The Learning Tourism Destination: The potential of a learning organisation approach for improving the sustainability of tourism destinations

Globalisation, increasing complexity, and the need to address triple-bottom line sustainability have seen the proliferation of Learning Organisations (LO) who, by definition, have the capacity to anticipate environmental changes and economic opportunities and adapt accordingly. Such organisations use system dynamics modelling (SDM) for both strategic planning and the promotion of organisational learning. Although SDM has been applied in the context of tourism destination management for predictive reasons, the current literature does not analyse or recognise how this could be used as a foundation for an LO. This study introduces the concept of the Learning Tourism Destinations (LTD) and discusses, on the basis of a review of six case studies, the potential of SDM as a tool for the implementation and enhancement of collective learning processes. The results reveal that SDM is capable of promoting communication between stakeholders and stimulating organisational learning. It is suggested that the LTD approach be further utilised and explored.     

Learning about the real-world in MICE education: The case of exhibition learning from Thailand

Abstract

The use of experiential learning in tourism and hospitality education is well-documented in literature. Experiential learning studies in this field may include, for example, internship experiences, field trip perceptions, conferences, and social events. However, there is still insufficient literature to understand students’ learning and their real-world experience in MICE education, especially in the exhibition sector. This study, therefore, addresses this gap by reporting the experiential learning of graduate students in an event course with the objectives to investigate student perceptions on academic learning experiences and the development of work-related skills by carrying out the exhibition project. Students are challenged to perform a complicated task as a real exhibition organizer, and to deal with other stakeholders of the exhibition industry (e.g., exhibition venue, exhibitors, contractors, and visitors). The experiential learning method is discussed through the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) process. The results indicate that students not only gained in-depth learning about the exhibition industry, but also developed important work skills (e.g., teamwork, planning, and coordinating skills). Moreover, classroom learning, industry visits, and real-world experience are found to be the important factors contributing to exhibition learning. The current study contributes to the limited exhibition learning literature and provides event educators new insights into the teaching and learning of exhibition-based projects in regard to how students plan, learn and carry out the exhibition event through the case of Thailand. Other similar courses may apply the learning processes and results of this study to develop effective experiential learning in MICE education.     

International educational tourism: Does it foster global learning? A survey of South African high school learners

International educational tourism has the potential to foster global learning; however, very little empirical research exists to support this claim. This study responds to the growing demand in the literature for rigorous empirical research to test the underpinning assumption of IET. A global learning survey instrument is developed and completed by 1152 Grade 11 learners in 16 South African exclusive high schools. In doing so, this paper demonstrates that some types of IET are more conducive to global learning than others. Furthermore, for significant global learning to occur, educational tourism needs to be facilitated and cultural difference needs to be experienced.Personality traits that include curiosity, altruism, and being open-minded to new experiences, are identified as predictors of global learning, but the effect of school-based academic achievement is small.Additionally, through the synthesis of educational tourism, international education, experiential learning and global learning theories, the concept of IET is developed.     

Comparative study of deep learning models for analyzing online restaurant reviews in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic

Online reviews remain important during the COVID-19 pandemic as they help customers make safe dining decisions. To help restaurants better understand customers’ needs and sustain their business under current circumstance, this study extracts restaurant features that are cared for by customers in current circumstance. This study also introduces deep learning methods to examine customers’ opinions about restaurant features and to detect reviews with mismatched ratings. By analyzing 112,412 restaurant reviews posted during January-June 2020 on Yelp.com, four frequently mentioned restaurant features (e.g., service, food, place, and experience) along with their associated sentiment scores were identified. Findings also show that deep learning algorithms (i.e., Bidirectional LSTM and Simple Embedding + Average Pooling) outperform traditional machine learning algorithms in sentiment classification and review rating prediction. This study strengthens the extant literature by empirically analyzing restaurant reviews posted during the COVID-19 pandemic and discovering suitable deep learning algorithms for different text mining tasks.     

An Ecofeminist Narrative of Urban Nature Connection

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore meanings, experiences, and perceived impacts associated with an urban nature connection program as narrated by mothers of program participants. “Project Connect”, a charity organization established in 2008, delivers the program investigated in urban parks and green spaces in Toronto, Canada. Drawing on ecofeminism and narrative inquiry, the study reveals a community narrative that depicts how Project Connect serves a group of mothers as an incubator of relationships spanning social and environmental domains, and which enable resistance of status quo forces that shape contemporary cityscapes. Nature connection in this sense is very much a political and cultural process that opens opportunities to challenge but also reproduce aspects of the dominant nature-related discourses. Accordingly, this study prompts consideration of the power of mothers and an ethics of care to transform human-nature relationships, and weaves critical consciousness and cautious re-valuing around the nature narratives we tell.     

团队氛围、董事会内部沟通与战略绩效

本文在理论分析的基础上提出研究假设,通过问卷调查的方式搜集数据,以47家企业董事会454份有效问卷为样本进行实证研究,结果表明,团队氛围中的团队信任对董事会内部沟通具有显著的正向影响;团队氛围中的情感冲突对董事会内部沟通具有显著的负向影响;董事会内部沟通对企业战略绩效中的团队学习力、决策有效性和战略一致性均具有显著的正向影响。研究不仅丰富了董事会团队过程理论,而且能够有效地指导公司治理实践。     

The effects of strategic and market complementarity on acquisition performance: evidence from the U.S. commercial banking industry, 1989–2001

Most traditional research on mergers and acquisitions tends to focus on the role of similarity in explaining acquisition performance. While scholars have recently begun to examine acquisition complementarity, there is still little evidence concerning how complementarity influences acquisition performance. Further, previous research has not drawn the connections between related contexts and the potential benefits from complementarity. In this article, we move the study of acquisition complementarity forward by investigating the effects of strategic and market complementarity on acquisition performance in the context of related horizontal acquisitions. We also propose that two key attributes of acquirers—strategic focus and out‐of‐market acquisition experience—will moderate this relationship. We investigate our research questions in the context of all 2,204 acquisitions made by publicly traded U.S. commercial banks during the 12‐year period from 1989 to 2001. Our findings are generally supportive, suggesting complementarity is an important antecedent of acquisition performance, and raising important issues on the nature of acquisition research in general. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

构建以素质教育为主导的计算机专业实践与创新体系研究

本文以计算机专业为主体,探讨了以研究室为代表的教学和科研团队和产学研一体化的新的实践与创新体系素质教育模式,通过在大连工业大学的实际应用,取得了良好的效果。     

大学生跨文化交际能力的自我培养模式研究

针对我国外语教学缺乏真实的跨文化交际环境的实际,教师积极引导大学生进行跨文化交际能力自我培养符合我国国情和普通高校校情。英语教学实践表明：大学生对英语文化知识点的多维扩展式自主学习,可促进和加深他们对目的语语言文化的理解,有助于培养学生的跨文化交际能力,促使他们根据实际主动寻求跨文化交际机会,逐步提高跨文化交际能力。     

项目驱动法在高职制图学习领域中的实践探索

提出项目驱动教学法在制图学习领域的可行性措施和效果分析,探索项目驱动教学法实施过程的规律,对项目驱动下的制图学习领域整体设计、内容整体优化、教学内容序化和教学组织等方面进行了有益探究。