Transcript Slide 1

Moving towards an understanding of
the factors that contribute to student
satisfaction in Higher Education
Kathryn Robson and Associate Professor
Barbara de la Harpe
OUTLINE AND BACKGROUND
• Student satisfaction in higher education is a goal that all institutions seek.
• Satisfied students usually infers committed, engaged and enthusiastic
participants in their programs (courses).
• This is an era of mass education with large cohorts of students and often
large classes.
• If we perceive student satisfaction as a necessary, but elusive characteristic,
then we first need to determine what students expect from their education
experience.
• If graduate satisfaction is low and on the whole it is for property, valuation and
construction graduates in Australia, then what are their expectations for their
higher education experience?
• We need to understand and manage these expectations.
• Hence we come to the gap in research. The documents on student
satisfaction come mainly from academics. What do the students think?
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• What are the key issues for a higher education (HE)
experience? (Who says?)
• What does it take for PCPM students to graduate
being satisfied with their educational experience?
• What do students in PCPM expect from the educational experience?
• What are their lived experiences of the educational process?
• What factors help, or hinder students educational experiences?
• What strategies can PCPM put in place to ensure student satisfaction?
• How could this process be applied nation wide?
• How can a balance between student satisfaction and industry requirements
be achieved?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Stakeholders in the higher education experience
Students
Industry
University
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LITERATURE REVIEW Cont.
• Customer Satisfaction in higher education? Each class a
student is enrolled in is a service encounter. Perceived service quality
is an attitude and attitudes are emotive and subject to change
(Athiyaman, 1997).
What factors contribute to a higher education experience?
– Model (see handouts)
– Student engagement (Chickering and Gamson 1987;Scott, 2006; Kift, 2004;
Krause, 2005; NSSE, 2008; Kuh, 2003; etc)
– Curricula (Candy, 2000)
– Teaching methods and styles (Entwistle, McCune and Hounsell, 2003;
Trigwell and Prosser, 2004)
– Assessment and feedback (Hattie, 2009; Ramsden et al, 2007)
– Administration experience
– Student motivation, first year experience etc (Pintrich et al 1993)
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LITERATURE REVIEW Cont.
• Changing nature of student (millennium or net generation): it is realistic to
expect to have up to 30% of your students who are working to support
themselves and be not very interested in their program. For many it is simply a
means to a job. This of course leads to problems in the classroom with poor
attendance, inability to complete tasks, problems meeting group expectations
and rarely completing set work (Kington, 2008).
• More students often mean larger classes and stretched facilities and support.
The level of support that students receive may vary and they may be left to
fend for themselves in what may be a very foreign environment (Kift, 2004;
Krause, 2005a).
• Research indicates that students are working longer hours in paid employment
and generally feel less committed to their tertiary studies. The students find the
transition from Secondary School difficult and lonely. The increasing class
sizes and flexible course delivery, exacerbates this sense of alienation (Kift,
2004).
• The old recipe for engagement is no longer relevant. The challenge is how to
engage with such a diverse university population? We need to do more to
address adequately the full meaning and implications of student engagement
(Krause, 2005).
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METHODOLOGY
• The main thrust of the research is the student body. This is the core
group to engage with. We need to research them across all year levels
and during their first year in industry (five year levels). This study will
then be benchmarked by sampling similar programs to PCPM,
Australia wide.
• A case study mixed methods research will be used in this research
study (Krause, 2005).
–Action research (emphasis will be on the development of a model for
excellence in the School of PCPM around curricula, teaching etc,
based on identified factors critical to student satisfaction).
–This paper discusses the development of a model of factors that
make up the HE experience for students in Property/Construction in
Australia. Using focus groups and questionnaires, the importance of
these factors will be weighted to determine their relevant importance
to HE students in their educational experience. This can then be
adapted for use with future student satisfaction surveys.
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DISCUSSION OF THE MODEL
• The model is a work in progress and will be tested on focus groups of
Property/construction students at RMIT University, academics and
Industry. (Your input from this conference is highly valued.)
• The model has been developed from the literature and personal
experience of over thirty years teaching in HE.
• The model consists of a number of sub-models and examines the HE
experience from the aspect of the student experience.
• The model takes into account the influences of the various
stakeholders in the HE process.
• The model suggests ten behavioural elements that all stakeholders in
the HE experience should be aware of and adhere to.
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Subsets A (the University)
(C & G, 1987; ECS, 1995; Kuh,
2003; Synder, 2003)
Contact Hours
& Workloads
Curricula
Aims &
Learning
Outcomes
Delivery Mode
Structure
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Deep Learning
Challenges
Interesting
Content
Choice &
Organisation
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Design
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Subsets A (the University)
(Candy, 2000; Scott, 2006)
Administration
IT Support
Processes
Student
Support
System
Timetabling
Facilities &
Teaching Aids
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Learning
Environments
& Technologies
Marketing
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Subsets A (the University) (Entwistle, McCune and Hounsell,
2003; Trigwell and Prosser, 2004, McLaughin and Robson, 2007)
Teaching
Methods
& Styles
Variable
Interactive
Respect for
Diverse, Knowledge,
Talents & Background
Teaches Beliefs,
Concepts &
Reflective Practice
Foster Creativity,
Imagination
& Innovation
Flexibility
& Willing to
Change
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Subsets A (the University) (Candy, 2000; Scott, 2006)
Non-Curricula
Activities
Sporting
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Political
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Social
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Subsets A (the University)
Industry &
Community
Involvement
(Candy, 2000; Scott, 2006)
Relationships
Supervision
Mentoring
Career Transition
Fairness &
Moral Order
Staff / Student
Interaction
Collaboration
Lecturer
Expectation
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Subsets A (the University) (Entwistle, McCune and Hounsell,
2003; Trigwell and Prosser, 2004, McLaughin and Robson, 2007)
Appropriateness
Assessment
& Feedback
Timely &
Appropriate
Feedback
Type &
Approaches
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Time on Task
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Subset B (the student)
(Kift, 2004; Krause, 2005, 2005a)
Orientation
Beliefs, Values
& Expectations
Ability,
Knowledge
& Learning Skills
Peer Groups
Morale
Identity
Choices &
Experiences
HE Students
Motivation &
Satisfaction with
program
Time Allocated
to Work, Study
1st Year
Experience
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Funding
Source
Learning
Methods &
Styles
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University - Teachers
Teaching
Teaching
Methods
Methods
Styles
&& Styles
Variable
Interactive
Respect for
Diverse, Knowledge,
Talents & Background
IT Support
Administration
Administration
Student
Support
System
Diversity
Aims &
Learning
Outcomes
Structure
Learning
Environments
& Technologies
Political
Social
Industry &
Community
Involvement
Supervision
Mentoring
Career Transition
Marketing
Deep Learning
Challenges
Interesting
Orientation
Beliefs, Values
& Expectations
Delivery Mode
Content
Choice &
Organisation
Sporting
Design
Peer Groups
Morale
Identity
Motivation &
Satisfaction with
program
HE Students
Students
1st Year
Experience
Industry
Requirements
Ability,
Knowledge
& Learning Skills
WIL
Funding
Source
Relationships
Relationships
Lecturer
Expectation
Appropriateness
Type &
Approaches
Choices &
Experiences
Fairness &
Moral Order
Staff / Student
Interaction
Collaboration
Assessment
Assessment
&&Feedback
Feedback
Negotiation
Curricula
Curricula
Flexibility
& Willing to
Change
Processes
Non-Curricula
Non-Curricula
Activities
Activities
Foster Creativity,
Imagination
& Innovation
Timetabling
Facilities &
Teaching Aids
Contact Hours
& Workloads
Teaches Beliefs,
Concepts &
Reflective Practice
Time on Task
Timely &
Appropriate
Feedback
Time Allocated
to Work, Study
Learning
Methods &
Styles
Working for
Money
Relaxing &
Socialising
Industry & Community
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