How Do Undergraduate Students Choose Their Field Course and How Satisfied Are They With Their Fieldwork Experience?

Abstract

The same way that motivation is responsible for guiding and stimulating people in general and students, in particular, to accomplish their goals and projects, satisfaction ensures the pleasure derived from these activities whether they are needs, wishes or expectations determined by themselves or by living in today's society. The purpose of this paper was twofold: firstly, to determine why students from Faculty of Geography prefer stationary fieldwork over itinerant field trip when it comes to choosing one that fulfills their commitments towards the Bachelor's degree program as part of their professional development that they are aiming at through higher education; and, secondly, to study students' satisfaction level towards the main components of a fieldwork in terms of both learning and social environment. In order to achieve an accurate understanding of the real motivation for this type of field trips and satisfaction with the pedagogical design, not only that students were asked to fill in a questionnaire focused on rating correspondent aspects of their overall experience on a scale of 1-5, but they were also invited to participate at a focus group discussion (FGD) within which additional information emerged. Thus, data collection and analysis methods and procedures involved quantitative methods that were reinforced by qualitative ones supporting all the answers to the questions from the questionnaire with specific examples that were obtained during the FGD, enabling a set of results and conclusions according to which the idea of spending some quality time in valuable interactions with others-either with friends and peers, both in professional and social contexts, or with unknown people (locals, tourists, specialists) willing to interact as well-turned out to be the main force and factor to ensuring successful experiences in the opinion of most participants to the fieldwork.

Fieldwork for Students in Tourism Programmes: Is it More Tourism Than Learning?

“…On the one hand, these advantages are derived from the unlimited physical space, which is connected to specific resources, infrastructure, and interactions that facilitate not only much faster learning but also personal development. On the other hand, the ability and inspiration of the instructors who plan and organize their field trips very thoroughly and very carefully (Răcăşan & Egresi, 2020) play a major role in how students perceive specific learning situations meant to contribute to their professional development. In the end, the participants are the ones who should feel that the fieldwork fulfilled its twofold purpose (educational and recreational).…”

“…While there are many studies that document the value of fieldwork as a tool for teaching/learning geography, there are very few studies in tourism (Sanders & Armstrong, 2008). However, this body of research is slowly growing (Gretzel et al, 2008;Ritchie & Coughland, 2004;Răcăşan & Vana, 2015;Răcăşan & Egresi, 2020;Sanders & Armstrong, 2008;Wong & Wong, 2009b;Xie, 2004).…”