Service-learning during the pandemic through a tourism geography course

ABSTRACT

This case study illustrates the challenges and strategies adopted by the instructor and the Tour Dure producer in designing a tourism geography service-learning course during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on a teaching experience in a course titled “Tourism Place Management Project” which involved collaboration with Tour Dure businesses in Goesan County of South Korea. In so doing, the initial course objectives and the activities based on the experiential learning theory adopted for the course are illustrated. Then challenges and the adjusted measures to cope with the pandemic are explained. The main challenges were caused by limited opportunities for offline activities including fieldwork and the students’ group meetings. Strategies adopted to cope with the challenges included providing small-group sessions for the students, including the fieldwork and online sessions with the instructor and the Tour Dure producer. Also, the instructor, the Tour Dure producer, the businesses, and the students were encouraged to share diverse materials among themselves. As a result, the students acknowledged the importance of the service-learning experience despite the limitations caused by the pandemic. This case study provides implications on how service-learning can be conducted when offline learning experiences are limited.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• service-learning
• South Korea
• Tour Dure
• tourism geography

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Mr. Young Kyun Kim (Policy Support Officer at the Goesan County Council) for his dedication and great support during the collaboration between Kyung Hee University and Tour Dure in Goesan County.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).