The effect of the assumption of environmental determinism in the teaching of Economics on students’ approaches to learning and on their entrepeneurial potential.

A study encompassing a number of UK Universities reveals a widespread implicit environmental determinism employed in the teaching of Economics to business studies undergraduates, sufficient to cause a change in many students’ conception, and conception conflict in others. Further research shows that this shift is both de-motivating, particularly when the determinism is left implicit, and de-entrepeneuring regardless of whether it is implicit or explicit. Students encouraged to reject environmental determinism were found to be less motivated initially than those exposed to explicit determinism but were found to be more likely to adopt a deeper learning approach and scored significantly higher on an entrepeneuriation test based on the ability to come up with a number of strategies in the face of a change in a firm’s business environment and to see opportunities where others see only threats.

The author concludes that lecturers in economics teaching in business schools should at least make their environmental determinism clear if they feel unable to reject it.