UTILIZATION OF INNOVATIVE BUSINESS EDUCATION STRATEGIES IN ENHANCING ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

This study examined utilization of innovative Business Education strategies in enhancing entrepreneurship development of students in South-East Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population comprised 262 Business Education lecturers in public tertiary institutions in South-East Nigeria. A census sampling technique was used since the population was manageable. Data collection was conducted using a structured questionnaire titled Innovative Business Education Strategies for Entrepreneurship Development in a Digitally Transformed Society Questionnaire (IBESEDTSQ). The instrument was validated by experts in Business Education and Measurement and Evaluation, while its reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha, yielding coefficients of 0.84 and 0.81 for the two clusters, with an overall reliability index of 0.83. A total of 254 copies (97% return rate) were retrieved and analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and independent samples t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that innovative Business Education strategies are adopted to a moderate extent for entrepreneurship development in South-East Nigeria. It was also found that entrepreneurial competencies of students are developed to a moderate extent through these strategies. In addition, the hypotheses tested showed no significant difference in the mean ratings of respondents based on years of teaching experience for both the adoption of innovative strategies and the extent of entrepreneurial competency development. The study concluded that although innovative Business Education strategies are being implemented, their adoption and effectiveness in enhancing entrepreneurial competencies remain moderate. The study recommended improved government funding for Business Education programmes to enhance the provision of ICT infrastructure and support the effective use of modern digital instructional tools