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This paper describes and documents hospitality student perceptions of the effectiveness of, and learning from, practical applied work in a unit on convention management. A description of the unit and its assessment requirements, which required students to plan, stage and evaluate a special event are included. The role of experiential learning, the use of reflective reporting and the value of theoretical management curriculum in convention management are examined. Data represents surveys completed by hospitality management students who completed the unit, which required students to stage an event. The research design included an open-ended survey and a closed questionnaire. The open-ended survey sought to gauge student's opinions, thoughts and feelings about the effectiveness of the practical task of staging an event, and how that practical task contributed to students' learning experience. A closed questionnaire detailing curriculum topics was then administered. This required students to assess, on a Likert scale, their perceived knowledge of convention management. Administration of the closed questionnaire was followed by a reflective component of the first open-ended survey. This reflective component gave students an opportunity to modify, elaborate on or add to their initial opinions, thoughts and feelings in the open-ended survey. Conclusions drawn from the preliminary study indicated that students perceived the value of experiential learning, although the effort and time in relation to marks, as well as the management of syndicate or group work, were issues critical to their learning. Students also indicated that the ability to actually 'practise' (apply) the theory led them to think more deeply about the unit and this, as a consequence, enhanced their appreciation of the theoretical aspects. Students' enjoyment in planning and staging the event was highlighted in their responses about their learning. Areas that were identified as being worthy of further research included deeper mining of the data, and a longitudinal study of the role of practical events in student learning in the theory of hospitality and tourism management.
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