The field as our classroom: Applications in a business-related setting

Developing generic skills for students via extra-curricular activities in Vietnamese universities: Practices and influential factors

“…Unlike the existing literature (Barrie et al, 2009;Chmielewski-Raimondo et al, 2016;Falk et al, 2012;Scarinci & Pearce, 2012), internships and field trips were not organised by the YUA, but they were included as capstone and compulsory subjects in many programs offered by Vietnamese universities. Together with treating English and computer skills as GS, the placing of internships and field trips within the domain of curriculum-based activity, confirms that GS are conceptualised differently between HE contexts (Pitman & Broomhall, 2009).…”

“…These may include service learning activities, volunteering programs, certain skillfocused clubs, serving in student committees or undertaking non-compulsory internships, travels or field trips (Barrie et al, 2009). Studies in this area consistently suggest that these extra-curricular activities offer students many informal learning opportunities which are conducive to the development of students' GS and greatly contribute to their employment outcomes (Chmielewski-Raimondo, McKeown, & Brooks, 2016;Clark, Marsden, Whyatt, Thompson, & Walker, 2015;Hager & Holland, 2006;Lau, Hsu, Acosta, & Hsu, 2014). For example, studying 28,768 Taiwanese business graduates, Lau et al (2014) found that those who joined extra-curricular activities rated their communication, leadership, creativity, and selfpromotion skills higher than those who did not.…”

“…Furthermore, travel and field trips are also reported to be conducive to developing GS for students (Chmielewski-Raimondo et al, 2016;Falk, Ballantyne, Packer, & Benckendorff, 2012;Scarinci & Pearce, 2012). For example, Scarinci and Pearce (2012) studied 326 undergraduate business students at Northwood University (Florida, USA) and found that travels helped students improve 18 GS moderately to greatly.…”

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“…Therefore, what should be introduced in Business English teaching as a mode to implement a field trip, according to Squire andKlopfer (2007, cited in Kaewkitipong, Chen, &Ractham, 2016), provides a social active learning experience that can take place at any time and in any place (Kaewkitipong, Chen, & Ractham, 2016) through interaction with peers during the field trip. Dewey (1938), Frontczak (1998), Jakubowski (2003), and Chmielewski-Raimondo, McKeown, and Brooks (2016 share the idea that experiential learning, which can broaden and deepen the learning experience, is regarded as a more student-centered pedagogy. Field work, as regarded as a social practice, can be adopted as a medium to enhance "action-oriented" in the business as Zhang (2007) describes in his work.…”

“…According to Donovan et al (2010), Jackson (2014), and Webb, De Lange, and O'Connell (2009), companies around the world are increasingly demanding that universities are able to train graduates who possess both "work-ready" generic skills as well as "global cultural" awareness skills. As result, students' readiness for the future career seems far behind the needs; therefore, a field work moves instruction away from the confines of the classroom and out into the "real world" as Chmielewski-Raimondo, McKeown, and Brooks (2016) claim in their research. Kolb's four stages (Kolb, 1984) clearly explain the significance of participating, observing, contextualizing, and experimenting that equip students in a field work.…”