The focus of the module is developing your professional skills within your degree and within a visitor attraction environment. Professional skills are required throughout your career and can assist with how you interact and portray yourself to others. A good standard of professional skills will assist in you been recognised within all working environments.



Module content will typically include: -



Developing and enhancing essential study skills, personal enrichment, and innovation and creativity relevant to the subject area of study, through the following themes:



Work and Life View Assessment

Start Where You Are

Learning to learn: academic expectations including presentation skills, writing and reading skills, and becoming critical.

Professionalism and personality: Self-reflection, teamworking, learning styles / methods, personal organisation, communication and time management.

Creative and innovation: using and presenting information via digital technologies

Library skills and resources – using the library catalogue, identifying different digital sources, using electronic databases and e-journals, books, and reports.

Investigation and source gathering of relevant industry information via digital means.

The development of academic referencing skills in the Harvard style

Developing information and digital technology skills

The assessment strategy aims to introduce students to a variety of in-course assessments, so they can experience various methods of assessment and identify their strengths and developmental areas in the process. There will be a high level of formative assessment and feedback, which creates a substantial part of supporting learning processes at Level 4.



Summative assessments:



A1: Write a 1,000-word essay outlining the importance of professional skills when graduating from university to assist in with future employment.



In deciding to study at university, you have taken a major investment decision – to invest in yourself. In this essay you are asked to explore an aspect of professional development.



Identify and discuss the key skills required, for a graduate career,

in the visitor attraction and resort industry.



Consider the following in your essay:



What are companies in your desired careers searching for in graduates. A good place to start is company job descriptors; use material where possible as to support discussions throughout the essay and place in the reference list.



As this essay is likely to be the first formal piece of academic work that you submit, your tutor will consider the essays structure, referencing/citations (in the Harvard format) and your academic writing style and will place emphasis on these within your feedback. This essay should be written in the third person. This is an intentional strategy to build confidence in your academic writing – and to assist you with essay and academic writing across all of your year one modules - you are encouraged to make full use of the feedback your tutor provides.



Learning outcomes – 1 & 2



A2:- Mixed media portfolio

Digital storytelling involves integrating multimedia (images, text, video, audio, etc.) and narrative to produce immersive stories that connect with the viewer.



“Humans are incredibly visual and powerful, moving images help us find meaning… [and] video helps capture and contextualize the world around us.” – Dan Patterson, a British television producer and writer (Amstore, 2016).



You have been tasked to create a marketing video promoting an aspect of the cities of Stoke-on-Trent. As a group you will decide on the topic / theme for your marketing campaign.



In groups, you are required to complete a set of marketing and promotional material for a campaign of your choice, exploring the role of tourism, hospitality or events in the city of Stoke-on-Trent



This will include two videos, one 3-minute video and a 30-second video. Additionally, your group will be required to create a visual document which will be presented as a 1 page marketing poster for your promotional campaign. You will showcase all your material to the rest of the group, which will be followed up by discussions – evidence to be submitted for assessment:

3 minute video

30 second video

1 A4 promotional Advertorial



Learning outcomes – 3 & 4

The learning strategy for this module is based around students committing a total of 200 hours of activities towards achieving the learning outcomes. These will be split between 48 hours of direct contact with a tutor and 152 hours of directed, guided and self-study, together with preparation for and completion of the assessment tasks.



Learning support material will be provided for the module.



The module will draw upon a mixture of activities including lectures, web-based activities, case study analysis, relevant videos and in-class discussions, individual and group problem solving and self-directed learning

Develop a range of academic, personal, research and transferable skills associated with the study of visitor attraction and resort management

Communication, Analysis, Learning

Identify the personal and academic skills needed to be successful in a university career and future employment

Knowledge and Understanding

Investigate and utilise key sources of contemporary data and topical issues in the study of tourism, hospitality and events

Knowledge and understanding and learning

Examine a range of creative components and technologies appropriate to studying and working in tourism, hospitality and events industries

Communication, Problem solving

Cottrell, S. (2017). Critical thinking skills: Effective Analysis, Argument and Reflection, London, Palgrave.



Cottrell, S. (2019). The study skills handbook, London, Palgrave.



Dawson, C. (2019). Introduction to research methods, London, Robinson.



Greetham, B. (2018). How to write better essays, London, Palgrave.



Hokanson, B. (2018). Developing Creative Thinking Skills: An Introduction for Learners, London, Routledge.



Hopkins, D. and Reid, T. (2018). The Academic Skills Handbook: Your Guide to Success in Writing, Thinking and Communicating at University (Student Success), London, Sage.



Read, S. H. (2018). Academic writing skills for international students. London, Macmillan.



Van Emden, J. and Becker, L. (2016). Presentation skills for students, London, Palgrave.



Staffordshire University – Study Skills
https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/study-skills

Barker A (2022) Improve Your Communication Skills, How To Build Trust, Be Heard An Communicate With Confidence, 6th Edition, London, Kogan Page

Cottrel S (2019) The Study Skills Handbook, Fifth Edition, London, Palgrave

This module aims to develop key skills in Scholarship, Research, Technology and Creativity to aid students with their academic studies. Using contemporary tourism, hospitality and event themes as a basis, students will develop oral, debating, academic writing, research skills and technology enhanced learning, in the context of a higher education environment. The module will equip students with a complete ‘toolkit’ of academic, personal and professional skills – laying the foundation for successful academic study across all modules and on which students can build upon each successive year of study.