The purpose of this study was to determine tourism students’ perceptions of their Experiential Learning (EL) experiences based on the Predicting Learner Advancement through Cooperative Education (PLACE) four-component model. The research objectives were to ascertain Experiential Learning’s impact on the four components namely Personal Development, Career Development, Work-skills Development and Academic Development. This study fits within the pragmatic paradigm and utilised an explanatory mixed methods research design which requires quantitative data to be collected first with follow-up qualitative data. The data collection instrument for the quantitative data was the PLACE model, which was in the form of a survey questionnaire and the data generating strategy for the qualitative data was individual interviews. The findings of the data were heavily skewed toward the positive end of the spectrum with students viewing the impact of EL on the four components as favourable. Interviews were conducted with participants whose results showed deviations from the norm and had particularly negative experiences. Academic Development had extremely low Cronbach Alphas, which points to poor reliability. This phenomenon was also further explored during the interviews with participants making suggestions for factors to be considered. Recommendations were made to the three stakeholders of EL namely students, employers and academic coordinators in order to ensure improved Experiential Learning programmes and maximised student benefit.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9581 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Jonas, Lynn Cindy |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Education |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MEd |
| Format | xiv, 170 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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