Students’ Preference for the Various Teaching Methods in Tourism Courses: A Case of Tourism Management Department, Madawalabu University

Abstract

This study was design to assess the student's preference of the various teaching methods in tourism management department, Madawalabu University. Students and teacher were the subjects of the study. Lottery randomization sampling technique was employed to select 23 s from 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd year student for the questionnaires. Five teachers were purposively selected for in-depth interviews including the team leader. Six formal lesson observations were conducted. Qualitative data was narrated and presented thematically and quantitative data was analyzed with the help of SPSS Version 20 used to compute descriptive statistics measures (frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation) and the relationship between different variables were analyzed through Pearson correlation. The result showed that field trip is preferred as most interesting method of teaching for students to learn tourism courses followed by discussion, problem solving and brainstorming whereas lecture method is labeled as least interesting. learning preferences [9]. Understanding students' learning styles or preferences is important for improving learning and developing an appropriate learning environment accordingly [8].In terms of students' preferred teaching methods [14] suggests that students do not favor active learning methods because of the in-class time taken by the activities, fear of not covering all of the material in the course, and anxiety about changing from traditional classroom expectations to the active structure. In contrast, research [3] examined perceptions across six teaching methods: lecture/discussion, lab work, in-class exercises, guest speakers, applied projects, and oral presentations. Students most preferred the lecture/discussion method. Lab work, oral presentation, and applied projects were also favorably regarded. Khan [8] also noted favorable student attitudes towards active learning methods.Jason [7] in his research on Effective teaching methods for large classes has made an assessment of students' preference of five teaching methods (lecture, Jigsaw, Lecture/ Discussion, Case study and Team Project) by conducting survey on the students. He found that, most students enjoy a blend that includes at least some component of active learning/participation in combination with traditional lecture, and confirms the importance of including some level of discussion during the class, but also providing structure through an organized lecture. Factors affecting student's preferenceDifferences between individuals' preferences can be detected in many aspects of learning processes, such as, physical, behavioral, thinking styles, interaction styles, method of learning, rate of learning, and the cognitive styles that students choose when receiving new knowledge [9] Students' learning style, personality type and multiple intelligences, freedom of speech in childhood, social interaction, may influence their preference of teaching methods. Learning styles can be described in many ways but commonly are broken down to three...

Advanced Data Communications and Networks

“…However, it is important to recognise cultural differences and it has been found that some hospitality students in China reject active learning method due to a fear of misunderstanding and a change from the more traditional teacher-oriented approach (Aynalem et al 2015). However, Penfold and Pang (2008) claimed that email was sent to all students on the 4th of February 2020.…”

“…The results demonstrated that the idea of abandoning lectures seemed unreasonable, as with class sizes increasing and resources becoming scarce, the lecture (with discussion) method offers a means to present content material to large numbers of students and, therefore, is efficient as a teaching method. Aynalem et al (2015) identified students' teaching preference in the tourism field, where a blended method of lecturing and in-class activities was discussed and acknowledged as the most positive. Furthermore, lecture/discussion and case study/team project were identified as the most prominent mixture.…”

“…Only a handful of respondents preferred lectures and full explanation in class followed by the exercises given as homework. Most respondents concluded that blended learning could be the most efficient one along with more practical exercises in class applicable straight to the industry and discussions (Deale et al, 2013;Aynalem et al, 2015).…”