GAME-BASED ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: IDENTIFYING ENTERPRISING PERSONALITY, MOTIVATION AND INTENTIONS AMONGST ENGINEERING STUDENTS

The authors present the background and results of an explorative evaluation of the use Serious Games (SG) in a Master's level course in entrepreneurship at TU Delft in the Netherlands. The main questions concern the extent to which the use of SGs contributes to entrepreneurship (or learning related to entrepreneurship), as well as the factors that determine its contributions. In 2012, three different SGs were played, involving 28 international MSc students who registered for a one-year specialisation track in 'Entrepreneurship'. This article presents the research model, the quasi-experimental design of the evaluation, the evaluation instruments and the results. The authors conclude that personality traits, motivation and previous gaming experience might significantly influence the perceived effects on entrepreneurship after the training, although the actual game-play does not. These results contribute to the discussion regarding the use of serious games for entrepreneurship, given the possibility that SGs have a pedagogical bias towards game-savvy, motivated, high-achieving males.