Turning Classroom Lessons Into Real-World Impact

At Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, learning extends far beyond the classroom.

Duke is one of 70 universities in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), a program that unites educators nationwide to instill entrepreneurial mindsets within engineering students, working to transform the future of STEM education. 

Through peer collaboration, professional development and innovative teaching approaches, KEEN provides professors with the necessary tools to help students transform classroom lessons into innovative solutions that create real-world impact. 

“This includes fostering creativity, helping students gain technical skills and creating opportunities for students to create value in their work,” said Sonia Bansal, assistant professor of the practice in biomedical engineering.

To further help educators achieve its entrepreneurial-driven goal, KEEN offers its own adaptable teaching framework as a guide to “entrepreneurially minded learning,” or EML for short. The conceptual framework aims to cultivate three core elements of the entrepreneurial mindset—curiosity, connections and creating value. When these elements are combined with the engineering skillset, identified as impact, opportunity and design, EML is established.

KEEN also provides faculty grant scholarships that support innovative teaching approaches that might not otherwise be possible. As a two-time recipient, Bansal has used these grants to creatively enhance student learning and engagement, reinforcing lifelong student learning.

“The mini-grants are an incredible way to jump-start a project and get funding behind an idea that you otherwise would not be able to pursue,” Bansal said.

In 2024, a KEEN grant supported her efforts to integrate Python computational skills into one of her core second-year courses. Adhering to the KEEN framework, Bansal said her goal was to help students learn from failure, build perseverance and create their own engineering identity, instead of solely focusing on quizzes or test scores. 

Looking to the future, as she builds a new senior capstone class, Bansal plans to incorporate KEEN frameworks to guide her students through problem scoping and solving.

Through KEEN, Duke Engineering faculty are not just enhancing teaching through an entrepreneurial lens. They are fundamentally reshaping the way students think, problem-solve and view the world, creating curious learners capable of creating meaningful change.

“KEEN is a great opportunity to learn and build a network of like-minded educators,” Bansal said. “I am very thankful for the financial support they offer professors who want to make changes to curriculum.”