Improving learning experiences for community college transfer hospitality and tourism students

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have addressed the topic of community college transfer students, but very few have examined students’ learning experiences after their transfer to a university, and none have focused on the hospitality and tourism discipline. This study aimed to understand community college transfer students’ expectations of hospitality or tourism undergraduate degree programmes and assess any differences between teachers’ and students’ views of these students’ learning experiences. A qualitative study was conducted with teachers and students, using semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. The study revealed that the students encounter challenges such as campus and faculty environments, gaps in their expectations, heavy study loads, teaching methods, assessment of subjects, and social and affective development. The findings also showed that the feeling of inferiority could drive some students to strive hard to achieve their academic goals. Several strategies to improve students’ learning experiences are recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Community college
• transfer students
• undergraduate programmes
• hospitality and tourism
• qualitative study

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all teachers and the college transfer students for their participation in the study and the funding provided by University Grant Committee (UGC) Funding Scheme for Teaching and Learning Related Proposals (Project Reference: PolyU6/T&L/16-19).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Grant Committee (UGC) Funding Scheme for Teaching and Learning Related Proposals [PolyU6/T&L/16-19].