Tourism Experiential Learning through Academic Fieldtrips in Higher Education

Abstract

The professionalization of tourism education through experiential learning by fieldwork should be a key aspect of sustainable tourism development strategies. Based on the previous statement, the aim of this research is to develop a tourism learning experience through an academic field trip in Copper Canyon, with the purpose of generating a practical learning situation that serves as a strategy and practice of sustainability in the syllabus of Tourism Planning at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez. An experimental methodology was implemented with students (n=26) from the advanced level of the tourism program that participated in the field trip, and mixed methods of empirical and theoretical types were applied. During the practical activity, the geospatial approach was applied to the study of the destination by interpreting the production process of the tourism space, as well as, the recognition of the tourism model, the inventory and assessment of tourist resources, and the analysis of impacts. The results allowed for comprehension and justification of the contribution of the practical learning process to the formation of tourism knowledge, by incorporating field trips to develop experiences through practical learning.

The Barcelona Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings

“…In the first stage, several criteria were initially applied to exclude studies, including those less than three pages in length, not written in English, articles that are not related to RFTs and VFTs. After this stage of the screening, 37 articles ([1], [2], [3] [8], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [26], [27], [28], [29], [37], [39], [42], [44], [45], [49], [50], [51], [52], [55], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], [67], [68], [69]) were selected for full text assessment. The second stage of the screening process involved reading title, keywords, and abstract to identify studies that are relevant to RFTs and VFTs that had been peer reviewed in an educational context.…”

“…The RFT experience provides students with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of a topic they have been studying in the classroom (Duncan,[13]). Through direct observation of the study area, RFTs assist individuals in understanding the relationship between inductive and deductive pathways of any knowledge, and between such knowledge's sensory and rational components [21]). Information and sources of knowledge are more often derived from seeing, hearing, and experiencing than from reading and, therefore, it is impossible to replicate all aspects of in-person field trips without going into the field (Holgersen,[28]; Schulze et al, [59]; Ní Drisceoil, [49]).…”

“…Information and sources of knowledge are more often derived from seeing, hearing, and experiencing than from reading and, therefore, it is impossible to replicate all aspects of in-person field trips without going into the field (Holgersen,[28]; Schulze et al, [59]; Ní Drisceoil, [49]). It is also possible for students to be actively involved in planning their own learning experiences, so that they can develop memorable experiences during the three key moments of a field trip (before, during, and after activities) [21]). A field trip is based on outdoor learning, so it requires cooperation between teacher and students to run smoothly (Fadilloh,Rustaman & Sanjaya,[15]).…”

“…21.2% have been designated by the Ministry of Education and Culture to provide TPE programs. TCs offering TPE programs actually provide a total of 145 TPE programs, and only 24.8% of them have achieved level B accreditation, which is the minimum accreditation status required for a TC to offer TPE programs.…”

Re-Strategizing Tourism and Hospitality Assessments in a Post-COVID-19 Higher Education Landscape

“…It is, therefore, timely that course assessments should not merely prepare students for the technical requirements for their future careers but also reflect the growing socio-ecological and well-being aspects of applied knowledge moving forward (Gonzalez-Herrera & Giralt-Escobar, 2021;Kock et al, 2020). Yet, few studies have sought to investigate how these potential developments are aligned with quality assurance and assurance of learning at an institutional, national, and global stage (for instance, Perrin & Wang, 2021).…”