Overview
Why change
Emerging technologies raise the bar for human judgement. Generative AI can now produce an entire venture pitch in minutes — problem, customer, market, business model and financials — so a polished submission reveals very little about what a student actually understands.
The response is to shift assessment from “creating an answer” to “judging an answer” — evaluative judgement — and to use an AI-generated hypothesis as the starting point for real-world inquiry.
Who it serves
- Year 1–2 — entrepreneurial mindset, AI literacy and exposure.
- Year 3–4 — students with an FYP or capstone who need the scaffolding to take their innovation to impact.
- Any school — entrepreneurship taught with sector-specific relevance.
- Faculty, mentors & staff — the capability to support them.
Inquiry First
Real, open problems drive learning; instruction follows inquiry.
Student Driven
Students frame the question, design the method and defend the outcome.
Impact
Every module ends with something reaching a real, external stakeholder.
The pathway
A shared core every school can adopt, with a sector shell each school makes its own.
E1 · Foundations
2 AU · L1
E2 · Thought Leaders
1 AU · L1
M1 · Project to Impact
2 AU · L1
M2 · Validating
3 AU · L1→L2
M3 · Taking It to Impact
4 AU · L2→L3
M4 · Impact Immersion
1–6 AU · L3
The student’s project (FYP / capstone) runs through Tier B as the vehicle. M1 + M2 + M3 = 9 AU, stackable toward the existing Minor (MiE, 15 AU) and Second Major (SMiE, 25 AU).
Core modules
E1 · Entrepreneurship & Impact Foundations
Any year, any major, no idea required. Problem framing, impact pathways, AI literacy. Assessed by a Hypothesis Audit.
E2 · Thought Leaders Seminar
Weekly practitioners and alumni. Open and repeatable; graded on the quality of questioning.
M1 · Project to Impact
Turns a technical project into a framed impact question. AI generates a hypothesis from the student’s own project — they attack it.
M2 · Validating Your Innovation
Students design their own discovery method; needs validated with 10+ external stakeholders. AI red-teams assumptions.
M3 · Taking It to Impact
Two quarters: impact design and discovery, then validation. Ends with a go / pivot / stop decision and an external commitment.
M4 · Impact Immersion
Overseas Entrepreneurship Programme, launch sprint, or venture studio handoff.
Sector modules — every school
The shared core keeps outcomes and assessment consistent; each school selects or co-creates a sector shell that re-contextualises M3 for its discipline.
| School / college | Sector focus | Sector shell |
|---|---|---|
| College of Engineering | Deep tech, hardware, Industry 4.0 | Deep-Tech Venture Garage |
| Computing & Data Science | AI, software, data | AI & Digital Venture Lab |
| Nanyang Business School | Finance, strategy, corporate venturing | Venture Finance & Corporate Entrepreneurship |
| College of Science | Bio, materials, climate | Science & Climate Venture Lab |
| LKCMedicine | Health, medtech | Health Innovation & Medtech |
| ADM · WKWSCI | Creative, design, media | Creative & Media Venture Studio |
| SOH · SSS | Society, policy, culture | Social & Policy Impact Lab |
| NIE | Education, pedagogy | EduTech Venture Lab |
| RSIS | Global affairs, development | Global Impact & Development Ventures |
Schools can adopt an existing shell, co-create a variant, or lead a new one — contributing a sector convenor and a partner list.
Stakeholder capability
Students cannot develop entrepreneurial practice if the people around them cannot support it. This layer builds the mindset, skills and knowledge of the stakeholders.
| Mindset | Skills | Knowledge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty & supervisors | Curiosity, agility, ethical responsibility | Facilitation, coaching, evaluative judgement, AI partnership | I&E process, sector context, assessment design |
| Practitioners & alumni mentors | Mentoring disposition | Structured mentoring, assumption critique | Sector, IP, funding pathways |
| Programme & ecosystem staff | “Can-do” spirit | Ecosystem building, CRM/AI tools | Pathway design, partnerships |
ST1 · Faculty as I&E Facilitators
IDEL facilitation, coaching vs. teaching, designing evaluative-judgement assessments.
ST2 · Practitioner & Mentor Certification
Structured mentoring, sector briefing, ethics and IP; tiers from Associate to Lead.
ST3 · Programme & Ecosystem Staff
Pathway design, CRM/AI-enabled student support, partnerships.
ST4 · Entrepreneurial Mindset micro-credential
A light, stackable CPD credential for supervisors, staff and partners.
Benchmark — Stanford, recalibrated for undergraduates
Stanford GSB’s entrepreneurship courses are graduate (MBA/MSx) courses. The mechanisms are excellent but do not transfer to undergraduates unchanged — so each is paired with Stanford’s own undergraduate counterpart.
| Graduate mechanism | Undergraduate counterpart | Our adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| Startup Garage (2 quarters) | MS&E 273 Tech Venture Formation | M3, scoped to the FYP |
| Lean LaunchPad (15 hrs/week) | Mayfield Fellows / E140 work-study | Theory → immersion → reflection |
| Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders | MS&E 178 undergraduate companion | E2 with graded question quality |
| Venture Studio / StartX | Cardinal Ventures (10-week) | Venture studio handoff after M3 |
Work–study, not simulation
Theory → a real internship → structured reflection.
Small cohorts + mentoring
Dense mentoring, not self-directed isolation.
No idea required
And reflection is assessed, not optional.
Roadmap
- Now
Pilot the Hypothesis Audit and AI-coaching workflow with a live project cohort.
- Next
Launch the Tier A entry modules and the Tier B core; run the first stakeholder cohorts.
- Then
Launch M3 and the sector shells; scale stakeholder certification.
- Later
Integrate the venture-studio handoff and build the cohort evidence library.
Built on the NTU Signature Pedagogy — Inquiry-Driven Experiential Learning, Collaborative Knowledge Building and the 4Learn framework — and on NTUpreneur’s experiential-learning practice of evaluative judgement.