CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION STRATEGIES AS A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH FOR ENHANCING THE TEACHING OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION SKILLS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of creativity and innovation strategies as  pedagogical approaches for enhancing the teaching of entrepreneurship education skills in tertiary institutions in the digital era.  Employing a descriptive survey design, data were collected from a population of 480 students enrolled in business and entrepreneurship education courses, with a sample size of 144 selected using the Taro Yamane sampling method. A structured questionnaire served as the primary data collection instrument. The survey research design was adopted for the study and data analysis involved the use of mean and standard deviation to address research questions, the Pearson Chi-Square test to test hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level with result of the hypotheses at 40.479 and 31.415 for the variables of creativity and innovation respectively with which their p-value is less the typical level of significance, thus rejecting the null hypotheses and indicating that there is a significant association between the variables respectively.  Findings indicate that creativity and innovation, are essential strategic elements in teaching entrepreneurship skills in higher education. The descriptive statistics revealed a favourable perception of the effectiveness of creativity and innovation for entrepreneurship education.   The study concludes that the mere teaching and understanding of theoretical concepts are insufficient for developing adequate entrepreneurship skills. It recommends that creativity and innovation should be central components of entrepreneurship curricula, with students actively be encouraged and trained to cultivate creative and innovative thinking to foster entrepreneurship growth and advancement.