For Educators
Teach entrepreneurship through experience
This section is designed for lecturers, teachers, trainers, mentors, and facilitators who support students and young researchers in developing entrepreneurial and innovation-related skills
1. Self-Assessment Tool
The Self-Assessment Tool helps students identify their entrepreneurial maturity level, strengths, and areas for development. For educators, it provides valuable insight into the starting point of each learner or group.
Educational Value
• Diagnostic Insight: Understand students’ current level of entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, and mindset
• Tailored Teaching: Adjust exercises, guidance, and challenges to match students’ maturity level
• Tracking Progress: Use results to measure improvement over time and inform future learning activities
How to Use in Teaching
• At the Start of a Course or Workshop: Have students complete the assessment to benchmark their starting point
• For Group Profiling: Identify common strengths and gaps across participants to guide group activities and discussions
• As a Reflection Tool: Encourage students to revisit their self-assessment after completing activities to reflect on growth and learning
• Integration with Learning Paths: Align subsequent exercises, role-play games, and Think–Learn–Act activities with each student’s maturity level
The Self-Assessment Tool allows educators to personalize the learning experience, ensure exercises are relevant, and guide students on a structured journey from idea conception to early-stage startup development.
2. Think–Learn–Act Framework
How it structures learning
The Think–Learn–Act Framework organizes entrepreneurial learning into a clear, iterative cycle:
Think – Reflect on ideas, challenges, and your current stage of development
Learn – Access knowledge, examples, and practical insights relevant to your stage
Act – Apply what you’ve learned through exercises, experiments, and real-world practice
Educational Value
• Experiential Learning: Students actively apply theoretical concepts to real-world scenarios
• Reflection: Encourages critical assessment of their progress and decision-making
• Iteration: Reinforces continuous improvement through repeated cycles
How to integrate into teaching
Lectures: Use Think–Learn–Act as a structured framework to guide in-class discussions and activities
Workshops: Organize exercises and role-plays around each stage of the framework
Blended learning: Combine self-paced online content with face-to-face mentoring, reflection sessions, and practical exercises
The Think–Learn–Act Framework helps educators turn the Toolbox into a structured, actionable learning journey, ensuring students gain knowledge, practice skills, and develop entrepreneurial thinking at every stage.
Before Students Start
• Encourage learners to complete the Self-Assessment Tool [link-> Materials] first to identify their entrepreneurial maturity level
• This helps you as an educator adapt the learning path and focus on areas that need more guidance
3. Role Play Games
The Toolbox includes interactive role-play games that can be used as structured learning activities in both formal and informal education settings. These games are built around student–mentor role switching, allowing participants to experience and understand both perspectives of early-stage idea development.
How role-play games can be used in education:
• as in-class exercises supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and project-based learning
• as workshop activities during courses, bootcamps, summer schools, or hackathons
• as peer-learning tools, even without access to external mentors
• as reflective exercises to develop critical thinking, feedback skills, and self-assessment
Each game:
• is aligned with specific Toolbox learning paths and maturity levels
• includes clear participant instructions for both roles
• provides evaluation criteria and scoring explanations
• ends with structured reflection, helping learners identify
o which areas are already strong
o which areas need further improvement
Why use role-switching games?
By alternating between the roles of student and mentor, participants:
• learn how ideas are assessed and challenged
• practice giving constructive, prioritised feedback
• gain a deeper understanding of expectations at different stages of maturity
• build transferable skills relevant to teamwork, supervision, and leadership
• Educators can use the games:
• with or without real mentors
• with small groups or whole classes
• as stand-alone activities or as part of a broader learning path
Session Planning Tips (45–90 min Workshops)
Designing an Effective Session
• Workshop Duration: Plan for 45–90 minutes depending on group size and complexity
• Structure:
o Introduction (5–10 min): Explain objectives, roles, and learning outcomes
o Activity (20–60 min): Run a role-play game, pitching exercise, or Think–Learn–Act activity
o Reflection & Feedback (10–20 min): Guide discussion, capture learning points, and suggest next steps
• Role-Switching: Encourage participants to alternate between student/founder and mentor/expert roles for deeper understanding
• Flexibility: Adjust exercises to group maturity, prior knowledge, and time available
For detailed activity instructions, game duration, and scoring, see the Role Play Scenarios – User’s Guide.
Assessment, Scoring, and Reflection Guidance
Supporting Learning, Not Grading
• Use evaluation criteria and scoring as a tool for feedback and self-improvement
• Focus on helping students identify strengths, areas for improvement, and next steps
• Facilitate guided reflection after each activity:
o What went well?
o What could be improved next time?
o How does this relate to their learning path?
• Encourage iteration and role-switching to deepen understanding and skills
Detailed scoring rubrics and examples are provided in the Role Play Scenarios – User’s Guide.
4. Pitching Training & Evaluation App
Skill Development Focus
The Pitching Training & Evaluation App helps students improve key entrepreneurial communication skills:
Clarity: Present ideas in a concise, understandable way
Structure: Organize content logically to highlight value and feasibility
Persuasion: Convince others of the relevance and potential of their idea or startup
How to Use in Teaching
Individual Work: Students practice and receive automated feedback on their own pitches
Peer Review: Learners evaluate each other, enhancing critical thinking and constructive feedback skills
Exam Preparation: Use as a preparatory tool before pitch presentations or competitions
Demo Days: Prepare students for real-world pitching events, including competitions or investor sessions
The app provides immediate, actionable feedback, helping students identify strengths and areas for improvement while building confidence in presenting their ideas effectively.
5. Rear Experience Workshops for Students
Real Experience Workshop Scenarios [Link] – Practical Learning from Real Pilots
The Toolbox includes a set of detailed workshop scenarios developed and tested during the BSR DeepTech Launch project to support students and young researchers in exploring deep-tech entrepreneurship. These scenarios were designed based on survey insights and piloted across partner regions (Germany, Lithuania, Poland) to reflect a variety of real learning experiences and challenges.
How Educators Can Use These Scenarios
• Design your own sessions: Use the scenarios as templates for structured classroom or workshop activities that guide students from idea exploration to early startup thinking.
• Integrate with Toolbox tools: Link the workshop content to self-assessment results, role-play games, and pitching practice for a cohesive learning journey.
• Encourage active participation: The scenarios promote group discussion, peer collaboration, and interaction with external speakers or practitioners.
• Adapt to local teaching contexts: Scenarios can be customised to different group sizes, durations, and subject areas within deep-tech education.
These workshop scenarios bring tested, authentic approaches into your teaching practice, helping students engage with entrepreneurial realities and build key business skills through hands-on experience and reflection.
6. Mapping the effectiveness of communication channels with students
How to effectively reach students?
Effective communication with students is one of the biggest challenges when organizing workshops and activities in the field of academic entrepreneurship. As part of the BSR DeepTech Launch project, partners tested various communication channels in an attempt to reach students and young scientists interested in deep-tech technologies and entrepreneurship.
This material presents [link to the mapping in English] which forms of communication proved to be the most effective and which, despite high expectations, brought limited results. It also contains conclusions and recommendations that can help educators, universities, and business environment institutions in planning and promoting their own workshops, training courses, and events.
The document can be used as:
• practical support in planning promotional activities aimed at students,
• a source of proven good practices based on the experiences of international partners,
• a point of reference when working with academic staff, dean’s offices, and other university units.
Thanks to these experiences, organizers can better select communication channels, increase attendance at events, and more effectively engage students in entrepreneurial initiatives.