Garrett A. Stone

Transformative Learning Theory: A Systematic Review of Travel and Tourism Scholarship

Transformational education is emerging as a key area of study in travel and tourism research. Determining how to facilitate theory-driven transformational education is vital to the success of this emergent academic agenda. The purpose of this article is to: (a) recommend John Mezirow’s transformative learning theory (TLT) as a framework to guide this agenda, and (b) systematically review travel and tourism research, using TLT as the screening criteria, to identify strategies for successfully implementing this framework as educators. Fifty-three articles were identified, with only 14 published in tourism journals, indicating that research utilizing TLT in travel and tourism is in its infancy. Results suggest that a greater understanding of the theoretical basis of TLT, as well as scholarship highlighting intentional, creative, and effective uses of TLT in the tourism classroom is needed.

Tourism development in the Dominican Republic: An examination of the economic impact to coastal households:

Coastal tourism projects are promoted in the Dominican Republic as national-level economic development initiatives that will create jobs for local residents, subsequently benefiting the households in these communities. However, the economic benefits of tourism can be severely weakened as a result of the neoliberal economic policies that guide such projects. Like other economically developing countries—particularly small island nations—the Dominican Republic embraced neoliberal policies that have ultimately reshaped the country’s economic, political, cultural, and physical landscape. As a result, transnational companies, foreign investors, and large-scale enclave tourism projects are the dominant form of tourism development in the Dominican Republic. Though companies’ revenue and profit data are not available for analysis of economic leakage, households can be investigated to understand the level of economic benefits obtained by residents of the local communities. Toward this end, 360 household surveys were collected to examine household income and material assets across 12 coastal communities in three regions of the Dominican Republic. Because of the noted differences in previous development literature, gender of the head of households and whether the household was dependent on income from tourism employment were compared across these measures after adjusting for regional differences. Results indicate that the gender of the head of the household and tourism dependency positively predicted household income, while only gender of the head of the household predicted material assets.

Facilitating adolescent identity development through sister cities international

In this article, the authors qualitatively investigate the travel experiences of adolescents from the southeast US who engaged in an 11-day Sister City International exchange program in Northern Ireland that is characterized by a mix of service-, civic-, and tourism-based activities. Situated within the theoretical frameworks of identity development theory and rites of passage, the authors explore identity development among adolescents as a result of participation in the exchange program. Findings indicate that participants engaged in processes of identity exploration and commitment, marked by identity-related motivations, an acknowledgment of normative behaviors, greater appreciation for their national and cross-cultural identities, and a desire to integrate travel into their lives. Significant life events, such as travel experiences, may create liminoid spaces, which can initiate positive identity development when reinforced by peer support, positive and immersive engagement with host communities, and meaningful service.

Interpreting perceived constraints to ethnic and racial recreation participation using a recreation systems approach

Ethnic and racial minority groups continue to experience limited access to leisure activities, resources, and services. To reverse this trend, leisure scholars have developed numerous models of constraints to recreation participation. The present article introduces an alternative systems approach to modeling constraints, which organizes constraints by their component parts – functions, mechanisms, or capacities – as well as their mode: social, psychological, or biological. Specifically, the article advances More and Averill’s Recreation Systems Model and recommends the model as a guide for the design, analysis, and interpretation of ethnic and racial constraints research. The utility of the model is discussed in the context of open-ended questionnaire data collected from indoor competition climbers during the winter of 2014. The authors contend that modeling constraints in a Recreation Systems framework may assist practitioners in efficiently prioritizing and consequently addressing constraints. Future research that quantitatively tests the model and investigates its use by policymakers is needed.

Injustice in Mobile Leisure: A Conceptual Exploration of Pokémon Go

ABSTRACT In augmented reality, video games and the physical world converge as individuals participate in digital leisure overlaid on physical spaces. In Pokémon Go, game play in the physical world is impacted by constraints that limit access and play of marginalized groups. The global popularity of Pokémon Go created an opportunity to explore experiences of marginalized groups participating in augmented reality game play. Grey literature surrounding Pokémon Go is rich with accounts of constraints experienced by marginalized groups, particularly individuals self-identifying as White women, Black women, or Black men. Their experiences with Pokémon Go illustrate the need for social justice in digital leisure. Because the lifespan of mobile applications is limited, the gradual process from research to social change may be insufficient in addressing ever-evolving digital platforms. Researchers need to strategically work with industry partners to identify needs for social justice during the planning and designing stages.

Teaching for critical thinking: preparing hospitality and tourism students for careers in the twenty-first century

ABSTRACT Twenty-first century tourism educators and career-seeking graduates are faced with a host of novel challenges. Given the dynamic, complex nature of the contemporary tourism industry, students must be equipped with relevant twenty-first century skills. To address this need, critical thinking is currently being promoted, via university initiatives, as an employable skill. This study assesses the extent to which critical thinking is being transmitted to tourism students at a large southeastern university in the United States. Precourse and postcourse data were collected from students (n = 85) who participated in a tourism management class, that emphasized case study learning, during the fall 2014, spring 2015, and spring 2016 semesters. Uncorrected results indicate significant positive increases in overall critical thinking and two of five sub-domains – inference and deduction; however, in the conservative, corrected results there are no significant effects. Recommendations for improving critical thinking and three sub-domains – analysis, evaluation, and induction – are discussed.

Beyond Composite Scores and Cronbach’s Alpha: Advancing Methodological Rigor in Recreation Research

Critically examining common statistical approaches and their strengths and weaknesses is an important step in advancing recreation and leisure sciences. To continue this critical examination and to inform methodological decision making, this study compared three approaches to determine how alternative approaches may result in contradictory conclusions in the interpretation of the psychometric properties of a scale and in response to a given research question. To this end, this study explored what factors best predicted parental endorsement of competition climbing in a sample of 184 parents of youth competition climbers. The study findings suggest that the three distinct approaches provided meaningfully different conclusions regarding the adapted psychometric properties of the questionnaire, but offered no meaningful differences in the primary finding of the study: Parent–coach relationship quality is the best predictor of parental endorsement of competition climbing. The results suggest that deeper examination of self-report questionnaire data may advance our understanding of complex recreation and leisure constructs beyond what can be understood with less advanced analytic techniques. Subscribe to JOREL