Using Action Learning to Improve Assessment: A Case Study from an Undergraduate Tourism Management Course

Action learning is a research and evaluation process designed to improve practice, and is widely acknowledged as an effective means of improving the teaching practice of educators. Action learning is a cyclical research process that allows educators to situate themselves within an ongoing process of 'learning from doing' and where the stages of the research (action, feedback and reflection) may be reiterated numerous times through the term of a particular project. This paper reports on an action learning process that was implemented for an undergraduate tourism management course. The particular action that is used to illustrate the action learning process relates to the use of continuous assessment as a means of improving students essay writing skills. The results and implications are considered within the context of an action learning process. (C) 2007 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.