Kathryn Robson and Associate Professor Barbara de la Harpe

Moving towards an understanding of the factors that contribute to student satisfaction in Higher Education

Kathryn Robson and Associate Professor Barbara de la Harpe

RMIT University©2010 School of Property, Construction & Project Management 2

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?


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?


LITERATURE REVIEW

Students

University

Industry

Stakeholders in the higher education experience


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)


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).


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.


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.


Subsets A (the University) (C & G, 1987; ECS, 1995; Kuh, 2003; Synder, 2003)

Contact Hours & Workloads

Deep LearningChallengesInteresting

Aims &Learning Outcomes

Delivery Mode

StructureContent

Choice & Organisation

Design

Curricula


Subsets A (the University) (Candy, 2000; Scott, 2006)

IT Support Processes

Student SupportSystem

Timetabling

Facilities & Teaching Aids

Learning Environments

& TechnologiesMarketing

Administration


Subsets A (the University) (Entwistle, McCune and Hounsell, 2003; Trigwell and Prosser, 2004, McLaughin and Robson, 2007)

VariableInteractive

Teaches Beliefs, Concepts &

Reflective Practice

Respect for Diverse, Knowledge, Talents & Background

Flexibility & Willing to

Change

Teaching Methods & Styles

Foster Creativity, Imagination & Innovation



Political

Non-CurriculaActivities

SocialSporting



Industry & Community Involvement

Fairness &Moral Order

SupervisionMentoring

Career Transition

LecturerExpectation

Relationships

Staff / StudentInteraction

Collaboration


Subsets A (the University) (Entwistle, McCune and Hounsell, 2003; Trigwell and Prosser, 2004, McLaughin and Robson, 2007)

Appropriateness Time on Task

Type & Approaches

Assessment & Feedback

Timely & Appropriate Feedback


Subset B (the student) (Kift, 2004; Krause, 2005, 2005a)

Peer GroupsMoraleIdentity

Choices &Experiences

Motivation &Satisfaction with

program

Time Allocated to Work, Study

1st Year Experience

Funding Source

Learning Methods &

Styles

HE Students

OrientationBeliefs, Values& Expectations

Ability, Knowledge

& Learning Skills


Political

Non-CurriculaActivities

SocialSporting

Peer GroupsMoraleIdentity

Choices &Experiences

Motivation &Satisfaction with

program

Time Allocated to Work, Study

1st Year Experience

Funding Source

Learning Methods &

Styles

HE Students

OrientationBeliefs, Values& Expectations

Ability, Knowledge

& Learning Skills

HE Students

IndustryRequirements

WILWorking for

MoneyRelaxing &Socialising

University - Teachers

Industry & Community

ResponsibilityRes

pect

Div

ersi

ty

Passio

nInteraction

Activity

Expectations

Negotiation

CooperationCommunication

Contact Hours & Workloads

Deep LearningChallengesInteresting

Aims &Learning Outcomes

Delivery Mode

StructureContent

Choice & Organisation

Design

CurriculaCurricula

VariableInteractive

Teaches Beliefs, Concepts &

Reflective Practice

Respect for Diverse, Knowledge, Talents & Background

Flexibility & Willing to

Change

Teaching Methods & Styles

Foster Creativity, Imagination & Innovation

Teaching Methods & Styles Non-Curricula

Activities

IT Support Processes

Student SupportSystem

Timetabling

Facilities & Teaching Aids

Learning Environments

& TechnologiesMarketing

AdministrationAdministration

Industry & Community Involvement

Fairness &Moral Order

SupervisionMentoring

Career TransitionLecturer

Expectation

Relationships

Staff / StudentInteraction

Collaboration

Relationships

Appropriateness Time on Task

Type & Approaches


Timely & Appropriate Feedback


Documents

Kathryn Robson and Associate Professor Barbara de la Harpe