Every student enrolled in Business & Leadership 440: Entrepreneurship class shadows an entrepreneur for at least eight hours then makes a short documentary. These documentaries are shown in a public film festival at the end of the term. For many of our students, this is the first film they have made.
I developed the entrepreneur documentary project to give form to an entrepreneur job shadow. While there are many benefits to this assignment, the primary benefit is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a person's assessment of his or her ability to do something and achieve the desired directions. Research has found self-efficacy to be a foundation of motivation, well-being and accomplishment. Vicarious experiences are an effective way to increase self-efficacy.
By creating a documentary, the learning experience is shared with others. For my students, they have a classroom of peers whose experiences they also experience vicariously.
I hope you enjoy learning about the entrepreneurs all around us.
Dr. Lynette Claire
