Virtual Transborder Service Learning as a Transformative Educational Pedagogy: A California, USA - Baja California, Mexico Academic Partnership in Sustainable Tourism

Service learning (SL) engages students in intentional, collaborative service experiences that promote civic citizenship. The COVID-19 pandemic forced traditional face-to-face SL courses to transition into virtual service learning (e-SL). This paper examines the academic and civic outcomes of an e-SL binational sustainable tourism course for undergraduate students. The course was designed to deliver disciplinary knowledge in sustainable tourism and transborder civic citizenship competencies in the following areas: 1) Ethos, 2) Literacy, 3) Inquiry, 4) Action, 5) Leadership, and 6) Partnership. A post-course student survey was deployed to assess student perspectives regarding the achievement of course outcomes. The findings revealed significant (positive) academic and civic transformations among the students due to the intentionality of the e-SL course design and implementation. Results indicate that e-SL in sustainable tourism education can be an effective pedagogy for inculcating civic learning, responsibility, and engagement among students and future professionals in the field of tourism.