CIE Level 1 – Compact 5-day Course

CIE Level 1 - Compact 5-day Course

How can a course be innovative? It can take the form of content, pedagogy, format and probably other dimensions. In this section, we will highlight some of the innovative elements of the format of the course.

CIE continues to try out different methods for imparting the necessary entrepreneurship knowledge and skills and making it an experiential learning experience. The broader agenda is to encourage students to be more entrepreneurial and have them decide when and how they adopt the entrepreneurship path.

PES University introduced a new format for the first time for the Summer semester: special topic courses carrying 2-credits, entire course offered across 5 days with 6 hours each day. CIE was quick to seize this opportunity. Unlike CIE-Level 1 course offered during the regular semester, the Summer course was offered to both PES students as well as non-students – practically anyone could register for this course.

CIE-Level1 was offered in a new compact 5-day format without sacrificing content, quality or experience (see infographics below). In this section, I would like to highlight some of the innovative elements of course design implemented in the CIE-Level1.

Emphasis in CIE-Level1 is on entrepreneurial mindset and the approximate weightage is 60-30-10 (60% entrepreneurial mindset/attitude, 30% business acumen, 10% technology). The infographics above shows all the modules covered

Modular: From a content and delivery standpoint, each of the key topics have been carved out as a module. Each module has the following elements: Concept (ppt/story-telling/video), Discussion/Q&A (based on concept), Activities (putting the concept into practice), Report-out (students report out their findings and/or learnings from that particular module) and Assessment (multiple choice for computer-based-test (CBT). The students love the Report-out portion as they get to share their thoughts, overcome fear of speaking in front of an ‘audience’ and get feedback from other students (peer-learning).
Decoding-The-Entrepreneur session (DTE): Bringing real-world entrepreneurs into the class who are good at sharing their startup experience through story-telling, especially those who are not shy about talking about failures/mistakes and what they learned from it. The starting portion of DTE is a moderated session but the remaining (and bigger chunk) is a free-style Q & A session between the invited entrepreneurs and students. CIE-L1 this Summer had 2 young entrepreneurs (Altaf Ganihar, CEO, SnapTrude AND Sandal Kotawala, MD, Alfaleus Technology) who shared their experiences of their startup journey.

‘Pitch’ to real-world Startup Mentors/Entrepreneurs/VCs : The students ‘pitch’ their startup idea to experienced folks from startup ecosystem (drawn from outside the university). This semester we were fortunate to have 2 folks with both startup and ‘corporate innovation’ experience and background: Mr. Ramesh Phatak (Angel investor, Startup Mentor, ex-Schneider Electric) and Mr. Natarajan (Startup Mentor, Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR), ex-Intel).
Learning space: CIE has a state-of-the-art studio where the learning takes place. Unlike a regular classroom, there are as many tables as teams in the class. Each table has 5-6 ‘entrepreneurs’ who are members of the startup team. Effort is made to allow sufficient time for breakout discussions and prototyping which can be done right at the table and/or in the adjoining makerspace.
Delivery: There is no teaching per-se in CIE classes – the instructor shares the content through stories/videos/cases and gets the class to discuss/debate and encourages them to apply the learning in the implementation of their idea. We strongly believe that learning and fun go hand-in-hand. We have fun activities as part of the session and try to create an atmosphere where the creative best can find expression.

By offering a new format of CIE-Level1 course, CIE was able to offer a full semester course in just a week without compromising the content or quality. CIE will continue to work towards creating the best possible student learning experience for the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs.