Students’ involvement in real business projects – challenges and opportunities, IUC experience

1. Miroslava Dimitrova Ph.D
Stanislav Ivanov Ph.D
International University College, Bulgaria
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2. Content
Project management as a part of students’ curriculum
Trans Tour Net
Enterprise project – a good example
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3. Project management as a part of students’ curriculum
Compulsory subject for all students
2 ECTS credits
Part of Entrepreneurship module
Linkages with Enterprise project
Opportunities for students to participate in EU projects in rural tourism and regional development
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4. Trans Tour Net
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5. Trans-border destination as a concept
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6. Dobrudzha as a trans-border tourist destination
ca. 23000 sq. km
Divided between Bulgaria and Romania
Bordering Danube river and Black sea
4 administrative regions – Dobrich and Silistra (in Bulgaria), Constanta and Tulcea (in Romania)
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7. Development of five tourist routes around 50 most attractive sites
Cultural/historical route
Traditional crafts route
Culinary route
Eco route
Festival route
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8. Students involved in Trans Tour Net
70 third year students from two streams:
Students from Marketing and Management of Hospitality and Tourism
Students from Marketing and Management
Date of involvement: 06.12.10 – 20.01.11
Type of involvement: Coursework in Marketing and Management of Tourist Destination (MMTD)
Group assignment: 7 groups of 8-11 students
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9. Description of the assignment in MMTD
Development of three themed package tours for each of the following special interest types of tourism: cultural, eco, festival, culinary, traditional crafts
Assessment and selection of most important tourist sites
Recommendations for improvement
Lecturers in MMTD: Miroslava Dimitrova, Ph.D and Stanislav Ivanov, Ph.D
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10. Main objectives of the assignment
To carry out a research of the most important tourist sites in Bulgarian and Rumanian parts of Dobrudzha (total of 100 – 150 sites)
To evaluate the sites according to previously elaborated assessment model approved by the lecturers
To select the 50 most attractive tourist sites
To make site visits (if possible)
To evaluate the existing infra- and super- structure (roads condition, accessibility, accommodation etc)
To prepare three alternative package tours for each of the five routes, targeting various groups of tourists (including analysis of the marketing mix of the packages and calculations)
To give recommendations for improvement of the sites management and marketing
To prepare coursework: word file (10 000 words and photos of the sites) and Power Point Presentation (20-30 slides)
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11. Criteria for assessment of prospective sites
Site attractiveness, image and uniqueness
Site condition (maintenance)
Opportunity for sustainable tourism development
Site’s contribution to cross-border cooperation
Accessibility (roads condition, accommodation in the vicinity, tourist information centers etc)
Students determine the weights and values of each criterion
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12. Assignment Schedule
№
Task
Deadline
1
Presentation of the assignment, explanation, discussion
06.12.10
2
Teams of students to be presented before the lecturers
07.12.10
3.
Development of assessment criteria and model of evaluation for the sites' attractiveness
10.12.10
4.
Preliminary research and presentation of the selected sites (20-30 per group)
13.12.10
5.
Presentation of the selected sites and three alternative routes per group (including Marketing Mix of the packages and calculation)
20.12.10
6.
Sites visits, photos, visits of prospective accommodation sites, tourist information sites etc
20.12.10-16.01.11
7.
Development of coursework assignment in two formats: text file and PPT presentation
20.12.10-16.01.11
8.
Consultation on the Project
03-14.01.11
9.
Submission of the assignment
17.01.11
9.
Defense of the assignment before a jury of experts from Tourism and Projects departments
20.01.11
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13. Assignment assessment
№
Element for assessment
Type of assessment
% of total mark
date
1.
Preliminary research of the tourist sites
group
10
13.12.10
2.
Presentation of the preliminary selected tourist routes
group
10
20.12.10
3.
Coursework – text file
group
50
20.01.11
4.
PPT presentation
group
10
20.01.11
5.
Defense (oral presentation)
individual
20
20.01.11
6.
Total
100
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14. Outcomes of students’ involvement in the project
Seven courseworks were presented
Three group site visits were conducted
More than 25 different routes were suggested and formed as package tours (some of the teams have elaborated more than three packages)
More than 120 sites were researched through site visits, interviews, secondary research of printed materials, web-sites, textbooks and articles
Marks varied from 3.50 – 5.50 out of 6.00
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15. Evaluation of the students' involvement
Survey was conducted in April 2011
67 students completed questionnaires (in Bulgarian)
Results show:
The majority of students (78%) fully support the idea of students’ involvement in real business projects
students find that their involvement in project was very useful (rating it 3.9 out of 5)
marking was fair and marking criteria was clear (rating it 3,5 out of 5)
MMTD course contributed to their overall proficiency (rating it 3,7 out of 5 with a standard deviation of 1,2)
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16. Evaluation of the students' involvement
Obstacles before the students during their involvement in the project (results from the survey):
not enough time for assignment completion (39 / 58%)
budget restrictions (33 / 49%)
unfavorable weather conditions (32 / 48%)
gaps in communication between students – lecturers – Projects department (23 / 34%)
language barrier (11 / 16%)
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17. Benefits for the students from their involvement:
better knowledge of Dobrudzha region and its tourist resources (57 / 85%)
team building (28 / 42%)
having fun (27 / 40%)
project management expertise (21 / 31%)
improvement of presentation skills (19 / 28%)
travel opportunity (12 / 18%)
Evaluation of the students' involvement
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18. The students’ perspective (recapitulation)
The Project Department’s perspective (based on interview with Project’s coordinator Gergana Dimitrova)
The lecturers’ perspective
Evaluation of the students' involvement
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19. Enterprise project – a good example
Krasnodar Karakashev, Tatarski Khan, Onogur village
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20. Thank you for the attention!
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