Entrepreneurship education pedagogy: teacher-student-centred paradox

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question: “Do different pedagogies used in teaching entrepreneurship education influence individual skill development, which then in turn translates into a likelihood of entrepreneurial implementation intention?” Design/methodology/approach – The number of total participants for the quasi-experiment was 308 undergraduate students in Malaysia, in which pre- and post-test (n ¼ 203) and control (n ¼ 105) groups are included. Students who enroled in the entrepreneurship course were randomly allocated into a class employing teacher-centred pedagogy or student-centred pedagogy. Learning outcomes are measured by objective and subjective measures. Findings – Both pedagogical approaches had a positive effect on the development of the learning outcomes. However, the students who learned using the teacher-centred approach statistically developed a higher level of objective and subjective learning outcomes compared to the students who learned using the student-centred approach. The findings also suggest that the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention mediates by learned skills. Originality/value – The quasi-experimental design greatly improves the ability to make accurate claims about the impact of entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurship-related outcomes. Further, the study uses the implementation intention strategy in measuring the entrepreneurial intention. Thus, the study strongly supports for the view that implementation intention improves predictive validity of the behavioural intention within the framework of theory of planned behaviour by setting out in advance when, where, and how the goal will be achieved.