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  • A literary event as a simulation-based activity in Higher Education Training (HET) in tourism
    Publication . Ferreira, Ana; Villares, Marta
    Nowadays, in a technological era, the entire labor market has new rules, demanding new skills from workers, namely working as part of a team, being creative and adaptable to new situations and to all clients. Given these new challenges for future graduates, teachers must adapt their teaching methodologies, particularly in tourism studies, where students need to practice these skills to apply when they enter the labor market. With these premises in mind, the main aim of this article is to analyze “Heart, Brain and Stomach”, a literary dinner organized by students as a final assessment for students of two different degree courses: a postgraduate course in Literary Tourism and a degree in Restaurant and Catering Management at a Portuguese High Education Institution (HEI). To stimulate teamwork, creativity, communication and collaborative skills among students, this event combined soft skills and technical (e.g. event organization and management) skills, while helping students to broaden, rethink and redesign our gastronomic culture into new proposals for the customer, be they resident, visitor or tourist, leveraged by structured practical training and work simulation approaches that reflect professional scenarios and their future challenges. Based on literature research, observation, and content analysis (resulting from questionnaires applied to students and participants in the event), this article aims to frame the activities carried out, crossing different perspectives to establish the importance of soft skills in shaping the future careers of Hospitality, Tourism and Catering graduates. The authors will reflect on students’ overall performance and feedback as crucial components of teaching and learning experiences. Furthermore, since the event consisted of a proposal to cross two different courses, the teamwork and its consequences both on the results of the practical activity and on professional relationships in the intergenerational labor market were analyzed. This research aimed at understanding the impact of simulations on students’ meaningful learning. It is therefore hoped that this work will contribute to reflection and development of new pedagogical approaches with simulation-based activities, particularly in tourism.