Assessing the curriculum inputs of the tour guide at technical-vocational branch (case study: Isfahan technical-vocational schools)

Tour guides are the key players in the tourism industry. They should acquire the necessary training and skills to meet the expectations of this sector. Besides, one way to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the education sector is to assessing its curriculum. The present study aimed to assess the curriculum inputs of the tour guide field of technical-vocational branch with an outcome-based curriculum approach. This research was conducted by an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design. The statistical population consisted of 13 teachers,171 students and 63 graduates of the tour guide in the technical-vocational branch in Isfahan. In this research used two proportional stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using semi-structured interview and researcher-made questionnaire. The interview questions' validity and the questionnaire were confirmed using content validity, and the reliability of the questionnaire questions was confirmed using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.79≤ α ≤0.89). The qualitative findings were analyzed via the content analysis technique and the quantitative findings via SPSS 23 software. The results showed that the teachers assessed the content of the curriculum, facilities and equipment and the characteristics of the inputs as undesirable and the teachers’ characteristics and abilities as moderate. There was also a significant difference between the views of students and graduates in terms of inputs. The general conclusion is that the inputs in the curriculum of the tour guide in the technical-vocational branch regarding teachers’ characteristics and abilities are moderately outcome-based and in other components are not outcome- based.