Collaboration; breaking boundaries: depth and innovation in the student journey.

Singleton, Anne

Abstract

A new module development gave an opportunity to develop the student learning and assessment experience by professional collaboration with the university and creating an off-site learning space to empower the students' active learning experience. The Visitor Experience Management module has an innovative, forward-looking and customer-centric focus, which aligns with the context of the broader visitor experience sector. I believe in the benefits of following a constructivist route, and follow the approaches of Kolb (1984), Dewey (1938) and Race (2014) by engaging students in experiential action learning. This is enhanced by breaking down boundaries; getting out of the classroom and into an inspiring external learning space (Kolb and Kolb 2005), facilitated by the National Trust for Scotland at Crathes Castle. This immersive opportunity enables the students to problem-solve the new innovative visitor experience they have planned in the context of Crathes Castle. The module includes the formation of cross-discipline teams to foster innovative teamwork, and the development of innovative and future-proofing skills through collaboration with the Scottish Institute for Enterprise. The opportunity to be inspired through collaboration in workshops and then to converse with a range of NTS managers off-site was found to be beneficial, and the industry engagement moreover helps to develop soft skills that are relevant to the students' future employment (Azim et al. 2010; Robles 2012; Chavan 2011; Plakhotnik 2017). There are challenges linked to developing collaboration and breaking down boundaries, but it has created a richer, more diverse learning experience within this module, which could be developed to other modules across courses. The qualitative feedback from students suggests that they enjoyed and valued the opportunities provided by the different learning experiences, and that they also enjoyed interacting with external professionals and managers in their industries.

Citation

SINGLETON, A. 2019. Collaboration; breaking boundaries: depth and innovation in the student journey. Presented at the 2019 RGU annual learning and teaching conference (RGU LTC 2019): learning without borders, 2 May 2019, Aberdeen, UK.

• Presentation Conference Type: Lecture
• Conference Name: 2019 RGU annual learning and teaching conference (RGU LTC 2019): learning without borders
• Conference Location: Aberdeen, UK
• Start Date: May 2, 2019
• Deposit Date: Feb 14, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 16, 2024
• Keywords: Experiential learning; Tourism students; Pedagogy; Graduate skills; Collaborations between industry and academia
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2243052