An exploratory study of postgraduate hotel and tourism management students' experience of learning by games: a case study of hotel and tourism training and development class in Hong Kong

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

This research aims to explore postgraduate hotel and tourism management students’ experience of learning by games in Hong Kong. This research has pedagogical and industrial significance. From the educational perspective, games have the pedagogical potential in facilitating knowledge transfer and application among adult learners through experiential learning. From the management’s viewpoint, developing graduates capable of synthesizing knowledge to develop opportunities and generate innovate solutions is valuable for the hotel and tourism sectors’ long-term sustainable development. Postgraduate students enrolled in the class, “Hotel and Tourism Training and Development” in School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, were the focus of this exploratory study. Games were the integrated teaching component. Quality research in form of classroom observation, in-depth interviews and researchers’ reflections was adopted in this exploratory study. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing the results. There are four major findings. Firstly, games have played a significant role in knowledge transfer, especially illustrating and reinforcing abstract concepts, facilitating knowledge application, and enhancing knowledge retention. Moreover, games have facilitated postgraduate students’ collaborative learning, which has been extended to other learning contexts, like in group project. Furthermore, instructor has played a crucial role in using games in classroom teaching. Also, the empirical finding has shown that learning by games is accepted in the Asian context. Recommendations on learning by games were then discussed.

Source Publication

The 8th Annual International Conference on Tourism, 2012 Jun 11-14, Athens, Greece

First Page

39

Last Page

39

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