Challenges and Issues of Teaching and Learning during the Pandemic (COVID-19)

This study is conducted to investigate the effectiveness and readiness of teaching and learning among students during the pandemic (COVID-19) towards the online learning among hospitality and tourism students. A quantitative method was employed and students from the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management Penang Campus were chosen as the target sample. The sample size for this study was 430 and a total of 360 questionnaires were successfully collected with the return rate of 83.72%. Descriptive analysis was used to interpret the demographic data, Pearson Correlation analysis was employed to examine the correlation among variables, and multiple regression analysis was used to measure the overall relationship between independent and dependent variables. From these analyses, the three (3) variables (social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence) were found to have positive relationships with a student's learning experience. Overall, this study is important to fellow academicians, academic researchers, and practitioners in improving their methods of teaching and learning, assisting the students, and strengthening their teaching techniques in online learning.

Elucidating work-based learning dissatisfaction and graduates' intention to pursue careers in the hospitality industry

Recently, undergraduate students have raised concerns regarding the quality of work-based learning programs. Thus, this study explores factors contributing to negative work-based learning experiences among hospitality undergraduate students. An in-depth semi-structured online interview was conducted with 21 hospitality undergraduate students to achieve the study's purpose. They were selected based on purposive sampling, in which only those who have completed their 12-month work-based learning in hospitality organizations were included in the study. Based on thematic data analysis, the study found that the student's relationship with coach and colleague, working conditions, module compliance, workplace readiness, and compensation are significant critical attributes contributing to students' negative work-based learning experience. The negative work-based learning experiences are exacerbated further by the challenging employment nature of the hospitality industry and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, most participants interviewed have cited at least one negative experience related to their two-semester work-based learning program in the hospitality industry. However, although the participants had negative work-based learning experiences, they remained optimistic about career prospects in the hospitality industry. Most interviewed have the intention to pursue their careers in the hospitality industry. The study helps hospitality organizations identify the significant areas that could improve the work-based learning experience. Theoretically, this study provides insight into the mechanisms of negative work-based learning experiences formation and how they might affect students' intention to pursue hospitality careers. Several recommendations are put forward based on the study's limitations for future research endeavours.