INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study There have been many studies focusing on clarifying the nature as well as proposing models for measuring the quality of different types of services such as tourism, health care, sales, etc Contrary to other fields, measurement of service quality in the higher education sector is still relatively new To measure the service quality of higher education, Abdullah (2006b) created the HEdPERF scale, comprising 41 service performance items and grouped into six dimensions Improving the quality of student outcomes is particularly important in determining competitiveness, as well as the rank of the tertiary institutions However, by using higher education service quality scales in HEdPERF or SERVQUAL, SERVPERF models, the current research mainly focuses on the influence of these scales on student satisfaction Little work has gone into depth about the impact of the factors measuring the service quality in higher education sector regarding student outcomes Baumert and Kunter (2013) proposed a COACTIV model that evaluates teacher competencies that integrate the theory of professional quality with competency studies In the COACTIV model, employability is considered as a result of the interaction of: (1) Professional knowledge (competency in the narrow sense: knowledge and skills), (2) Professional values, beliefs and goals, (3) Motivational orientations, (4) Professional self-regulation skills 3) In which level those factors affect the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions? 4) What considerations that Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions should take to improve quality of student outcomes? The subjects and scope of the study 3.1 The subjects of the study The study subject is the influence of factors on the quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions 3.2 The scope of the study The study limits the research scope as follows: - Content: the study focuses on identifying factors affecting the quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions on the basis of inheriting and adjusting the quality scale for higher education service (HEdPERF) created by Abdullah (2006), the COACTIV on professional competence proposed by Baumert and Kunter (2013) From such issues, the study “A study of factors affecting student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions” is significantly important to promote the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions - Space: The study was conducted in Vietnam In particular, the survey is conducted in major pedagogical tertiary institutions, including Hanoi University of Education, Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Da Nang University of Education, Hue University of Education, Thai Nguyen University of Education In addition, the survey was also conducted with pedagogical alumni currently working in elementary, junior and senior high schools in some provinces and cities - Time: The secondary data related to the quality of student outcomes in public tertiary institutions from 2015 to 2018 has been collected and analysed Objectives of the study and research questions 2.1 The objectives of the study The objective of the study is to develop scales, models and evaluate the impact of factors affecting the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions The findings of the study will imply policies for pedagogical tertiary institutions to have approaches in improving the quality of their student outcomes Research methodologies The study was conducted in two main stages: preliminary and official research stages The preliminary stage was conducted by preliminary qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews and preliminary quantitative studies with questionnaires The official stage was conducted by quantitative methods based on large samples of questionnaires The study aims at: (1) developing a theoretical model for researching the factors affecting the quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions The contributions of the study 5.1 Theoretical contributions (2) assessing the impact of factors on the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions (i) This study has added to the literature review with the factors affecting the quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions (3) proposing and suggesting policies to improve the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions (ii) The study has developed a model to study the factors affecting the quality of student outcomes based on the application and adjustment of the quality of higher education services in HEdPERF model and COACTIV model on professional competence by Baumert and Kunter (2013); 2.2 Research questions To achieve the objectives, the study aims to answer the following questions: 1) Which model is suitable for studying the impact of factors on the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese tertiary institutions? (iii) The study has tested the proposed model in the context of Vietnamese pedagogical universities on the outcome quality of the pedagogical sector, whilst little research has been published so far; 2) What factors affect the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese tertiary institutions? ii Chapter I: (iv) The study has assessed the quality of pedagogical student outcomes from the perspective of Business Administration in the context of implementing the policy of tertiary institutions’ autonomy, whereby their focus is to provide student training services 5.2 Practical contributions (i) The study provides education managers with the reality of the quality of student outcomes and the influential factors (ii) The study helps to clarify the reality of training activities of Vietnamese tertiary institutions in general and pedagogical tertiary institutions in particular (iii) The findings of the study help Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions grasp the factors as well as the level of their impact on the quality of student outcomes Therefore, it may help pedagogical tertiary institutions have appropriate measures to improve the quality of their student outcomes LITERATURE REVIEW ON FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY OF STUDENT OUTCOMES I.1 Literature reviews on factors affecting quality of student outcomes The literature review shows that many domestic and international studies have examined the content as well as the factors affecting the quality in the higher education sector Factors measuring the quality in higher education services can be divided into groups: (i) Training program; (ii) Teaching staff; (iii) Facilities; (iv) Learning support; and (v) Additional services I.2 Literature review on criteria of assessing quality of student outcome Baumert and Kunter (2013) proposed a COACTIV model that evaluates professional competencies and professional competence models with determinants of specialized knowledge in a specific teaching context Accordingly, employability is considered as a result of the interaction of factors: (1) Professional knowledge (competency in the narrow sense: knowledge and skills), (2) Professional values and beliefs and goals, (3) Motivational orientations, (4) Professional self-regulation skills I.3 Literature review and the gaps Firstly, there is little research on the factors affecting student outcomes from a business administration perspective Secondly, little research has measured the impact of the service quality in the higher education sector on student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions in Vietnam Thirdly, no quantitative research has considered the impact of factors on the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions Fourthly, this study is conducted to assess the factors affecting the quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions in the context that Vietnam is implementing a comprehensive renovation of higher education iii II.2.3 Theory of service quality and training quality evaluation Chapter II: THEORETICAL BASIS AND RESEARCH MODEL TO MEASURE THE EFFECTS OF FACTORS ON THE QUALITY OF STUDENT OUTCOMES IN PEDAGOGICAL TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS II.1 Higher education and Pedagogical Tertiary Institutions II.1.1 Concepts and objectives of higher education There have been a number of concepts regarding higher education In Vietnam, although there are no official definitions of higher education, it can be understood that higher education is a form of educational organization for the post-secondary education level with training levels: including college level, bachelor degree, Master's degree and Doctoral degree Higher education is the period of education that usually takes place at universities, scientific research institutes within different professional fields, and colleges (Law on Education, 2013) II.1.2.1 Tertiary institutions play an important role in implementing higher education objectives II.1.3 Pedagogical tertiary institutions and their activity II.1.3.1 Pedagogical tertiary institutions Pedagogical tertiary institutions are places to train individuals who participate in the career of training people, contributing to training human resources for society II.1.3.2 Model of evaluating training outcomes by Kirkpatrick (1975) COACTIV model of teacher professional competence Quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions II.3.2 Factors comprising pedagogical student outcomes II.4 Models and hypotheses II.4.1 Referenced models II.4.1.1 Le Ngoc Thang (2017) research model Le Ngoc Thang (2017) tested the HEdPERF scale created by Abullah (2006b) in the Vietnamese tertiary education context II.4.1.2 Varana and co Research model (2015) Varana et al (2015) applied and proposed a revised HEdPERF model consisting of 05 groups of factors: (1) Academic aspects; (2) Facilities; (3) Training program; (4) Staff; and (5) Supporting services II.2.2 Quality of Higher education The International Higher Education Quality Assurance Organisation Network has defined quality of higher education, which is: (i) complying with the prescribed standards and (ii) achieving the set goals The quality of higher education always changes to meet the needs of society 5-aspect service quality model of SEAMEO (1999) II.2.3.5 The study used COACTIV model developed by Baumert and Kunter (2013) to evaluate the teacher professional competence The model consists of four groups of factors with 14 variables Those factors are (1) Professional knowledge (competency in the narrow sense: knowledge and skills), (2) Professional Values and beliefs and goals, (3) Motivational orientations, and (4) Professional self-regulation skills II.2.1 Concepts of quality and service quality Quality is a very broad and complex term, reflecting a combination of economic, technical and social issues Parasuraman et al (1988) states that the perceived service quality could be measured through the differences between a service performance and a client’s expectations II.2.3.4 II.3.1 Concept of Quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions The activity of pedagogical tertiary institutions Quality and Quality of Higher education Service quality model by Cronin and Taylor (1992) The quality of student outcomes is the overall knowledge, skills and attitudes developed in higher education training, in accordance with the requirements of training human resources for local and national socio-economic development and in each period of time, ensuring and meeting the expectations of related stakeholders and the society regarding higher education human resources’ mentality, intellect and physical strength The pedagogical tertiary institutions have the roles of: (i) teacher training; pedagogical training; (iii) connecting with high schools/ pre-schools; and (iv) doing scientific research II.2 Service quality model by Parasuraman et al (1988) II.2.3.3 II.2.3.7 II.3 Concepts and categories of institutions II.1.2.2 The roles of institutions in completing higher education objectives Service quality model by Gronroos (1984) II.2.3.2 II.2.3.6 Model of measuring service quality of higher education created by Abdullah (2006) II.1.2 Tertiary institutions and their roles in completing higher education objectives Tertiary institutions are educational institutions belonging to the national education system, which perform the function of training the higher education levels, acting scientific and technological activities, and serving the community Public institutions are owned, invested, and developed by the government II.2.3.1 II.4.1.3 Nguyen Minh Nha and Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (2018) model Nguyen Minh Nha and Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (2018) have developed and tested the influence of a number of factors on the service quality of Accounting major in Tien Giang University II.4.1.4 COACTIV model of teacher professional competence Baumert and Kunter (2013) developed a model to evaluate the teacher professional competence which are demonstrated via four groups of factors with 14 variables II.4.2 Suggested research model H10 The research model is the inheritance and expansion of scales in HEdPERF model created by Abdullah (2005) and the COACTIV model developed by Baumert and Kunter (2013) Additional services have a positive impact on professional competence and pedagogy Chapter III: III.1 Training program Teaching staff Professional competence and pedagogy METHODOLOGY Research design The research process was conducted in two stages: preliminary and official stages Preliminary stage is conducted with qualitative (preliminary) and quantitative (preliminary) methods Based on the preliminary quantitative analysis, the revised preliminary questionnaire were used for official surveys Data collected after the official survey were aggregated, coded and then analysed quantitatively The steps in a linear structure model include: (i) analysis of the reliability of the scale; (ii) analysis of discovery factors; (iii) affirmation analysis; (iv) analysis and testing of the regression function Next, based on the results obtained, the study proposed a number of recommendations to improve the quality of student outcomes in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions III.2 Facilities Qualitative methodology III.2.1 Objectives Values, beliefs and goals The qualitative method used in this study is to adjust and supplement the impact factors and constituents of student outcome quality which were developed based on the literature review to fit Vietnamese context Learning support Additional services III.2.2 Content of qualitative research Results obtained from qualitative data helped complete the scale and research model III.2.3 Content of qualitative research Figure 2.10 Model of factors affecting the quality of student outcomes Based on the feedback from the researched lecturers and literature review, the study has added the variable "professional values, beliefs and goals" in the official research model II.4.3 Hypotheses Table 2.1 Summarises the study hypotheses Hypotheses H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 III.3 Hypothesis expression The training program has a positive impact on professional competence and pedagogy The training program has a positive impact on professional values, beliefs and goals Teaching staff has a positive impact on professional competence and pedagogy Teaching staff has a positive impact on professional values, beliefs and goals Facilities have a positive impact on professional competence and pedagogy Facilities have a positive impact on professional values, beliefs and goals Learning support service has a positive impact on professional competence and pedagogy Learning support service has a positive impact on professional values, beliefs and goals Additional services have a positive impact on professional competence and pedagogy Variables and scales Based on the inheritance of the model of HEdPERF's higher education service quality created by Abdullah (2006b) and COACTIV model to evaluate teacher professional competence by Baumert and Kunter (2013), the study has developed a scale of factors affecting and measuring the quality of pedagogical student outcomes III.4 Preliminary quantitative research III.4.1 Questionnaire design The questionnaires consist of two parts Part consists of questions regarding participants’ general profiles Part includes scales of factors affecting quality of student outcome in Vietnamese pedagogical tertiary institutions III.4.2 Preliminary quantitative research results The sample selected in the preliminary quantitative research with the convenient sampling with the participants are lecturers teaching at Hanoi University of Education and Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2 Sixty surveys were conducted but only 50 were collected and valid For preliminary quantitative research, the reliability analysis of scales using Cronbach's alpha coefficient was conducted The results show that the variables CSVC4 (Facilities), NH1 (Learning support), NH19-NH11 are excluded III.5 Official qualitative research Chapter IV: III.5.1 Selecting and sampling In this study, the sample was selected based on the clustering sampling method and convenient sampling at the last sampling unit (cluster) The participants are lecturers and alumni of pedagogical tertiary institutions who are currently working at educational institutions III.5.2 Collecting data The data collection is conducted via survey questionnaires The questionnaires are sent directly to participants or via one lecturer who is working at the researched university Totally, 321 surveys have been collected to analyse in the official stage IV.1 IV.1.1 Training size Statistical results of the Ministry of Education and Training show an increase in the size of universities and colleges (public and non-public) in the period of 2010-2017 The student to faculty ratio is relatively high Besides, there is an imbalance between the proportion of students studying in all majors The number of students in Group III and IV accounts for 62.7% compared to the rest In addition, there is a dispersion in State management of pedagogical tertiary institutions, which makes it difficult to manage and improve the quality of training IV.1.2 Training programs III.5.3 Data analysis The thesis used the factor analysis method, with the following steps: (i) Verifying the reliability of the scale; (ii) Analysing discovery factors; (iii) Analysing Affirmative factors; and (iv) Analysing Regression FINDINGS The reality of training and quality in pedagogical tertiary institutions The pedagogical tertiary institutions’ training programs set clear and specific goals, ensuring flexibility and meeting the diverse learning needs of learners The training programs are designed to provide learners with knowledge, skills and essential qualities for teaching jobs IV.1.3 Quality of lecturers and graduates The structure, ratio, number, and quality of lecturers in public tertiary institutions have not yet met the current and upcoming social expectations IV.1.4 Status of facilities The researched pedagogical tertiary institutions are generally rationally planned, with sufficient quantities, necessary equipment and resources for teaching and learning IV.2 The results of analysing the factors affecting the quality of student outcomes in pedagogical tertiary institutions IV.2.1 Statistical descriptions of surveyed samples The surveyed lecturer participants are mainly from Hanoi National University of Education and Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2; and Ho Chi Minh City University of Education at 17.4% and 10.6%, respectively 170 lecturers participated in the survey, at 53%, and 151 alumni accounting at 47% A high percentage (82.2%) of the participants had more than years working in educational sites Nearly 80% of the participants have postgraduate qualifications IV.2.2 The results of the scales’ reliability testing The value(s) of the remaining variables in the scales is highly reliable with the correlation coefficient of the total variable is larger than 0.3 and Cronbach's Alpha coefficient is equal or larger than 0.8 after the removal of inappropriate variables including GV6 (Teaching staff), GV4, CSVC9 (Facilities), CSVC5, DV9 (Services), DV2, NL_NV8 (Competence - Pedagogy), NL_NV7 IV.2.3 Results from the discovery factors analysis IV.2.3.1 Analysis of discovery factors of dependent variables on the quality of student outcomes The EFA analysis indicates a KMO coefficient of 0.887 which is less than 1.0, demonstrating the suitability of the EFA model; the Bartlett test value is significant for Sig = 0.000, indicating that the variables are correlated with respect to the total number of variables The results of the EFA analysis showed that two explaining factors indicated 61.921%, which is larger than 50% 10 of the variation of the data set Therefore, the dependent variables in the research model achieve the convergent and discriminant values IV.2.3.2 Analysis of discovery factors of independent variables The EFA analysis for the independent variable resulted in a KMO coefficient of 0.995 50% of the variation of the data set IV.2.4 Testing the means The study has conducted a mean testing with two groups of lecturer participants and alumni participants variables (GV_CSV) using the two independent sample testing method (t-test) The analytical results show that the p-value of the Levene test for the competence-pedagogy (NL_NV) and values, beliefs and goals (NT_YT) variables are both larger than 0.05, which makes a conclusion that the 2-sample variance for these variables are not different The p-value at the t-test for professional competence – pedagogy (NL_NV) and values, beliefs and goals variables (NT_YT) is 0.158 and 0.896, respectively (which are larger than 0.05) demonstrating that groups of lecturers and alumni not affect the quality of pedagogical student outcomes from the perspective of competence-pedagogy (NL_NV) and values, beliefs and goals (NT_YT) IV.2.5 Results of correlation and regression analysis IV.2.5.1 The correlation analysis of dependent and independent variables The correlation analysis results demonstrate that there is a linear correlation between the independent and dependent variables because the p-value is less than 5% In addition, the Pearson coefficient between these variables is positive, indicating a positive relationship This means that the value of the independent variables increases, so does the value of the dependent variables IV.2.5.2 The impact of factors to student professional competence and pedagogy Table 4.20 shows that there are five factors affecting the dependent variable professional competence - pedagogy including training program (CTDT) (at 1% significance level), teaching staff (GV) (at 1% significance level), facilities (CSVC) (at 5% significance level), learning support (NH) (at 1% significance level) and services (DV) (at 1% significance level) Table 4.20 Estimated results of the regression coefficients with the dependent variable NL_NV Analysing variables (Constant) CTDT GV 11 Unstandardised Standardised coefficients coefficients Standard errors -.842 213 B 156 279 044 049 Beta 131 243 t Sig Multi-collinearity statistics Analysing variables ZeroStandard B Beta VIF order errors 000 3.962 3.552.000 486 196 5.760.000 652 309 115 186 CSVC NH DV 107 331 336 045 045 046 093 321 286 2.395.017 486 134 7.300.000 691 380 7.326.000 633 382 077 236 237 697 1.436 540 1.850 685 1.460 The coefficient of determination R2 adjusted at 0.647 demonstrating that training program (CTDT), teaching staff (GV), facilities (CSVC), learning support (NH), and services (DV) variables at 66.5% of the variation of the dependent variable The VIF value is less than 10 and Durbin-Watson (1