ESHT - Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo
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- Erasmus students expectations: a qualitative study in portuguese contextPublication . Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Martins, DoraThe European Commission presents the Erasmus+ Programme as a tool to achieving economic growth and creating highly-skilled jobs in Europe, in order to strengthen its position as a knowledgebased economy. This programme aims to improve the quality and relevance of higher education, strengthening quality through mobility and cross-border cooperation, making the knowledge triangle work: linking higher education, research and business to achieve excellence and bring about regional development, and therefore improving governance and funding. The aim of this work is to analyse and understand the Erasmus+ student’s expectations that choose a Portuguese higher education institution to perform their Erasmus+ experience. 54 Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Erasmus+ students. The main results showed that the motivations to have an Erasmus+ experience were the need to learn another language and add cultural background to their personal experience. It is also understood as a good way to develop their knowledge in academic and personal learning, and to promote their employability. Erasmus+ students believe that their curriculum vitae is valued, gaining more flexibility and more competence to work in the international environment. Their expectations are to improve the domain of a foreign language, to increase personal and professional independence, to ameliorate academic and communication skills, and to have more responsibility and comprehension about professional environments. The return to the home country is also referred as a relevant moment in this experience. Students expect to be more confident in that occasion, to have more personal and professional skills that facilitate their employability. The reached results allowed obtaining the following evidences: (1) the main motivations of students in an Erasmus+ programme to choose an institution were the good weather conditions, similar culture, language facilities, good networks between the home and host institutions, and personal development.; (2) the personal development includes academic and learning aspects of development of the individual curriculum vitae as well as being a facilitator to their professional integration in the market labour since that companies value international mobility experiences, which shows personal flexibility and a more natural ability to work internationally; (3) in the mobility process is important to have good processual organization of the host institution, the teachers availability to help foreign students and the fact that all the staff in the host institution can speak English; and (4) the soft skills development of students, namely communication, independency, responsibility and confidence, as well as academic skill, which may potentiate students employability at home countries.
- A importância da tecnologia num destino turístico inteligente: o caso do PortoPublication . Liberato, Pedro; Alén, Elisa; Liberato, DáliaO presente trabalho pretende enfatizar a importância crescente das tecnologias de informação e comunicação nos destinos turísticos denominados inteligentes, na sua integração na atividade das empresas do setor, e ainda na sua interação com os visitantes/turistas. A cidade do Porto tem vindo a consolidar a sua posição como destino turístico inteligente, baseado na inovação, pela comunicação e interatividade com o visitante/turista, nos diferentes momentos da experiência turística. Foi aplicado um questionário a 423 turistas na cidade do Porto, com o objetivo de perceber a importância do uso das tecnologias de informação e comunicação durante a sua experiência turística, avaliar o acesso/disponibilização das TIC no destino e a sua importância na escolha do mesmo, deduzir se as aplicações e/ou informações disponíveis na internet são importantes e influenciam positivamente a experiência turística no Porto, isto é o seu grau de satisfação.
- Privatization and optimum-welfare in an international Cournot duopolyPublication . Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, FlávioIn this paper, we will analyse the relationship between privatization of a public firm and tax revenue for the domestic government in an international competition, with import tariffs. We consider a duopoly model where a domestic public firmand a foreign private firmcompete in the domesticmarket, asCournot players. Furthermore, the domestic government imposes a tariff to regulate an imported good, and may have a higher preference for tariff revenue than for social welfare. We compute the outputs at equilibrium and we show that privatization (i) will increase the profits of both domestic and foreign firms; (ii) will increase the tariff imposed to the imported good; and (iii) will decrease the domestic welfare. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a rise in the government’s preference for tariff revenues raises the social welfare in both mixed and private models.
- Turismo de fronteira, aplicação à Raia Seca Luso-Espanhola, Região Norte de Portugal e GalizaPublication . Liberato, Dália; Alén, Elisa; Liberato, PedroAs regiões de fronteira são na atualidade, desafios colocados aos atores do território, do ponto de vista do seu desenvolvimento turístico. A temática das fronteiras é atual e de preocupação, não apenas a nível local, mas ao nível da própria União Europeia. São notórios, ao nível da União Europeia estímulos ao desenvolvimento das regiões fronteiriças e da cooperação entre estas regiões, que apresentam os mesmos problemas e características semelhantes, e que pode tornar-se muito positiva. Implicam estratégias de cooperação e de dinamização de políticas de desenvolvimento inovadoras, com envolvimento de todos os atores regionais. A nossa investigação tem por objetivo a análise qualitativa atualizada da cooperação estratégica entre a região Norte de Portugal e a Comunidade Autónoma da Galiza. A análise qualitativa, com recurso à técnica de entrevista, foi dividida nas categorias da cooperação transfronteiriça e turismo de fronteira na Euro-Região.
- Expatriation: the focus on psychological contractPublication . Silva, Susana; Santiago, Filipa; Martins, DoraIn the past few years, the number of expatriates has shown a growth trend worldwide. Accordingly, the expatriate management, which integrates the subsystem of International Human Resources Management, has now a renewed attention and has been growing as an intervention area of Human Resources Management. Therefore, the psychological contract has been seen, more and more, as a relevant factor in explaining the labour relations and the number of studies around this theme has increased. The success of expatriation is directly influenced by the psychological contract and depends largely on how HRM practices are developed (Homem & Tolfo, 2008). Understanding the reaction of workers through changes (Bligh & Carsten, 2005; Shield et al., 2002) is essential, since the response behaviour can be a crucial contribution to the success or failure of the international assignment. In the same context, we are witnessing an increasing attention on the contribution that the Psychological Contract may have under uncertainty. The individual, as an employee of an organization that decides to accept an international assignment and move to another country, needs to fit in a continuous and motivating relationship with the employer. The concept of the psychological contract is fundamental to the understanding of labour relations, based on the perceptions of those involved. Many aspects of these relationships are implicit (unwritten) which can cause different interpretations of expectations, promises and obligations between parties. Several authors argue that the psychological contract is the key to understand and manage the attitudes and behaviour of individuals in organizations (Bunderson, 2001; Kraimer et al., 2005; Lemire & Rouillard, 2005). The goal of this work is to understand the psychological contract in expatriates: before the assignment, after adjustment to the host country and repatriation. A qualitative methodology was used, and for that we applied semi-structured individual interviews and sociographic questionnaire to people who were, at the time, expatriate. In total, ten interviews were conducted and the analysis of the interviews were made through Grounded Theory. The results suggest that there is only fulfilment of the psychological contract in the stage of the preparation of the international assignment, existing, on the other hand, breach of the psychological contract during expatriation and at repatriation, according to the perception that expatriates have about the end of expatriation. However, most of the interviewed expatriates evaluates positively the expatriation experience, although organizations appear to have just a few rules to support expatriate, particularly logistical and financial support, and not having a complete and thorough program of support to the expatriation management. The results also suggest that it is essential that organizations encourage communication with expatriates and promote the continuous support, which should be constant and intrinsic to all phases of expatriation in order to avoid the “abandon” feeling.
- Trends in hotel pricing: identifying guest value hotel attributes using the cases of Lisbon and PortoPublication . Castro, Conceição; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, FlávioPurpose – The aim of this paper is to analyze and compare the effect of different hotel characteristics and room attributes on room rates of hotels in the cities of Lisbon and Porto, the capital and second most important city in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach – Using the hedonic pricing method, hotel characteristics are decomposed and analyzed, giving us the perception of the impact of each hotel attributes on the room rates and the people’s willingness to pay for this. Ordinary least square regression analysis was applied to the hedonic price model to find which variables could explain differences in the hotel room rates in Lisbon and Porto. Findings – The results suggest that in Lisbon and in Porto, a number of common characteristics have significant effects on consumer willingness to pay for a stay in a hotel as star rating, consumer rating and the room size. In Porto, the existence of a fitness centre and in Lisbon, the distance to the city centre are also attributes that create a premium in room rates. Practical implications – The knowledge of the most valued characteristics by consumers is an important tool for hotel managers to define a price strategy. Also important is the knowledge of the attributes that provide more added value for consumers as these should be taken into account in new investment decisions. Originality/value – This study highlights the implications of the way one defines and measures qualitative hotel characteristics in hedonic pricing. Although the hedonic method has been applied in several studies, to our knowledge, in Portugal, there are few studies applied only to hotel room rates, and there are no studies comparing hotel room rates in different Portuguese cities. Moreover, the research highlights the critical role of a proper definition and measurement of the variables in hedonic pricing in general and the hotel star in particular.
- My video CV, or how to impress the hotel industryPublication . Soares, Gisela; Pataco, TeresaThis article discusses an information technology-inclusive teaching methodology used in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses, whose syllabi (in close articulation with the core subjects of the degree) contain topics related to the operational activities typical of the hotel industry. Furthermore, it reflects on how this methodology, first designed to address senior students’ concerns regarding vocabulary acquisition in the final semester of a Hotel Management degree (whose mastery they seem to consider the best indicator of language proficiency) evolved to encompass self-regulated learning skills. Although one would expect 3rd year students to have developed strategies which enable them to acquire the industry’s vocabulary in autonomous and self-regulated ways, experience shows us that they will still rely heavily on the lecturer to select, explain, translate or define “all the words” they deem relevant. In the attempt to counter such a trend and to address both the students’ concerns with vocabulary acquisition and an accompanying low feeling of self-efficacy, we have adopted a strategy with satisfying results as it has helped maintain high success rates - circa 90% - over the past seven years. This strategy is underpinned by more “traditional” learning activities (as proposed by a communicative approach to language teaching), such as noticing tasks, including work on realia, which are associated to the relevance of form and lexical development, with a task- based approach. The latter, which materialises in the form of an interdisciplinary project, called My Video CV, aims at developing the four macro-skills, while putting into practice technology skills learnt in ICT courses. The soundness of the My Video CV project, which is at the fulcrum of the action-research the authors have been conducting for seven years, is analysed using the criteria and indicators established by the Action Research journal. In the conclusion, and in line with action-research premises, the authors embrace their role as teachers researchers, their experience of the field and their value systems, as they believe, from the analysis of the My Video CV project, its results and the review of the existing literature, that the teaching methodology has, so far, effected a desirable change in students’ autonomy, in what concerns the development of research, organisational and self-assessment skills.
- Assessment experiences in a math course-grading questions and dilemmasPublication . Soares, Filomena Baptista; Nunes, Maria Paula; Lopes, Ana PaulaSimultaneously inherent “validation” tasks, as far as grading and assessing are concerned, fundamentally from the students’ point of view, but, sometimes, even from our own. The generalised Math “trauma” is a difficult start up invisible barrier that we must overcome every single semester, by implementing different strategies, developing new materials, motivating with digital and technological resources (using students’ digital skills), among many other tactics and schemes. But, in the end, the numerical grade – the knowledge and skills construction validation – must appear posted in the “system”. As Math lecturers in a Higher Education Institution, for more than twenty years, these problems are a daily challenge we face, and the issues we intend to analyse here, emerge as a consequence of a certain "emptiness" we feel regarding the assessment we have to carry out, in the sense that we still don’t have an answer to the following question: “Is it legitimate to "close your eyes" to the basic errors (some severe) when assessing learning outcomes in advanced subjects?” We teach at "end of the line", as far as General Mathematics is concerned, since our students are, essentially, from Management and Accounting Bachelor degrees. This paper will be structured in four distinct parts, starting with the Specific and General Outcomes and skills in the Math course in question, giving also a global vision of all its syllabus components and the teaching Methodologies implemented. Subsequently, we will refer to the coherence between teaching methods and the course learning objectives as well as their connection to the syllabus items. Finally we will go through a section of small questions and answers, with their respective detailed analysis, in order to provide an objective reading material, trying to promote a fruitful and open discussion on the subject.
- “Flipped classroom with a MOOC” an e-learning model into a mathematics coursePublication . Lopes, Ana Paula; Soares, Filomena BaptistaNowadays, the online environment and technology tools are changing the way professors are developing and presenting course curriculum. Alongside this growth, we have assisted to the fast development of distance learning tools such as Open Educational Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the use of new teaching and learning models such the “Flipped Classroom” or “Inverted Classroom” model. This model is a pedagogical inversion of the traditional teaching paradigm: the main actions of the teaching and learning process that are used in classroom are now prepared by students previously before coming to class and provides the instructor with better opportunities for quality interaction with the students and helps students to develop a better understanding of the content and a deeper sense of community as a result of the student interaction in the course development and engagement. The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental Higher Educational plan called “Flipped Classroom with a MOOC”, within the project “Mathematics without STRESS - MOOC”, that is using flipped classroom model as a pedagogical strategy. Furthermore, it relates such strategy with active learning practices and discusses its effectiveness, investigating how the flipping affects student’s achievement and engagement. We also will present the results of a survey in which students were asked about “Flipped Learning with a MOOC” as a teaching method, using their experience from the course Mathematics Zero.
- Promoting audiovisual insights in math subjectsPublication . Soares, Filomena Baptista; Lopes, Ana PaulaIt seems that the digital world is all around us, wherever we turn to. Although not palpable, this world is already an important part of our everyday lives. When we talk specifically about the teaching/learning process we see that, at least in the last decade, the development of alternative and new strategies has been huge. The way students react to some methods and tactics is changing and engaging then into their own learning process is becoming a constant “challenge” to teachers, in all different educational levels. As Math professors in a High Education Institution where Mathematics is a basic and supporting course to other advanced (but non-Mathematical) ones, this so called “challenge” grows exponentially. In this paper we analyse the impact of introducing and supporting some Math contents through video lectures, in a voice over presentation style, based on animated arrangements, in our own mother language. These videos were developed for a first-year Math course in several Management degrees in the Tourism and Hospitality Area. The specific curricular items were chosen with a primary objective of trying to level up the mathematical competencies that are fundamental to the development of ‘mathematical literacy’ of our students. Our video lectures are available to students in our institutional Moodle platform, with all its features, along with other resources (as texts and proposed exercises) as well as in a YouTube channel. We will also describe students’ background areas of study in preuniversity level and analyse if this has any influence in the way they interact with video-lectures in their own learning development and knowledge construction and report student’s perception of the eventual benefits of using this digital resource in engaging and promoting their self-responsibility in the leaning process. Finally, we will analyse students’ evaluation of the videos recorded by the professors and uploaded to the Moodle platform and YouTube as a learning tool.