The development and evaluation of an environmental awareness course addressed to student tourist guides in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

The study is an evaluation of a new Unit addressed to Tourist Guides entitled —‘The Natural Heritage of the Maltese Islands’. The course was carried out through a face to face teaching environment and in the field with student tour guides. This was the first time such a course entered into the tourist guide curriculum in the local context. The main aim of the course was to improve the environmental knowledge and technical abilities of tour guides and increase their awareness on the local environment and on local environmental issues. The study involved the use of a mixed method approach. The qualitative data was supplied through the use of a number of open ended questions in which the students could write down their feelings and opinions, while an extended questionnaire with a number of close ended questions supplied quantitative data. The research also utilized a number of fieldwork sessions in which the participants had to come up with a thematic project that focuses on producing an eco tour for tourists within the Maltese islands. The students then presented their results which were evaluated by their peers. The research identifies a number of areas in which the course was very effective (such as the field visits) while it also highlights a number of areas which require improvement (such as the lack of relevant literature). Overall, the course was found to be very effective in increasing the knowledge, awareness and attitudes of the students towards the natural environment of the Maltese Islands. The individual project was seen as being highly effective in nurturing the skills required by tour guides when performing tour guiding in the natural environment. The study proposes changes to the curriculum currently being thought, and changes in the pedagogy and methodology so as to increase the effectiveness of the course in developing tourist guides which are not only knowledgeable and aware of the local environment but which are also able of positively influencing the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of tourists towards the environment. These changes and the existing and resultant new areas are presented as a model that visualizes the important links which were discovered.