Tourism industry simulation facility – an innovative practice-oriented teaching method for the new specialization – Tourism and Hospitality Economics with English as a Foreign Language
Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Tarnowie (PWSZ), State Higher Vocational School in Tarnów, was founded in 1998 as the first state vocational higher education institution in Poland offering programmes at a bachelor and engineer level. It is the largest of all the state vocational schools which is supported by its consistently high ranking and steady enrolment. Experienced staff coupled with modern learning facilities contribute to PWSZ’s success. The teaching staff have considerable academic and research achievements and come from broad academic backgrounds. The campus provides modern facilities for teaching, learning, laboratory research as well as recreation, including a sports hall and an indoor swimming pool. PWSZ offers programmes within 16 fields of study (2 of them at a graduate level) and 23 in different majors.
Key persons:
Rector Professor Stanisław Komornicki, Ph.D. – responsibility for the project as a whole
Anna Gadek, PhD, Ass. Prof, Head of Business Administration and Economics Department at PWSZ- Project coordinator
Dorota Koptiew, MA, Vice-Head of Business Admin. and Economics Dept – Evaluation and monitoring leader
Barbara Partyńska-Brzegowy MA, Vice-Director of Faculty of Economics – The new spacialisation implementation leader
Renata Babuśka, MA – Language, communications and promotion specialist
Marek Niedziela, MSc Eng – The Information Technology Leader
Project summary:
Market research has shown that in the Tarnów region there are no tuition-free practice-oriented studies in the field of tourism and hospitality and unemployment rate among the graduates is high. The main objective of the project is to develop new tuition-free courses within a new specialization Economy of Tourism and Hospitality with English as a Foreign Language. The the project will support the students’ potential and mobility, exchange of experience and general improvement of the quality of teaching through increasing the competence of the academic staff. The permanent implementation of the new specialization, teaching practical skills based on an innovative teaching method- a tourism business simulation facility, running part of the classes in English and Polish-Norwegian student and staff mobility will be the most important project’s effects. Our partners will co-organize mobility, conferences and lectures and take part in developing teaching materials and study programmes.
Key objectives:
- developing Tourism and Hospitality Economics with English as a Foreign Lg specialisation with an innovative practice-oriented approach to teaching based on a simulation method;
- developing a study programme for the new specialisation (consultation with Norwegian partners) and incorporating the specialisation permanently into the university’s educational
- developing and implementing an additional course in professional English – English for Tourism (120 teaching hours), taking LCCI EFT1/2 exam to improve students’ language competence and increase competitiveness on the labor market;
- improving the quality of education by developing the academic staff competence (exchange of experiences with the partner) ;
- improving the university’ facilities by establishing a tourism enterprise simulation lab SYMTUR which will expand the educational offer based on innovative practice-oriented approach to teaching;
- co-operating with business through funding internships;
- enhancing the university’s chances to meet the socio-economic challenges, contribute to its development and an increase in the number of students;
- improving students/teaching staff mobility ( Norway-Poland);
- organizing a joint conference and workshops;
The beneficiaries of the project are students, teaching staff, the university(new facilities) and the local community.