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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines 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 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 Dean, Graduate School WALBERTO A MACARAAN, Ed D 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 page i ii iii v vi vii xii viii 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 10 11 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 14 14 17 22 27 28 Chapter III METHODOLOGY Time and Locale of the Study Research Design Population and Sampling Instrumentation Validation of the Instrument Data Gathering Procedures Statistical Treatment 29 29 30 31 34 35 35 36 Chapter IV RESULTS AND DISSCUSSIONS 38 Chapter V SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary Findings Conclusions Recommendations 75 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………… APPENDICES……………………………………………………… .… RESEARCHER’S PROFILE 81 95 106 75 78 79 79 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Distribution of the Sample Size According to Population 32 Distribution of the Respondent by colleges 33 Percent distribution of the respondents about Gender, Age, Origin, Family income 39 Factor Analysis of Perceived Service Quality 40 Result for the EDUSERVQUAL Items for the Students’ 46 6.1 Correlation of the Responses on Intructional Service with Profile of Respondents 52 Correlation of the Responses on Auxiliary Service with Profile of Respondents 53 Correlation of the Responses on Ancillary Service with Profile of Respondents 54 Correlation of the Responses on Learning Support Facilities with Profile of Respondents 55 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Correlation of the Responses on Tangible with Profile of Respondents 6.6 Correlation of the Responses on Responsiveness with Profile of Respondents 57 6.7 Correlation of the Responses on Reliability with Profile of Respondents 58 6.8 Correlation of the Responses on Assurance with Profile of Respondents 59 6.9 Correlation of the Responses on Empathy with Profile of Respondents 60 The Proposed Formation Program 65 56 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Research Paradigm ………………………… .………………… 28 Location of Respondents College in Thai Nguyen Province … …… 30 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page A Communication letters………………………………………………… 95 B Evaluation of the questionnaire for content validation 96 C Questionnaire on students’ satisfaction on the service quality provided by colleges of Thai nguyen University 97 Researcher’s Profile 106 D 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 Southern Luzon State University the Institution 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 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 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 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, 93 Teas, K (1994), “Expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: an assessment of a reassessment”, Journal of Marketing, Vol 58, pp.132-139 Van Kemenade, E., Pupius, M and Hardjono, T (2008), “More value to defining quality”, Quality in Higher Education, Vol.14, No.2 , pp.175-185 Varey, R (1993) “The course for higher education”, Managing Service Quality, pp 45- 90 Vidal, J.; Diez, G and Vieira, M J (2003) “Guidance services in Spanish universities”, Tertiary Education and Management, Vol 9, No 4, pp 267-280 Vietnamese Education Law 2012 Parliament, Dated 18, June, 2012 Yeo, R.K (2008) “Brewing service quality in higher education” Quality Assurance in Education, Vol.16, No 3, pp 266-86 Webster, C., (1989) “Can consumers be segmented on the basis of their service quality expectations?”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol 3, No 2, pp 35-53 Wiers-Jenssen, J., Stensaker, B., Grogaard, J.B (2002), “Student Satisfaction: towards an empirical deconstruction of the concept”, Quality in Higher Education, Vol 8, pp.183-195 Zaithaml, V.A (2000), “Services quality, profitability, and the economic worth of customers: what we know and what we need to learn”, Journal of the Academiy of Marketing Service, Vol 28, No.1 , pp 67-85 Zaithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L and Parasuraman, A., (1996), “The behavioural consequences of service quality”, Journal of Marketing, Vol 60, No 2, pp 31-46 Zaithaml, V.A., Bitner, M (2002), Services Marketing, 3rd Edition (NewYork, McGraw Hill) 94 Zeshan, M (2010) “Assessing service quality in business schools: Improvement”, 3rd International Conference on Assessing Quality in Higher Education (pp 219-232), Lahore, Pakistan C.Unpublished Materials D.Electronic References 95 APPENDICES Appendix “A” COMMUNICATION LETTERS Letter to the School Director Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon Letter to School Principal Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon Letter to National Education Testing and Research Center Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon Letter to FAPE Requesting for Data Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon Letter to Teacher Respondent Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon 96 Appendix “B” EVALUATION OF THE QUESTIONAIRE FOR CONTENT VALIDATION Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon 97 Appendix “C” QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE SURVEY OF STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION ON THE SERVICE QUALITY PROVIDED BY COLLEGES OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Southern Luzon State University GRADUATE SCHOOL Lucban, Quezon Greeting the students! I am conducting a research about the students’ satisfaction on the quality of service provided by your college The purpose of this survey is to examine your views, as a “client” of higher education, about services which make up the student experiment Please spend your little time to answer the following questions I would like to notice that there is no right or wrong opinion All your ideas are valuable and useful for my research I greatly appreciate with your sincere co-operation Please give your agreement level about the below statements at your college Directions: This survey questionnaire consists of two (2) Parts - Part one is demographic profile; - Part two is divided in two sections: The first section is concerned with your perceptions of the college in general, while the second one is concerned with your college of TNU in particular - Part three: Open-ended question Part 1: Personal information Please answer the questionnaire checklist by putting a tick (√) on the best corresponds to your choice 1.1 Gender: □ Male; □ Female; 98 1.2 Age: □ 21 yrs old; □ 22 yrs old; □ 23 yrs old; □ 24 yrs old; □ 25 and above 1.3 Origin: □ City; □ Town; □ Village; □ Mountainous areas 1.4 Monthy family income: □ 2,000,000 VNĐ and below; □ From 2,000,001 to 4,000,000 VNĐ; □ From 4,000,001 to 6,000,000 VNĐ; □ From 6,000,001 to 8,000,000 VNĐ; □ From 8,000,001 VNĐ and above 1.5 College enrolled (please specify): ………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… Part 2: The level of students satisfaction as the services of the college in terms of instructional services, auxiliary services, ancillary services and learning support facilities, and of the following dimensions tangibles, ressponsiveness, reliability, assurance, and sympathy Scale Choice Description Strongly agree Agree Disagree Stronglydisagree 99 Section 1: College in general (expectations) Please show the extent to which you think that colleges should possess the features discribed by each statment below Answer the questionnaire checklist by circling on the scale that best corresponds to your choice All we are interested in are your expectations about college service Rest assured that any information will be treated with trust and confidentiality No Statements Library should be provided up to date learning sources (e.g quality 3 2.1 Instructional services and relevance of books, magazines, journals, etc.) Laboratory/practical place should be offered adequate materials for experiment and practicum The wifi network and internet service should be functioned well 4 Audio visual/media center should be functioned well Open – air areas for students’ group discussion should be available and comfortable 2.2 Auxiliary services Medical services should be available 2 Classrooms should be sufficient and comfortable 3 Entertainments (sport, club, performance, ) should be sufficient and comfortable The college’s public areas should be comfortable The dorms/hostels should be comfortable (electricity, water 3 supply, ) Security guards should be available 100 2.3 Ancillary services Parking should be available 2 Food services should be available and guaranteed by food safety standards Book store and market should be available 4 Photocopy service should be available 2.4 Learning support facilities Classroom arrangements should be well organised 2 The up to date equipments should be supported to learning process 3 There should be enough signs at the college for locating different 3 sites Environment (classroom, toilet, canteen, etc.) should be clean and safe The college should provide consultation time for students Soft skills should be equiped for students 4 No Statements 3.1 Tangibles The college should have modern-looking equipment 2 College's physical facilities should be visually appealing 3 College's Lecturers and staff should be neat-appearing 4 Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or 3 statements) should be visually appealling at the college 3.2 Responsiveness Lecturers and staff at college should tell you exactly when services 101 would be performed Lecturers and staff at college should give you prompt service 3 Lecturers and staff at college should be willing to help you 4 My belongings should be safe and secure at the college When college promises to something by a certain time, it should 3 3.3 Reliability so When you have a problem, college should show sincere interest in solving it I should had got enough supportive feedback from the lectures 4 Group work sessions should had helped my learning I should had got the assessment results within a reasonable period of 3 time 3.4 Assurance The behaviour of lecturers and staff at college should be instilled confidence in you You should be felt safe in your transactions with college 3 Environment should be friendly and respect each other 4 Lecturers and staff at college shoud have the knowledge to answer your questions 3.5 Empathy College should give you individual attention 2 College should have operating hours convenient to all its students 3 College should have staff who give you personal attention 4 College should have your best interests at heart 102 Lecturers and staff at college should understand your specific needs Section 2: The colleges of TNU (perception) The following questions relate to your feelings about the college of TNU Please show the extent to which you think that the college has the features described by each statement below All we are interested in is a number that best shows your perception of the college The scoring system is the same as in the previous section No Statements The college’s library provides up to date learning sources (e.g 3 2.1 Instructional services quality and relevance of books, magazines, journals, etc.) The college’s laboratory/practical place offers adequate materials for experiment and practicum The wifi network and internet service function well 4 The college’s audio visual/media center functions well The college’s open – air areas for students’ group discussion are available and comfortable 2.2 Auxiliary services The college’s medical services are available 2 The college’s classrooms are sufficient and comfortable 3 The college’s entertainments (sport, club, performance, ) are sufficient and comfortable The college’s public areas are comfortable The dorms/hostels are comfortable (electricity, water supply, ) 103 The college’s security guards are available 2.3 Ancillary services Parking is available 2 Food services are available and guaranteed by food safety standards Book store and market are available 4 Photocopy service is available 2.4 Learning support facilities Classroom arrangements are well organised 2 The up to date equipments are supported to learning process 3 There are enough signs at the college for locating different sites 4 Clean and safe environment (classroom, toilet, canteen, etc.) The college provides consultation time for students Soft skills are equiped for students No Statements 3.1 Tangibles The college has modern-looking equipment 2 College's physical facilities are visually appealing 3 College's Lecturers and staff are neat-appearing 4 Materials associated with the service (such as pamphlets or 3 statements) are visually appealling at the college 3.2 Responsiveness Lecturers and staff at college tell you exactly when services will be 104 performed Lecturers and staff at college give you prompt service 3 Lecturers and staff at college are willing to help you 4 My belongings are safe and secure at the college 3.3 Reliability When college promises to something by a certain time, it does so 2 When you have a problem, college shows sincere interest in solving it I got enough supportive feedback from the lectures 4 Group work sessions helped my learning I got the assessment results within a reasonable period of time The behaviour of lecturers and staffs at college instills confidence in 3.4 Assurance you You feel safe in your transactions with college 3 Friendly environment and respect each other 4 Lecturers and staff at college have the knowledge to answer your questions 3.5 Empathy College gives you individual attention 2 College has operating hours convenient to all its students 3 College has staff who give you personal attention 4 College has your best interests at heart Lecturers and staff at College understand your specific needs 105 Part III: Problems and Issues (please give some recommendations if you have to further improve the Service Quality): Thank you for completing the questionnaire Please go back and check that you have answered all the questions Finally, please hand the completed questionnaire to the administrator who gave it to you 106 Appendix “D” RESEARCHER’S PROFILLE I PERSONAL DATA Name: NGUYEN TAT THANG English name: VICTOR Birthday: October, 05th, 1966 Birth Place: Thai Nguyen Provice Nationality: Vietnamese Sex/ Marriage Status: Male/ Marrage Contact Address: Thai Nguyen University, Tan Thinh Ward, Thai Nguyen City, Thai Nguyen Province Phone: +84 912014516 Email Address: Nguyentatthang.tnu@gmail.com II EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Institution Year to year Degree(s) or Diploma(s) obtained Thai Nguyen University of 1984 - 1988 Bachelor in Mathematics Ha Noi Open University 1991 - 1994 Bachelor in English Thai Nguyen University of 1999- 2001 Master in Mathematics Education Education 107 III WORK EXPERIENCES Organisation Viet Bac College of Education Thai Nguyen University Year to year 1989 - 1993 of 1993 - 1996 Education Position Lecturer Lecturer; Secretary of Communist youth Union of Thai Nguyen University of Education Head office of Thai Nguyen 1997- 2007 Lecturer; Vice Secretary and University Secretary of Communist youth Union of Thai Nguyen University Head office of Thai Nguyen University 2007- now Lecturer; Director of Affair Department of TNU Student ... services and the quality of training as well as the college's reputation As mention above, associate with the growth of the colleges in quality and quantity, the improvement of service quality at colleges... service quality dimensions are seen as the criteria to assess service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985) The SERVQUAL scale is a principal instrument in service marketing literature for assessing quality... quality Gronroos (1984) introduced the concept of perceived service quality in the development of his widely cited model of service quality Babakus and Boller (1992) have found that service quality,