Faculty publish article on COVID-19 impact

A University of North Georgia (UNG) faculty member and a retired faculty member published an article in the Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy journal.

Dr. Mariangela Vecchiarini-Piazza, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship in the Mike Cottrell College of Business, and Dr. Ruben Boling, recently retired director of UNG's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, joined two authors from Emporia State University on "Experiential learning in an online setting: How entrepreneurship education changed during the COVID-19 pandemic." Vecchiarini-Piazza was the lead author.

The article explored the way faculty responded to the challenges of adjusting a largely experiential education model in light of COVID-19. One of the major changes that educators maintained, according to Vecchiarini-Piazza, was inviting guest speakers in an online format. This opens a much wider range of speakers for universities.

From hosting online pitch competitions to creating virtual engagement opportunities with the local business community and finding ways to facilitate group work and foster creativity as online students created their business plans, entrepreneurship educators introduced new pedagogical practices that had a major impact on entrepreneurship education.

"Our study aims to guide future research and educational efforts, addressing the gaps in the literature and providing insights into the future of entrepreneurship education," Vecchiarini-Piazza said. "We discuss the impact of the sudden shift to online learning on entrepreneurship pedagogy, the innovative strategies employed by educators to engage students, and the lasting changes in the field."