The integration of entrepreneurial minded learning (EML) into engineering courses to develop students' entrepreneurial mindset (EM) is growing in popularity through efforts such as the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). As the integration of EML occurs, it is important to assess students' development of an EM to inform the efficacy of course changes. Following KEEN's definition, we operationalize EM as the ability to create value, make connections, and be curious. While we

more »

... dge the importance of all aspects of EML, in this full paper, we focus on assessing students' ability to make connections. Concept maps have been previously used to assess student development of an EM as a whole, and we believe they can also be used to specifically assess the ability of students to make connections. Specifically, we collected responses from a pre-existing individual concept map activity used in two sections of a first-year engineering course and two sections of an aerospace engineering course at The Ohio State University. A total of 238 responses were collected, 106 responses from the first-year engineering course and 132 responses from the aerospace engineering course. The concept maps were evaluated using the traditional concept map scoring method. Through our analysis, we found no strong correlation between course grades and scores on concept maps developed by students for the course. This result supports moving forward with the concept map scoring methodology without the need for a correction factor related to grades. That said, other results indicated the need for modifications to the concept map instructions and scoring method that accounted for intra-hierarchy connections. In future studies, we will explore these findings further including the possibility of creating a new concept map scoring method with a stronger focus on measuring connections.