Abstract:

Innovative pedagogical strategies are important in the development of university students in tourism because they allow teaching to be focused on an agile and high-performance environment. In Puerto Rico, there are universities where academic degrees are offered in the tourism sector, where students are trained to be competent in employment. There is a significant gap between the expected competencies of a tourism student and those presented by the students evaluated. This situation can affect the quality of service to tourists and the professional competitiveness of graduates. The study seeks to implement pedagogical strategies that reinforce the essential professional competencies of students in tourism. The study adopts a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and exploration design, due to the novel and understudied nature of the research problem and uses a convenience sampling survey to collect data from students over 21 years of age enrolled in academic programs in the tourism sector (Accommodation, Gastronomy, Entertainment/Recreation, and Transportation). The collection of information was carried out anonymously and digitally through Microsoft Forms, after the approval of the IRB, and the recruitment process was managed by the Registrar's Office, which sent the institutional invitations with the criteria of inclusion, exclusion and the link to the questionnaire. The study is geographically limited to Puerto Rico, considering a sample equivalent to 4% of the academic units, which represents an academy and an estimated participation of 258 students, with a data collection period between March 2 and June 2, 2024, during which monthly reminders were sent. The instrument consists of an online questionnaire of 27 statements on competencies (interpersonal communication, teamwork, decision-making, innovation and creativity, learning capacity and technology management) and five demographic questions, structured with a five-point Likert scale and preceded by an information sheet that guarantees voluntariness, confidentiality and low risk for the participants. The validity of the instrument was established through the evaluation of a committee of experts with a doctoral degree, ensuring that the questionnaire adequately measures the proposed variables, while the platform used allows control of access to data, validation of responses and generation of descriptive statistics for the analysis of results. The study was conducted at a single university, and the results cannot be generalized to all institutions of higher education in Puerto Rico. This limitation implies that conclusions and recommendations must be interpreted in the specific context of the study, recognizing that other academic programs may have different characteristics, methodologies, and levels of competence. The measurement instrument is an online questionnaire that was validated by a committee of experts. The results show that students master the competencies of interpersonal communication, teamwork, decision-making, creativity and technological management at a medium level. It is concluded that students have a solid foundation and do not reach the optimal level required by the tourism industry to offer a service of excellence. It is recommended to implement pedagogical strategies such as: Role play, design collaborative projects of an event to strengthen teamwork, offer mentoring to strengthen the student's learning.

Keywords:

Innovative, pedagogical, strategies.