Teaching and Learning

Focus and Themes of Special Interest Group

The Teaching and Learning (formerley Student Experience) SIG provides a forum for interested tourism and hospitality members to progress the debate about the student experience, including the expected teaching and learning outcomes from higher education tourism and hospitality programmes and understanding about the contemporary student. Examples of discussion and research areas include:

Teaching practice:

curriculum (generic v specific content, theory versus practical, work integrated learning, graduate attributes etc), assessment, diversity of tourism and hospitality education experiences in the marketplace vs homogenization of the tourism curriculum, effectiveness of curriculum models, soft skill development, skills (technical and soft) vs content, development of communities of practice, industry engagement.

International student experience:

positive and negative effects on teaching and learning, student expectations.

Transition:

high school to university (first year experience) and from university to the workplace, Generation Y and their learning preferences, employment characteristics/preferences, retention.

Masters and doctoral student experience:

supervision for honours and masters projects as well as MPhil and PhD degrees, experience with industry partners in their research projects.

Key Outcomes for Members

This SIG will allow CAUTHE members with a passion for teaching and learning, to share and test ideas, have an outlet for their research, learn from the experiences of their peers and to be a stakeholder in the advancement of best practice in tourism and hospitality education in Australia.

Key Activities for 2012

The Teaching and Learning meeting at CAUTHE was attended by approximately 20 delegates. At this meeting the following initiatives and activities were discussed:

Strong alignment between the SIG and the ALTC Project will provide direction for the SIG over the coming year.
Pierre Benckendorff linked the ALTC project to the impending need to develop academic standards for tourism and hospitality education under the AQF. Further investigations about the potential development of TH&E standards will be undertaken in THE-ICE benchmarking session below.
THE-ICE benchmarking session will be on academic standards for tourism, hospitality and events education. Sponsored by UQ (June, 2012), the program currently under development and will be of interest to SIG members.
Glen Croy, Monash University, suggested a mid-year workshop on research skills development aligned to a current ALTC project, which SIG members will investigate.

Past Activities

2010 Teaching and Learning SIG Forum

Theme: “Fostering Collaborative and Innovative Industry? Academe Educational Alliances”
Date: Friday, 8 October, 2010
Location: Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia
Organisers: Lisa Ruhanen, Elizabeth Roberts and Noel Scott

2009 Meeting at CAUTHE conference

Members met to discuss and confirm the focus and key outcomes of the SIG.

Special Journal issue

The main initiative in 2009 was a special issue of the Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management on the “Student Experience” edited by Ruhanen, L. Scott, N. Benckenndorf, P. and Roberts, E. This issue contains seven papers listed below:

Deconstructing the Student Experience: A Conceptual Framework Authors: Pierre Benckendorff, Lisa Ruhanen and Noel Scott
All Wired Up But Not Plugged in: An Evaluation of Tourism and Leisure Marketing Students' Expectations and Experiences of Lecture Podcasting Authors: Dale Sanders and Megan LeClus
Evaluating Wikis as an Assessment Tool for Developing Collaboration and Knowledge Management Skills Authors: Pierre Benckendorff
With The Simpsons as Tour Guides: How Popular Culture Sources can Enhance the Student Experience in a University Tourism Unit Author: Johan R. Edelheim
Two Perspectives on Event Management Employment: Student and Employer Insights Into the Skills Required to Get the Job Done! Authors: Olga Junek, Leonie Lockstone and Judith Mair
Mind the Gap: Aligning Learning and Graduate Outcomes Through Industry Partnerships Authors: Elizabeth Roberts
Tourism and Hospitality Research Student Experiences: How to Achieve Quality, Inclusivity and Belongingness Authors: Gayle Jennings, Ulrike Kachel, Sandra Kensbock and Mary-Anne Smith

SIG Co-ordinators

Dianne Dredge dianne.dredge@scu.edu.au
Pierre Benckendorff p.benckendorff@uq.edu.au