EN2410 PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION STUDY TOUR Final Report

Introduction

36 Bachelor of Arts in English for Professional Communication (BAEPC) students, with two teacher advisors – Ms. Connie Ng and Mr. Samuel Wu, went to England through the course EN2410 Professional Communication Study Tour, from 24th May to 6th June, visiting London, Oxford, Sheffield and York. The tour aimed to provide the BAEPC students the opportunity to experience the language and culture in an English speaking country. The student committee is writing this report to make a final review on the study tour.

This report aims to analysis the feedbacks from the students towards the arrangement of the study tour, including the accommodation, food, itinerary, transportation, performance of the student committee, pre-tour meetings, booklet, banner and the windbreaker.
In order to get the feedbacks from students, a questionnaire-based survey had been carried out by delivering a total of four questionnaires on London, Oxford, Sheffield and the whole tour to students after visiting each place respectively. The questionnaire is brief, designed to include both rating and open-ended questions for students to give both basic and additional feedbacks. In order to get the most honest feedback from the students, the questionnaire was conducted anonymously.

The information received had been analyzed and put into the following report, followed with recommendation.

Findings
Four sets of feedback forms were designed for this trip for final evaluation of the arrangement of the study tour. Three sets of them were specifically aimed to ask for students’ opinions about each city, i.e. London, Oxford and Sheffield. The remaining one was made to collect students’ overall comments on the trip as a whole. The first three sets of forms focus on five criteria - the accommodation, the food, the itinerary, the transportation and the performance of the committee members.

London
According to the data collected, more than half of the students were not satisfied with the accommodation in the London Generator Hostel. Over ten per cent of the respondents even regarded it as awful. The reasons included the insufficient facilities provided, the insecurity living condition due to the presence of males who did drugs and the uncomfortable lower-deck beds of the rooms. However, there is about a quarter of the students who thought this hostel was good and eight per cent of them ranked it as outstanding. They gave positive response because of its convenient location which is very close to the Russell Square station.

More than 60 per cent of the students thought that the breakfast provided by the hostel was good. Some of them considered the arrangement of letting them eat outside was good because they could have the freedom to choose their meals by themselves, while others were not satisfied because no food arrangement was prepared for those who did not have their own plans.

Over 80 per cent of the students commented that the itinerary in London was good. 15 per cent regarded it as outstanding while only four per cent (should be equal to 1 student) thought it was poor. Many of them like the arrangement because they could enjoy good cultural experience; especially the musical performance - The Phantom of the Opera, and the drama show - Woman in Black. Another reason stated was that this itinerary had made good use of the limited time to cover and visit a large variety of famous tourist spots.

Almost 90 per cent of the students considered the transportation arrangement in London was good and seven per cent said it was outstanding. Yet there was four per cent of them commented that it was poor. Many of them appreciated to have the chance to take public transportation hence they could experience more local culture, but some criticized that it was not good to have no coach service for every spot.

Sixty per cent of the students believed the student committee performed well in London and the remaining of them considered the committee’s performance as outstanding. Their comments on the student committee were, “they are very helpful, resourceful and caring.”

Oxford
All the students were pleased to live in YHA Oxford. Among 28 per cent of them considered this hostel outstanding while the remaining 72 per cent of students thought it was good. Their rationale included nice staff services, convenient location and good environment of the rooms. Yet some of them commented that they did not expect there was no free internet service.

84 per cent of the students pointed out that the breakfast provided by YHA Oxford was good and twelve per cent of them thought it was outstanding. For those who thought the breakfast was nice, they commented that there was a wide variety of food and “hot” food provided. The student who thinks the breakfast was poor did not offer any reason.

84 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the itinerary planned for Oxford. The only student who thought the itinerary in Oxford was poor because we spent too much time in Blenheim Palace and had not enough sightseeing. For others who believed the itinerary was nice since there was enough free time for them to explore, there were good choices of spots, and it was a bit more relaxing and well-planned when comparing to the itinerary of London.

The result of transportation was almost the same as compared to the result of London. Two more common comments given by the students about the Oxford tour are that it was good to have coach service since it allowed more convenient transport from spot to spot, and it was safer than transferring between different transportation means since we were such a big group of people.

Many of the students pointed out that the student committee had provided prompt responses to their concerns. Again, the student who ranked poor did not provide us with any reason.

The overall feedback from students about the visit of Merton College was great. They believed it was a really good chance to communicate with local students instead of sticking with HK students all the time. Moreover, Mr. Mandeep provided very clear explanations during the trip and made comprehensive arrangements for them.

Sheffield
The accommodation in Sheffield was the most favourable among the three places. The students were excited when they arrived. They thought the place was really outstanding because it was very comfortable to have single rooms, good facilities, together with convenient and safe location.

Though the voting result was about the same when comparing to the one in Oxford, the students mostly reflected that the availability of packed lunch was more convenient for them.

The result reflected that around 80 per cent of the respondents were pleased about the itinerary of Sheffield. For those students who considered the itinerary was poor because they thought that there was too much free time. The others who commented the itinerary was good and outstanding because many different elements (e.g. drama, lecture and national park) were included. They pointed out that it was an especially great experience to visit the National Park and to get close to the nature.

The majority of respondents claimed that the transportation arrangement was good and even outstanding since it was more convenient for them to travel to farther destination with coach services. Only one student criticized that the transportation arrangement was not good enough without providing any relevant reasons.

Most of the students commented that the student committee had a good performance and 30 per cent of them thought that they performed outstandingly. Some of the students said one of the weaknesses of the committee was that they were not sure about the meeting time and the itinerary arrangement.

Overall

The questions for the last set of feedback forms focused on how the students assessed the following seven items, the booklet, the banner, the windbreaker, the pre-tour meetings, the itinerary, the transportation and the performance of the committee.

The overall response of the booklet from the student was good. Some of them reflected that it was hard to write on plastic surface by pencils or ink pens. One more weakness was the frequent changes of the itinerary made the original version printed on the booklet very confusing.

More than 60 per cent of the students thought that the banner was good and about 30% thought it was outstanding. One respondent thought it was poor. Most of the students liked its colorful design.

Eight per cent of the students thought the windbreaker was poorly made yet they did not provide any reasons. 77 per cent thought it was good and 15 per cent considered it as outstanding. They believed it was very practical for the wet and windy weather in UK. Some of them commented that this outfit looked very smart.

96 per cent thought that the pre-tour meetings were good and four per cent commented that they were poor. The reason was that the meetings were hold too early before the departure day and many changes were made between that period of time.

88 per cent of the students considered the overall itinerary as good and the remaining twelve per cent of them thought it was outstanding. The three most common comments from them were, they liked the free time arrangement, they enjoyed the two talks but they were not happy to have wasted lots of time waiting for others.

92 per cent of the students though the overall transportation arrangement was good and the rest regarded it as outstanding. They suggested that it would be better to have coaches between spots for all the locations.

Comments like "I'm very satisfied"; "some of the committees are not as involved as others"; " I appreciate your great work! Thanks!"; "responsiveness"; "done a great job" can be seen in the feedback forms. The students are all totally satisfied with the performance of the student committee.

Ranking of activities Note: The total number of the respondents is not equal to the number of the tour participants since some of them selectively picked their rankings, for instance, some ranked two number 1s,and some crossed out some of the choices.

Most enjoyable activities: 19 Phantom of the Opera; 12 Bodleian Library Tour; 9 London Eye

Least enjoyable: 15 Shakespeare's Globe; 10 Chapel ceremony; 6 St Paul's Cathedral and 6 Westminster Abbey

Most educational: 15 British Museum; 14 Talk by Matthew Cheeseman; 11 Talk by Dino Mahoney

Least educational: 7 St Paul's Cathedral; 6 London Eye and 6 Blenheim Palace



Analysis of Findings

London

Accommodation
Generally, the participants have negative feedback on the accommodation in London. Up to 56 per cent and twelve per cent of the students, ranked it as poor and awful, which have occupied more than a half of the total. However, there are still 24 per cent and eight per cent of the students ranked it as good and outstanding respectively.

It is understandable that the participants did not like the arrangement on the accommodation. Most of them reflected that they felt insecurity about the surroundings of the hostel and being disturbed by consumption of drugs by others. Moreover, the rooms were tiny and crowded. Yet, they appreciated the choice of location. The hostel was highly accessible, which was close to the city center. Students could get to the spots conveniently by taking the Underground.

Food
For the arrangement on food, 64 per cent of the participants thought it was good whereas 36 per cent of them regarded it as poor. There were neither outstanding nor awful rankings.

For those who ranked it as good, they liked eating on their own but not having set-meal together every day. In contrary, some other liked to have planned food arrangement, say like having dinner in the same restaurant.

Itinerary
The overall feedback on itinerary arrangement is positive. 81 per cent and 15 per cent of the students ranked it as good and outstanding respectively. There is four per cent of the students thought the itinerary was poor. They complaint the first two days were too rush and tense. Yet, most of the participants thought the itinerary was rich and had covered the spots they wanted to visit. They especially liked the ideas on watching plays and musicals.

Transportation
As mentioned in the previous part, some students suggested that there should be coach service throughout the whole tour. The teacher advisors and the student committee have both looked into the possibility before departure. It would have the advantages of convenience and safety. It is also easier for the student committee to take care of the students. Yet, it will also pull up the cost dramatically which both the teacher advisors and the student committee believe it would do more bad than good. Besides, as the participants of the study tour are all adult, it is an opportunity for the participant to learn how to deal with complicated situation rather than paying more to have a luxury tour.

Performance of the committee
The students are pleased with the performance of the student committee. The general comment given was “very helpful, resourceful and caring.” It is believed that the committee is getting such a positive response mainly because the committee had regular meetings every week to keep everyone on the different posts well-informed with the process. For instance, the logistics team members know the details of the creative products and they actually gave suggestions in different aspects. The creative team members also know the details of the itinerary and gave comments on the planning. This arrangement ensures that when the committee members were spread out to me the mentors of different student groups, they know something about everything so that they were able to give quick responses.

Oxford

Accommodation
The arrangement on accommodation in Oxford was extraordinarily good. All students ranked it as good or above. They like the staff services in the hostel and the location of it, too. Like London’s, the Oxford YHA Hostel locates in the city center. It was just in walking distance to different spots. Moreover, the rooms were spacious and nice.

Food
For the food arrangement, the result is good. 84 per cent and twelve per cent of the participants appreciated the food arrangement in Oxford. The thing they like most was the breakfast arrangement in the hostel because the food was good. The packed lunches were good, too.

Itinerary
The overall feedback on itinerary for Oxford is positive. There are 84 per cent and twelve per cent of the students ranked it as good and outstanding respectively. For the four per cent of students who ranked it as poor, they complaint there were too much time in Blenheim Palace and not enough sightseeing. On the other hand, most of the students appreciated the free time were good because they could explore on their own. The choices of spots were nice so that they could avoid visiting some boring places. The itinerary was relaxing and rich.

Transportation
The result of transportation was almost the same as compared to the result of London. Two more common comments given by the students about the Oxford tour are that it was good to have coach service since it allowed more convenient transport from spot to spot, and it was safer than transferring between different transportation means since we were such a big group of people.

The reason of positive response is, on one hand, the committee’s efforts. On the other hand, it is also due to the geography of the city. Oxford is a rather small city compared with London, almost every spot in the itinerary was in walking distance. The only transportation needed was the visit to the Blenheim Palace.

Performance of the committee
Many of the students pointed out that the student committee had provided prompt responses to their concerns. Again, as mentioned at the previous part, it is believed that the main reason of the positive response is mainly due to the regular meetings. Yet, it is also important to mention the structure of the committee. As the committee was made up of both year one and year two students, it is easier for the students to approach someone they know in the committee. The structure has successfully helped to build a strong connection between the students and the committee members.

Sheffield

Accommodation
The arrangement on the accommodation in Sheffield obtained a high evaluation. 93 per cent of the students ranked it as outstanding and seven per cent of the students ranked as good. The facilities and environment of the student residence were good, spacious and clean. There was no complaint.

Food
The overall mark for the food arrangement in Sheffield is good. There are 82 per cent and eleven per cent of the students ranked it as good and outstanding respectively. However, there are also seven per cent of the students ranked it as poor. No one found it awful. They liked it because packed lunches were provided on the day to the Peak National Park District. They did not need to prepare for food.

Itinerary
It is to a large extent that the students like the itinerary in Sheffield. While 78 per cent of the students ranked it as good, eleven per cent ranked it as outstanding. They highly appreciated the visit to the Sheffield University and the Peak National Park, which had brought them extraordinary experience. However, eleven per cent of the students did not think the itinerary was good. They complaint there were too much free time that could be used to visit more places.

Transportation
Combining the experience of the previous cities and the aid from the teacher advisors, the transportation in Sheffield could be described as well-balanced. The students had their chance to try the public transport in the city while there were also coach services for spots in longer distance.

Performance of the committee
Most of the students commented that the student committee had a good performance and 30 per cent of them thought that they performed outstandingly. Some of the students said one of the weaknesses of the committee was that they were not sure about the meeting time and the itinerary arrangement.

The communication between the committee and the students had shown some problem in Sheffield. It is possibly because of the changes made to the itinerary. It would be easier for the students to get the information if the changes were not made at the last minute.

Others

Pre-tour meetings
96 per cent thought that the pre-tour meetings were good and four per cent commented that they were poor. The reason was that the meetings were hold too early before the departure day and many changes were made in that period of time.

It is understandable for the students to make such a comment. Yet it is not a big problem. The easiest solution of the issue is to hold one more meeting before departure so that every participant can get the latest news. Another improvement that could be made is starting the recruitment of the student committee in an earlier time so that the committee has more time to plan and to deal with different issues. As a result, when it is time to meet the participating students, the committee will have more solid details to give.

The booklet
Over 88 per cent students rated the booklet as good. Two students rated the booklet as outstanding and one student rated it as poor. Some students think it is difficult to write on the plastic paper and they found the itinerary in the booklet confusing. It will be better if there are more space and clear background for taking notes. Besides, it will be more convenient if the booklet is designed as pocket size.

The banner
More than 65 per cent students think that the banner is good and 30% students think it is outstanding. One student thinks the banner is poor. Most students agree the banner has a good design.

The Windbreaker
About 77 per cent students rated the windbreaker as good and 15 per cent students think it is outstanding. Two students think it is poor. Generally, students think the windbreaker has a smart design and it is practical for the wet and windy weather in the UK.



Conclusion

This report summarized the opinion of the students towards the whole tour arrangement. The opinion is very important for the evaluation of the committee’s work, whether we did a great job or being lazy can be directly revealed from the opinion. Very pleased, most of the students agreed that we have devoted into organizing the tour and thought that our performance has been good throughout the tour.

In conclusion, the tour was rather successful and meaningful in the students’ point of view. According to the opinion from the questionnaires, some of our team’s strengths are the flexibility of different arrangements, as there were many sudden change in our itinerary due to weather and so on during the tour; the variety of activities in the itinerary, which suited students of different interests for e.g. drama show, museums visits and so on; also, we covered most of the important spots in our itinerary, which made the content of their visit to England richer.

However, there is still something that we can work on to make the tour better. For example, the students thought that we did not provide sufficient guidelines and suggestions for dining and transportation; nor did we give clear enough instructions in the briefings; inadequate opportunities to interact with locals; and itinerary was not strictly followed.

Since there are some weaknesses as pointed out by the students, the student committee has prepared some recommendations in tackling those weaknesses.

Recommendation

If there would be another chance for us, the committee, or any members within us to organize similar kinds of activities in the future, there are some recommendations to follow. These recommendations can also be some guidelines for the future study tour committee members to take note of.

The best way to improve is to learn from mistakes. In this tour, the students had picked some of our weaknesses, as mentioned earlier in the conclusion. In order to improve, first of all, we can arrange students to live on the same floor, or choose safer hostels to stay in to prevent the safety concern of students; we can also provide clearer guidelines and suggestions for transportation/dining/activities on free days. This can be done through researching before hand or asking staffs in the hostel. We should have better arrangements on briefing as well. Since the time and venue of briefing was different each time, and students might be very tired at the time of briefing, therefore we may give out printed reminders alongside with the spoken briefing. As a study tour, students also recommended us to provide more opportunities to interact with locals and university students. In future study tours, more of these kinds of interaction can be added into the itinerary, for example, chatting with the locals or even having a night out with them. Last but not least, a stable arrangement on itinerary is also preferred. Apart from unpreventable reasons, such as sudden weather changes or unexpected circumstances, the committee should try their best to stick with the original plan.

After all, the study tour was a combination of fun and learning. We are very proud to be the organizing committee of this event and had put efforts to ensure every student has enjoyed their tour safe and sound, as well as learned a lot, both in their academic knowledge and the experience of life. The student committee is glad to get the positive feedback. Last but not least, we sincerely hope that the student committee of the following years will take our experience and do a better job.

END




England Study Tour 2010 Feedback Form - London

Please kindly spare a few moments and fill in the feedback form. The information you provide will help us to understand your need better and hopefully improve our performance in the future.

Please indicate “√” which of the following applied.

Awful
Poor
Good
Outstanding
1) The accommodation
2) The food
3) The itinerary
4) The transportation
5) The response of the student committee to your concern/questions

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6) The reasons of why you like / dislike the above arrangement.
7) Any other specific comments / suggestions about the days you have spent here.
Please return this feedback form to your assigned student committee. Thank you for your valuable opinion.

England Study Tour 2010 Feedback Form - Oxford
Please kindly spare a few moments and fill in the feedback form. The information you provide will help us to understand your need better and hopefully improve our performance in the future.

Please indicate “√” which of the following applied.

Awful
Poor
Good
Outstanding
8) The accommodation
9) The food
10) The itinerary
11) The transportation
12) The response of the student committee to your concern/questions

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13) The reasons of why you like / dislike the above arrangement.
14) Any other specific comments / suggestions about the days you have spent here.
Please return this feedback form to your assigned student committee. Thank you for your valuable opinion.

England Study Tour 2010 Feedback Form - Sheffield
Please kindly spare a few moments and fill in the feedback form. The information you provide will help us to understand your need better and hopefully improve our performance in the future.

Please indicate “√” which of the following applied.

Awful
Poor
Good
Outstanding
15) The accommodation
16) The food
17) The itinerary
18) The transportation
19) The response of the student committee to your concern/questions

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20) The reasons of why you like / dislike the above arrangement.
21) Any other specific comments / suggestions about the days you have spent here.
Please return this feedback form to your assigned student committee. Thank you for your valuable opinion.

England Study Tour 2010 Feedback Form - Overall
Please kindly spare a few moments and fill in the feedback form. The information you provide will help us to understand your need better and hopefully improve our performance in the future.

Please indicate “√” to which of the following applied.

Awful
Poor
Good
Outstanding
22) The booklet
23) The banner
24) The windbreaker
25) The pre-tour meetings
26) The itinerary
27) The transportation
28) The response of the student committee to your concern/questions

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29) Any specific comments about the above criteria or other preparation work.(For example, about the designs, the organization, the arrangement, etc.)

30) The student committees try hard to make the study tour an enjoyable and ample one. If it was not as good as it could have been, was better than expected, or you simply have a suggestion – please let us know. We invite your comments to us.

31) The activities you have done over the 2 weeks are listed at the back of the form. Please rank your top 3 most enjoyable, least enjoyable, most educational and least educational you think about activities/trips.
City
Activity / Trip
MostEnjoyable
LeastEnjoyable
MostEducational
LeastEducational

London
Walk Tour by Hostel

London Eye

St Paul’s Cathedral

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Talk

Shakespeare’s globe

Westminster Abbey

Woman in Black

British Museum

Covent Garden

Phantom of the Opera

Oxford
Boat tour

Chapel ceremony

Oxford Castle

Bodleian Library Tour

Talk

Blenheim Palace

Sheffield
Peace Garden

Winter Garden

City Hall

Millennium Gallery

Peak District National Park

Sheffield University

Talk

York


32) Why?


Please return this feedback form to your assigned student committee. Thank you for your valuable opinion.