Fostering Entrepreneurial Competencies through Sustainable Digital Fabrication and Active Methodologies: Independent Educational Interventions in Higher and Secondary Education in Panama

Resumen

This study compares two independent educational interventions in Panama aimed at fostering entrepreneurial competencies through sustainability challenges, active learning, and digital fabrication. The first intervention involved final-year industrial engineering. They designed and fabricated sustainable products using recycled HDPE. It incorporated flipped and mirror classroom strategies, circular economy principles, green entrepreneurship, and technological innovation. The second intervention engaged secondary school students in public schools through Design Thinking, challenge-based learning, and basic CAD/CAM training to address local sustainability issues aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Both programs employed pre- and post-intervention assessments, including diagnostic tests and competency self-assessments, to evaluate learning outcomes. In higher education, knowledge acquisition demonstrated large and medium-to-large effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.90 and 0.74), while key entrepreneurial competencies, interdisciplinary collaboration, strategic thinking, and future-oriented contextualization showed significant gains (d > 0.8). In secondary education, all assessed competencies, including teamwork, innovation, sustainability awareness, and technical skills, displayed large effect sizes (d > 0.8), with particularly robust gains in CAD/3D printing skills and creative problem-solving. Despite differing contexts, both interventions effectively promoted sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship. These results underscore the value of integrating digital fabrication and active methodologies across educational levels to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and empower students as proactive, socially responsible changemakers.