Trabalhando competências empreendedoras no Programa Hotel de Projetos do IFRN

Abstract

Entrepreneurial Education works on the student's protagonism, developing an entrepreneurial profile and attitudes that aim and seek the implementation of creative solutions to diverse problems in society. Currently, the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN) has an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem made up of nine business incubators in which the stage preceding incubation takes place through the Hotel de Projetos, a free Entrepreneurial Education program that allows the participation of students, alumni and members of the community outside the Institute. However, most IFRN incubators conduct this program through modules that direct participants to formalize a business for eventual incubation after graduation, neglecting behavioral aspects of the entrepreneurial profile that are fundamental to the success of any venture. The identification and improvement of these aspects allows students to understand their strengths and weaknesses so that they are better prepared for the volatility and dynamism characteristic of the current socioeconomic scenario. Thus, this study aimed to expand the Hotel de Projetos proposal beyond business formalization, working and validating the participants' entrepreneurial skills through exclusive mechanics. To validate skills in detail, the research combines the attributes listed by McClelland, Lackéus and the European Commission and integrates them into a gamified structure in two learning environments: online and in-person. As it is participatory, the study is framed as action research and the methodological procedure adopted was descriptive research with a qualitative approach, and is also a case study. The locus of application of the research was the Technological Incubator of the IFRN campus Macau, and the prototype was structured and tested according to the Design Thinking methodology. Although the methods and tools applied motivated students in the first half of the course, there was a drop in engagement which was justified by external factors such as studies, commuting and lack of participation from teammates. Finally, the competency identification and recognition mechanism proved to be effective and the research concludes that the scalability of the proposed solution depends on adapting the learning path to the needs of each IFRN incubator, in addition to identifying the need for more automation resources that optimize course management.