Abstract

Educational institutions provide a diverse range of courses and services for students using a myriad of delivery modes. Changes in the higher education cultural environment have altered student expectations. The development of the study tour program demonstrates a proactive response to the massive shift in the expectations of cohorts of fee paying students. “The learning area need not necessarily be enclosed within the school premises.” (Stone, 2004). New cohorts expect “fun, social connection, training, personal development and greater environmental sustainability” (McCrindle, 2006) in the workplace. The study tour program conducted by the College of Business at RMIT University, Australia, was developed to prepare students for the workforce by providing a culturally inspiring international learning. It is structured so as to create capacity for global business understanding and imagination in students. The tour encourages students to investigate and analyse a variety of issues such as working collaboratively in a group setting to achieve a common goal, to the demonstration of cross cultural issues such as individual cultural practices, cross cultural differences in both tertiary education and business practices, and processes of cultural and society studying and living in another culture. This paper outlines requisite capabilities, activities and assessments scheduled for successful study tours across the globe to evaluate the effectiveness of the components. Implementation of a formal survey instrument provides evidence that students develop insights into cultural differences, communicate effectively and embark upon unfamiliar problems. Student feedback continually reinforces the contribution of the study tour program at a number of different levels, personal and professional.