THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CREATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET COURSE FOR LANGUAGE-MAJORED UNDERGRADUATES AT VNU-ULIS: A NEEDS ANALYSIS

Abstract

The Creative and Entrepreneurial Mindset course for students majored in languages has been designed to equip them with crucial employability competencies. In the present study, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the the students and teachers of this course to empathize the learners’ needs of the course implementation. Specifically, a survey questionnaire was conducted online with 123 language students and 22 teachers, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 groups of students and 10 individual teachers. The results show that the majority of students and teachers agreed that the learners' needs were met to a certain extent. Consequently, some significant areas for improvements were recommended: regarding the course expected learning outcomes, there should be a greater focus on entrepreneurial mindset competencies; about the assessment, the reflective journal frequency and the final pitch task should be adjusted; in terms of the learning plan, more practical activities with better link with enterprises, in-class activities relevant to language majors, supplementary reading materials, and more appropriate facilities were proposed. Particularly, it was suggested that teachers could raise the students' awareness by applying Design Thinking to empathize learners and adjust teaching and learning activities accordingly.