Bridging the Gap between the Act of Invention and Creating a Business Venture: An Empirical Investigation
This study investigated the effects of Entrepreneur Invention Society - an experienced-based instructional intervention - on children's knowledge of entrepreneurship and on their perceptions of business locus of control. 193 sixth-grade students, randomly assigned to eight classes, participated in the study; there were 95 males and 98 females. 101 of the participants were in the experimental group and 92 were in the control. The experimental group experienced the curriculum for a total of 30 hours over three months. The goal of the intervention was to integrate the process of invention with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of entrepreneurship. The control group spent an equivalent amount of time participating in science education units on inventors and the invention process. The experimental and control groups were post-tested on knowledge of entrepreneurship and business locus of control, both of which were impacted positively by Entrepreneur Invention Society. No significant gender differences were found. The discussion highlights the importance of instructional interventions that appear to be effective in enhancing entrepreneurship concept acquisition as well as internal locus of control.