The aim of the NEAR 2 (National Entrepreneurship Assessment Review) project was to build on and expand research on assessment practice across Higher Education in Ireland. It was a follow-on project from the NEAR project. The aim of the original NEAR research in 2016, was to complete a review of the assessment practices of entrepreneurship educators across all disciplines and faculties in Higher Education in Ireland.

The project was funded by the National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning and had three phases:

Phase I: A survey for entrepreneurship educators was developed and disseminated to educators in all HEIs in Ireland in March 2021. 
Phase II: Focus groups with students, educators and stakeholders. May - September 2021
Phase III: Develop a framework for developing action plans for Assessment and Feedback strategies for EE at module, programme and academic unit level.

This project was led by MTU’s School of Business and the Hincks Centre with partners from DunLaoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dundalk IT, DCU and TUDublin - members of the CEEN* group.

If you would like further information on this project, please contact us at HincksCentre@mtu.ie.

*CEEN, Campus Entrepreneurship Enterprise Network, is the Irish national network for promoting and developing entrepreneurship and enterprise at third level. It aims to create a sustainable national platform for raising the profile, extending engagement and further developing entrepreneurship across the Irish HEI sector.

The National Forum website is available here: https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/