STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION ON THE SERVICE QUALITY PROVIDED BY COLLEGES OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: A PROPOSED FORMATION PROGRAM
STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION ON THE SERVICE QUALITY PROVIDED BY COLLEGES OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: A PROPOSED FORMATION PROGRAM A Dissertation Outline the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management By NGUYEN TAT THANG - (VICTOR) March, 2014 APPROVAL SHEET THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam SOUTHERN LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ii In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management this research study entitled “Students’ Satisfaction on the Service Quality Provided by Colleges of Thai Nguyen University: A Proposed Formation Program” has been submited by Nguyen Tat Thang - Victor, and is hereby recommended for oral examination. PROF. Dr. WALBERTO A. MACARAAN Research Adviser Approved by the Oral Examination Committee, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management offered by Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines in collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. (NAME OF PROFESSOR) (NAME OF PROFESSOR) Member Member (NAME OF PROFESSOR) (NAME OF PROFESSOR) Member Member (NAME OF PROFESSOR) Chairman Accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management offered by Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines in collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. APOLONIA AESPINOSA, Ph.D. WALBERTO A. MACARAAN, Ed .D Dean, Graduate School Vice President, Academic Affairs Date___________________ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii Sincerest and profound gratitude and appreciation are extended to all the persons who in their own special ways have made this dissertation a reality. The author is most grateful to: Hon. Dr. Cecilia Gascon, President of Southern Luzon State University (SLSU), Republic of the Philippines, for her invaluable contribution in establishment of the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in Thai Nguyen University (TNU); Prof. Dr. Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for his incomparable contribution and support to the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in Cooperation with the Southern Luzon State University, the Socialist Republic of the Philippines; Dr. Walberto A. Macaraan, Vice president, Academic Affairs for his support to the tie – up program between SLSU and TNU; Dr. Apolonia A. Espinosa, Dean, Graduate school for his support to the tie – up program between SLSU and TNU; Prof. Dr. Tran Van Dien, Rector of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry for his invaluable assistance in the establishment of the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in cooperation with the Southern Luzon State University, Philippines; Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Former Director of the International Training Center, Thai Nguyen University for his precious and wholehearted assistance and encouragements in the establishment of the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in cooperation with the Southern Luzon State University, Philippines; Dr. Nguyen The Hung, Director of the International Training Center, Thai Nguyen University for his precious, invaluable assistance and his sincere encouragement and support to the students of this institution. The Panel of Examiners, Dr. ………………… iv Prof. ………………………………… for their invaluable comments, suggestions and recommendations to enhance the thesis manuscript of the author of this study; Dr. Ricaryl Catherine P. Cruz for her adviser, dedication, enduring patience and concern, guidance, sincere hopes and encouragement for the researcher to finish the manuscript; Dr. Teresita V. De La Cruz and Dr. Apolonia.A.Espinosa professors of method of research and advanced statistics for their patience and support; The visiting Professors including Dr.Arivalan, Dr. Balakrishnan, Dr. Walberto A. Macaraan, Dr. Lee Kar Ling, Dr. W.Johnson and other professors for their lectures; The Learning Resource Center of Thai Nguyen University, for the valuable sources of books and references; The authors and researchers of books and unpublished graduate theses and dissertations that served as reliable source of data and information; The college members of Thai Nguyen University, for the approval of the researcher’s request to conduct the study; The student respondents of the study, for their active involvement, without their cooperation, the result of this dissertation could not have been possible; His loving classmates and colleagues, for the endless support and friendship which inspire the researcher to put his best in finishing the study; His wife, daughter, son, parents and siblings, for their encouragement, financial, moral and spiritual supports for continuously believing that he can finish the task to the best of his abilities. To you all, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! NGUYEN TAT THANG (VICTOR) v TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE APPROVAL SHEET ACKNOWLEDGMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF APPENDICES ABSTRACT Chapter I. INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Objectives of the Study Null Hypothesis Significance of the Study Scope and Limitations of the Study Definition of Terms Chapter II. LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH PARADIGM Service Quality Measurement Service Quality in Higher Education Student Satisfaction The Relationship of the Service Quality and Student Satisfaction Research Paradigm Chapter III. METHODOLOGY Time and Locale of the Study Research Design Population and Sampling Instrumentation Validation of the Instrument Data Gathering Procedures Statistical Treatment Chapter IV. RESULTS AND DISSCUSSIONS Chapter V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary Findings Conclusions Recommendations BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………… APPENDICES……………………………………………………… …. RESEARCHER’S PROFILE page i ii iii v vi vii xii viii 1 4 7 8 9 10 11 14 14 17 22 27 28 29 29 30 31 34 35 35 36 38 75 75 78 79 79 81 95 106 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 2 3 4 5 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 7 Distribution of the Sample Size According to Population Distribution of the Respondent by colleges Percent distribution of the respondents about Gender, Age, Origin, Family income Factor Analysis of Perceived Service Quality Result for the EDUSERVQUAL Items for the Students’ Correlation of the Responses on Intructional Service with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Auxiliary Service with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Ancillary Service with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Learning Support Facilities with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Tangible with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Responsiveness with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Reliability with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Assurance with Profile of Respondents Correlation of the Responses on Empathy with Profile of Respondents The Proposed Formation Program 32 33 39 40 46 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 65 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 2 Research Paradigm ………………………… ………………… Location of Respondents College in Thai Nguyen Province .… …… 28 30 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page A B C D Communication letters………………………………………………… Evaluation of the questionnaire for content validation Questionnaire on students’ satisfaction on the service quality provided by colleges of Thai nguyen University Researcher’s Profile 95 96 97 106 viii Title : STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION ON THE SERVICE QUALITY PROVIDED BY COLLEGES OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: A PROPOSED FORMATION PROGRAM Researcher: : NGUYEN TAT THANG – (VICTOR) Degree : Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management Name/ Address of the Institution Southern Luzon State University Graduate School Lucban, Quezon Date Completed : March, 2014 Adviser : DR. WALBERTO A. MACARAAN ABSTRACT This study examines the level of students’ satisfaction on the service quality provided by colleges of Thai Nguyen University. The exploration and comparison of possible differences in terms of level of students’ satisfaction across gender, origin, monthly family income and the college inrolled. Data were collected based on EDUSERVQUAL tool that has been modified from SERVQUAL instrument. The EDUSERVQUAL tool consists of nine dimensions namely: Instructional services, auxiliary services, ancillary services, learning support facilities, tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and empathy. The finding of this study reveals that service quality is a vital factor that determines the level of student satisfaction and showed that the following dimensions: instructional service, followed by empathy, reliability, auxiliary service, ancillary service, and learning support facilities were the 6 most important dimensions and had significant positive relationship with students’ satisfaction level. Furthermore, the study also find the following factors: “the wifi network and the internet service quality”; followed by the item “soft skills are equiped for students”; “the college’s audio visual/media center functions well”; “when you have a problem, college shows sincere interest in solving it”; “college gives you individual attention”; “food services ix are available and guaranteed by food safety standards”; “book store and market are available”; “when college promises to do something by a certain time, it does so” had significant positive relationship with students’ satisfaction level. In terms of respondent profile (gender, origin, monthly family income and collge inrolled), 15 out of the 43 items (factors) in EDUSERVQUAL tool is significant correlated with college inrolled, and 12 out of the 43 items (factors) is significant correlated with monthly family income. The finding of this study showed that the college enrolled seems the strongest and had significant positive relationship with EDUSERVQUAL dimensions, followed by monthly family income. Gender and origin were less importance with the former significantly predicting. Finally, to propose some suggestions program that could further enhance students’ satisfaction on the service quality. They may adapt the formation program proposed by the researcher. 1 Chapter I INTRODUCTION For a long time, higher education (HE) institutions have preferred to focus on their internal academic needs rather than to view students as their main clients. This viewpoint has served them well as long as the demand was greater than the supply. In modern competitive environments, service quality is more importance in the competitive formula of both organizations and countries. Education sector is becoming services for people in which global and local levels combine, thus a standardized offer is modified by local specificities. Service quality has been put forward as a critical determinant of competitiveness (Lewis, 1989). Currently, people often hear about poor client service experience than good client service one, and negative word - of - mouth can have a devastating effect on an organization’s efforts to attract new clients. Clients who have experienced poor service will often reveal their experience to other people, therefore this may lead to a reduction in potential and permanent clients. Thus, a good service quality will be more likely to attract new clients as well as to maintain regular clients. In colleges, students are considered as the “short-duration clients” and they are the clients of education service. They play an active role in helping the college identify the providers and improve the service quality. Hence, identifying the determinants of service quality from the perception of students being considered as the primary clients is important, and one of a primary goal of HE should be done is to develop the satisfaction of clients (students). Besides, during the last over two decades, measuring service quality in HE has become increasingly important for attracting and retaining tuition-based returns (Angell et al., 2008). Therefore, it is vital for HE institutions to actively monitor the service quality and safeguard the interests of stakeholders through the fulfilment of their real needs and wants. (Zeshan, 2010; Al-alak, 2009). In order to attract students, serve their needs and retain them, [...]... enhance the commitment and reputation of the colleges Base on the mentioned current situation, the researcher conducted a study entitled Students’ satisfaction on the service quality provided by colleges of Thai Nguyen University: A proposed formation program OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This study seeks to find out the students’ satisfaction on the service quality provided by different colleges of Thai. .. meet the satisfaction of students There are many factors that can affect the quality of education, such as a passive teaching method, a shortage of teaching staff, poor teaching materials, inadequate college infrastructure, and lack of experience in education management Large scale of students and larger class sizes also create challenges for teachers as well as for the management to update and innovate... can affect students’ satisfaction with their university Many reseachers underline the importance of the same factors (for example Harvey (1995) and Hill (1995), such as library services, accommodation services, course content, teaching quality, catering service, academic workload and so on 27 2.4 The Relationship of the Services Quality and Student Satisfaction Service quality and customer satisfaction. .. 2010) Many scholars investigated that service quality has a significant impact on customer satisfaction (Gronroo, 1984) However, the others argued that customer satisfaction is as an antecedent to service quality (AI-alak, 2006, as cited in Basherr & Ahmad, 2012) The terms service quality and satisfaction are often used in an interchangeable manner (Palmer, 2011), the difficulty is that we attempt... college's reputation As mention above, associate with the growth of the colleges in quality and quantity, the improvement of service quality at colleges will satisfy the requirements of their students As a result, the assessment about students’ satisfaction on the service quality in HE can provide an important contribution which may be useful for management, faculty and staff members of TNU and other colleges. .. 2011, p 2) Service Quality: The extent to which the service, the service process and the service organization can satisfy the expectations of the user (Kasper et al., 1999) Student Satisfaction: Student satisfaction is a short-term attitude, derived from the evaluation of the received education service (Elloit and Healy, 2001) Tangibles are defined as the appearance of physical evidence of service (e.g... in the region to continue improving the quality of education as imposed and required by quality standards In addition, the current study will provide a better understanding of the students’ needs and expectation and will help implement new programs so that purpose and missions and vision of colleges of TNU can be served The study of students’ satisfaction on the servive quality provided by colleges of. .. expectations according to his/her requirements Measuring service quality is a complicated and difficult task (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988, 1991; Carman, 1990) The service quality construction is measured either as a gap expectation/perception of service or just as a perceived performace alone (Hurley and Estalami, 1998) Furthermore, the service quality dimensions are seen as the criteria to assess service. .. between the two theoretical concepts Like service quality, client satisfaction is an abstract and ambiguous concept (Munteanu et al., 2010) and many researchers have attempted to develop a consensus definition for this construct (Giese and Cote, 2000) Satisfaction has been defined as the perception of pleasurable fulfilment of a service (Oliver, 1999) In contrast, Athiyaman (1997) argued that satisfaction. .. satisfaction was evaluative summary of direct educational experience, based on the prior expectation and the perceived performance Angeelova and Zekiri (2011) believed that satisfaction represents the outcome felt by customers and matched by their expectations A study done by Haque et al (2011) identified independent factors that can affect student satisfaction based on services offered by universities These . supply is less than the demand and the supplier dictate quality) to a customers’ market (where the demand 5 is higher than the supply and the customers dictate quality) has. colleges of TNU, an annual overall statistical analysis of student performance and satisfaction is seldom done, and no tool was developed to determine what student perceptions were a range of service. invaluable assistance in the establishment of the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in cooperation with the Southern Luzon State University, Philippines; Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Former