Online learning attributes on overall tourism and hospitality education learning satisfaction: Tourism Agenda 2030

PurposePromoting "Quality Education” as part of Sustainable Development Goal 4 requires educational stakeholders to understand the nature of online learning from the learners' perspective. This study aims to explore the asymmetric effects of online learning attributes on overall learning satisfaction in tourism and hospitality education.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt the three-factor satisfaction theory and the three analytical steps penalty–reward contrast analysis, impact range performance analysis (IRPA) and impact asymmetry analysis. The authors then juxtapose the results of such analytical approaches to the traditional importance–performance analysis (IPA) for further insights.FindingsTraditional IPA suggests nine high importance and performance online attributes. However, the IRPA reveals that only four attributes fall within high performance and high range of impact on satisfaction. The attribute "secure” had a low performance despite a significant impact on satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsBy exploring asymmetric effects, scholars, service providers and participants of online education can have a deeper insight into the nature and dynamic effect of attributes on overall satisfaction.Originality/valueBy exploring the asymmetric impacts of online learning attributes on overall learning satisfaction, the findings provide a novel insight into the multidimensionality of online learning attributes.

Determining the attributes that influence students' online learning satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic.

The inevitable disruptions caused by COVID-19 in the hospitality and tourism education sector have made online learning a necessity rather than an option. This study employs the user experience questionnaire (UEQ) to examine students' online learning experiences specifically in the context of COVID-19. Data collection involved a Qualtrics online survey with a convenience sample of 216 tourism and hospitality students in Macau. Overall, results point to a generally positive appraisal of online attributes, but satisfaction is marginal. Initial principal component factor analysis generated three orthogonal factors of online learning attributes: "Perspicuity and dependability"; "Stimulation and attractiveness"; and "Usability and innovation". Further regression analysis reveals that "Stimulation and attractiveness" is the strongest predictor of the students' satisfaction regarding online learning during the COVID-19 disruptions. This novel finding points to the need for hospitality and tourism education institutions to develop an attractive and motivating visual environment for online course delivery since a stimulating online learning atmosphere is crucial in the context of the pedagogical disruptions caused by COVID-19. Nonetheless, these findings are specific to Chinese students and reflect their learning satisfaction which may differ in other contexts.

Exploring Chinese students' issues and concerns of studying abroad amid COVID-19 pandemic: an actor-network perspective.

Chinese students' issues and concerns of studying abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic have been largely neglected in the tourism and hospitality education research. Based on the actor-network perspective, this paper explores the network of issues and concerns of Chinese students who have planned to study abroad. In-depth interviews, observations, and open-ended questionnaires are employed with a purposive sample of 16 hospitality students from a university in Macau. We identify five major concerns and issues namely health risk, dissatisfaction with online study, feeling difficult to get into a top university, discrimination of Chinese in the West, and perception of restricted opportunity to make a cross-cultural exchange.