, reading, games, case study, simulation), different delivery methods (live classroom or computer mediated), different scheduling (synchronous or asynchronous) and different levels of guidance (individual, instructor or expert led, or group/social learning) (Pankin, Roberts, and July, 2012). As a matter of fact, one of the key elements of the two UNIGE courses was the integration of gaming sessions with both theoretical lectures and talks with entrepreneurs and experts in the field; in addition some parts of the courses required attendance of classroom lectures while other parts only required online presence and related activities. Different levels of guidance were also experienced by participants during the courses: they were invited to work both individually and in groups and the learning process was both guided (by teachers, experts in the field and real entrepreneurs) and self-regulated. As to the tools adopted in the project, the experimental courses showed that Serious Games represent a suitable tool for sustaining Entrepreneurship Education. Besides, the appropriateness and effectiveness of the use of Serious Games for the intended purposes, the experiments conducted also demonstrated the suitability of the adopted blended learning/teaching methodology for sustaining student motivation and ultimately for improving learning.