Hospitality Students’ Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills through a Virtual Field Trip Experience

A. Patiar, S. Kensbock, P. Benckendorff, R. Robinson, S. Richardson, Y. Wang, A. Lee

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study examines hospitality management students’ expectations and acquisition of knowledge and skills through the use of a Virtual Field Trip (VFT) platform. In total 135 students in Australia responded to pre- and post- open-ended questionnaires. The pre-questionnaire sought students’ expectations of knowledge and skill acquisition, whereas the post-questionnaire sought their perceptions of actual acquisition of knowledge and skill after engagement with the VFT. The empirical material was thematically analyzed using the textual analysis program Leximancer, facilitating an iterative process moving between codes and participants’ responses. Concept maps were generated thus visualizing thematic relationships. Findings reveal VFT provides a technology-enhanced solution to practice-based knowledge and employability skill acquisition that is successful in supporting assessment tasks and enhancing learning outcomes. Students also reported improvements in their knowledge about the functioning of hotels and an increase in their abilities to operationalize food and beverage systems after using the VFT. Hence, VFT can be an effective technological learning tool for the acquisition of knowledge and skills in hospitality and other fields.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)14-28
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Hospitality and Tourism Education
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • experiential learning
  • hospitality
  • knowledge
  • skills
  • Virtual field trip

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Hospitality Students’ Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills through a Virtual Field Trip Experience'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this