Indicators of students' satisfaction of quality education services in some selected universities in Ghana
Abstract
Enhancing quality of educational services in higher education is an issue of concern for all stakeholders of education in the 21st Century. Students’ assessment of educational services are often seen as an efficient tool for improving quality of teaching and learning in tertiary schools. The aim of the study was to investigate factors that contribute to students’ satisfaction of education services as a quality assurance module for universities.
A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used for the investigation. Following a multi-stage sampling procedure, 1500 students were sampled from three public universities in Ghana. Student satisfaction (SS) and Quality assurance questionnaire (QAQ) for students were developed to measure satisfaction of students related to the educational services that they receive in their campuses. Covariance-Based structural equation modeling, specifically, Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) was used to validate the instrument and to test the study hypotheses. Findings of the study revealed that “instructional environment”, “technological environment” and “psychological environment” were predictors of students’ satisfaction in the context of how students see academic institution to be quality centered. The study recommended that universities in Ghana should emphasize and prioritize students’ satisfaction in their quality assurance framework as a way of sustaining quality provision of educational services.
References
Amedahe, F. K. 2002. Introduction to research methods. Cape Coast: Unpublished.
Afshardost, M., S. Farahmandian and S. SaqiqEshaghi. 2013. Linking trust, perceived website quality, privacy protection, gender and online purchase intentions. IOSR Journal of Business and Management 13(4): 63‒72.
Arambewela, R. and J. Hall. 2009. An empirical model of international student satisfaction. Asian Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics 21(4): 555‒569.
Arokiasamy, A. and A. Abdullah. 2012. Service quality and students’ satisfaction at higher learning institutions: A case study of Malaysian university competitiveness. International Journal of Management and Strategy 3(5): 1‒16.
Badu-Nyarko, S. K. 2013. Quality assurance measures in distance learning at university of Ghana. African Educational Research Journal, 1(2): 126‒133.
Bernhard, A. 2012. Quality assurance in an international higher education area: A case study approach and comparative analysis. Germany: Springer Fachmedien.
Boateng, J. K. 2014. Barriers to internal quality assurance in Ghanaian private tertiary institutions. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 4(2): 1‒9.
Bush, T. 2003. Theories of educational leadership and management. 3rd Edition. London: SAGE Publications.
Bush, T. 2011. Theories of educational leadership and management. 4th Edition. London: SAGE Publications.
Civelek, M. E. 2018. Essentials of structural equation modeling. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ zeabook/64
Douglas, J., A. Douglas and B. Barnes. 2006. Measuring student satisfaction at a UK university. Quality Assurance in Education 14(3): 251‒267.
Encabo, H. C. 2011. Canonical correlation analysis of student perception on instructional quality and satisfaction. JPAIR Multidisciplinary Journal 6: 1‒16.
Farahmandian, S., H. Minavand and M. Afshardost. 2013. Perceived service quality and student satisfaction in higher education. Journal of Business and Management 12(4): 65‒74.
Fornell, C. and D. F. Larcker. 1981. Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics.
Ghadamosi, G. and J. de Jager. 2009. What you see is what you get: Service quality, students’ perceptions and satisfaction at South African universities. South African Journal of Higher Education 23(5): 877‒893.
Gyamfi, D. A., A. Agyeman and B. Otoo. 2012. Assessing the provision of quality students’ service and satisfaction in tertiary institution in Ghana: Using Cape Coast Polytechnic as case study. Asian Journal of Business and Management Sciences 1(12): 20–32.
Hair, J. F., C. M. Ringle and M. Sarstedt. 2012. Partial least squares: The better approach to structural equation modeling? Long Range Planning 45(6): 312‒319.
Kara, A. and O. W. DeShields. 2004. Business student satisfaction, intentions and retention in higher education: An empirical investigation. http://www.marketingpower.com/Community/ARC/ gated/Documents/Teaching/MEO/ student_satisfaction.pdf
Kazeroony, H. 2012. The strategic management of higher education: Serving students as customers for institutional growth. USA: Business Expert Press.
Kettunen, J. 2008. A conceptual framework to help evaluate the quality of institutional performance. Quality Assurance in Education 16(4): 322–332.
Kettunen, J. 2011. Strategy and quality maps in higher education. US-China Education Review 8(2): 149–156.
McRoy, I. and P. Gibbs. 2009. Leading change in higher education. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 37(5): 687–704.
Muhsin, S., A. Nurkhin, H. Pramusinto, N. Afsari and A. F. Arham. 2020. The relationship of good university governance and student satisfaction. International Journal of Higher Education 9(1).
Ofosu, E. and S. K. Fredua-Kwarteng. 2018. Exploring internal quality assurance practices at Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS). European Journal of Educational Social Science 3(1): 10–27.
Osman, A. R. and R. S. Saputra. 2019. A pragmatic model of student satisfaction: A viewpoint of private higher education. Quality Assurance in Education 27(2): 142‒165.
Pallant, J. 2011. SPSS Survival Manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS version 18. 4th Edition. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press. http://www. allenandunwin.com/spss
Peretomode V. F. 2008. What is higher in higher education. Benin-City: Justice Jecko Press and Publishers Ltd.
Razinkina, E., L. Pankova, I. Trostinskaya, E. Pozdeeva, L.
Evseeva and A. Tanova. 2018. Student satisfaction as an element of education quality monitoring in innovative higher education institution E3S Web of Conferences, 33, 03043. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/ e3sconf/20183303043.
Seniwoliba, J. A. 2014. Academic quality assurance practices in Ghanaian public universities: Experience from University for Development Studies. Global Educational Research Journal 2(9): 152‒166.
Seniwoliba, J. A. and R. N. Yakubu. 2015. An analysis of the quality assurance policies in a Ghanaian University. Global Educational Research Journal 4(1): 09‒15.
Sharma, D. and R. Kamath. 2006. Quality in education: The quality circle way. New Delhi: Kalpaz Publications.
Shattock, M. 2003. Managing successful universities. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Stråhlman, C. 2012. Quest for quality for students: Going back to basics. In European Students’ Union ESU, Brussels. http://www.creup.es/documentos/esu-publicaciones/ESU-quest-report.pdf
Stukalina, Y. 2014. Identifying predictors of student satisfaction and student motivation in the framework of assuring quality in the delivery of higher education services. Business, Management and Education 12(1): 127–137.
Takaro, G. S. 2014. Measuring service quality and students’ satisfaction: A case study on Hawassa University. International Journal of Business and Management 2(3): 1–16.
Tsevi, L. 2014. Private higher education’s quality assurance in Ghana. International Higher Education 75: 22‒24.
Tuan, N. 2012. Effects of service quality and price fairness on student satisfaction. International Journal of Business and Social Science 3(19): 132‒150.
Wissema, J. G. 2009. Towards the third-generation university: Managing the university in transition. UK: MGP Books Ltd.
World Bank. 2004. Improving tertiary education in Sub-Sahara Africa: Things that work. Report of a regional training conference, Accra, Ghana.
Yadav, J. I. 2012. Service quality towards student satisfaction: An empirical investigation in selected management institutions of Sangli City. Ninth AIMS International Conference on Management, 1‒4 January.
Zhang, F. F., Y. Dong and K. Wang. 2010. Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index-C. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
