Experiential Learning by Business Students on Short-Term Study Tours

Introduction

Educational institutions provide a diverse range of courses and services for students using a myriad of delivery modes (DiIorio, Cerotti & Richardson, 2009). Infinitesimal changes in the Indian education system over the years have changed the expectations of students. Porth (1997) believes that field trips are a useful pedagogical tool in business education for their experiential learning value of linking theory to practice. This study incorporates a qualitative, case study based approach to analyse the impact of a short domestic study tour on business students of a Mumbai based college based on students interpretations and observations. It tries to investigate whether a short period of group travel impacts personal, social and cultural perspectives of the students and whether it leads to their professional growth and personal development.

Study tours have been commended for bridging the gap between theory and practice by experiential learning or learning by doing (Howard and Gulawani, 2014). Miao & Harris (2012) describe experiential learning as a process where students seek to understand their experiences, make generalizations based on these experiences and actively apply and experiment with their new understanding. The study tour program described here was developed to support experiential learning by providing an educationally and culturally diverse experience to the students. The approaches associated with experiential learning provide the theoretical basis by which this case study is interpreted and evaluated (Kolb, 1984; Kolb, Boyatzis, & Mainemelis, 2002). Experiential learning suggests that knowledge is constructed through the processes of transformative learning experiences (Kolb, 1984) so all learning activities were designed accordingly in line with the vision statement of the college. Despite the recent surge in research on experiential learning from study tours, issues arise about the learning outcomes and perception of undergraduate students on the utility of domestic study tours. Literature has limited publications on undergraduate student assessment from short-term study programs particularly in India. The purpose of this paper is to extend the existing literature by trying to empirically assess the learning outcomes associated with short term study programmes. Qualitative methods of analysis have been employed. Data were collected from a total 223 participants who had participated in annual study tours organized from 2009 to 2016. The results are derived from student responses and the experience of the author. The participants shared many incidents and experiences from these tours that added meaning to their lives and how these study tours have contributed to their personal, academic, social and to some extent career development.