A study on the satisfaction of students with the training quality: Case study of Lac Hong University

ABSTRACT:

This research analyzes the satisfaction of students with the training quality in Lac Hong University. The research surveyed senior students who have studied in the Faculty of Business Administration and International Economics, Lac Hong University with the sample size of 200. The research’s results show that all of research components are statistical significance. The New Image Value factor has the strongest impact to the satisfaction of students with the training quality. It is followed by the factors of Epistemic Value, Emotional Value, Social Value and Functional Value.

Keywords: service quality, student satisfaction, perception.

1. Research problem

When everything all over the world is more and more developing, physical and spiritual needs of the human are upgrading, the quality requirements of increasingly is more stringent. All organizations whether in any field are always looking for ways to build products more and more quality to survive, compete and grow.

Today, people talk about quality in all areas of society: industry, services ... and in the field of education. Quality is an important issue in education in general and universities in particular. So, improving the quality of training service is the most important tasks of any universities, is a prerequisite for the existence and development of the training unit.

There are many difficulties and challenges directly affect the training service. So, the demand for the quality of training service to meet the requirements of the commercial environment will be greatly increased. And the opening environment will have many more choices for students, students can learn at the prestigious school, the quality is recognized. Thus, for surviving and thriving in highly competitive environment today, the problem

Realizing the importance of students’ satisfaction with the quality of training service of education in universities, in recent years Lac Hong university have conducted several research topics related to satisfaction of students such as student satisfaction with homeroom teacher, some factors affect to the motivation and learning outcomes of students... However, these topics reflect only a small aspect of quality of school education.

The paper aims to answer the following question:

“What factors affect the students’ satisfaction towards the quality of training service in the faculty of Business Administration and Foreign Trade at Lac Hong university”.

2. Hypothesis and research model

               - Functional value

   Functional value (want satisfaction) consists of items that are related to the economic utility associated with a business degree and its worth to students with regard to gaining future employment and attaining career aspirations (LeBlanc & Nguyen, 1999)

   H₁: There is a positive relationship between Functional value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service.

               - Emotional value

  “Emotional value is concerned with the affective states of students in the form of the positive feelings they have toward their field of study” (LeBlanc & Nguyen, 1999)

   H₂: There is a positive relationship between Emotional value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service.

-Image value

   Image value is loaded with variables that represent the students' belief that the image projected by their business school is closely linked to the value of their diploma (LeBlanc & Nguyen, 1999)

   H₃: There is a positive relationship between Image value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service.

               - Social value

   “Social value constitutes the utilities that students derive from having friends in their classes, as well as the group and social activities which add value to their learning experience” (LeBlanc & Nguyen, 1999).

   H₄: There is a positive relationship between Social value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service.

               -Epistemic value

   “Epistemic value relates to the business school's capacity to offer quality educational services to students through the knowledge and guidance provided by faculty” (LeBlanc & Nguyen, 1999).

   H₅: There is a positive relationship between Epistemic value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service.

Figure 1: Proposed research model

 Research methodology

This paper is used two methods: qualitative method and quantitative method.

The qualitative method was done by collecting secondary data. In my research, I use secondary data such as books, articles, previous studies and data from Internet. I review the theory of customer satisfaction, service quality and the model of researching on Howard-Sheth Model.

The quantitative method is done by surveying the questionnaires with the sample size of 200.  

3. Data analysis and research result

There were 200 students who were participated to answer the questionnaires. After collecting, these questionnaires were tested. The result showed that the missing rate is 0 percent, therefore there were 200 usable questionnaires. The analysis reported in this chapter had been conducted on the final sample of 200 responses. The usable response rate to the research interview was therefore 100 percent.

- FUNCTIONAL VALUE

The functional value aspect aims to measure the perception of students about the practicalities of students’ university degree in future’s job and life through students’ evaluation of able to find a job, have a stable job, have a job with high salary ...

Function value: FV1-FV5

- THE EMOTIONAL VALUE

Emotional value refers to the various positive and negative affective states that may arise from a consumption experience. In the current context this relates to students perceptions of enjoyment and gladness in undertaking their studies

Emotional value: EM6-EM10

- IMAGE VALUE

Image value is loaded with variables that represent the students' belief that the image projected by their faculty is closely linked to the value of their diploma

Image value: IF11-IF19

- SOCIAL VALUE

Social value refers to the benefits derived from interaction with the service provider and other groups of customers within the service context. In the higher education context this refers to the value that students perceive from interacting with peers both in-class and external to class.

Social value: SO20-SO22

- EPISTEMIC VALUE

Epistemic value relates to the business school's capacity to offer quality educational services to students through the knowledge and guidance provided by faculty

Epistemic value: KN23-KN27

- STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION

The students’satisfaction dimension – the dependent factor of my study, was set up to measure the satisfaction of students in the faculty of BA & FT towards training service, the case in Lac Hong university.

In this part, this paper has four items which was used for measuring the students’ satisfaction towards the faculty of BA & FT’s training service. The average Mean value is 3.31. Comparing with 5 – maximum value, this average point is not high, just above the average. Nevertheless, it means that overall most of students are neutral, they are not pretty satisfied with training service in the faculty of BA & FT and the percentage of choosing the faculty of BA & FT first if having a chance for studying at university again as well as continuing their study in this faculty although having a chance for transferring to another university and introducing this faculty to their friends to study are not high.

Consequently, accessing to fully increasing the satisfaction of students towards training service in the faculty of BA & FT is neccessary. In my study, the following parts will introduce the contents of process more clearly.

The students’satisfaction: SF28-SF31

4. Reliability test

The measurement scales of functional value, emotional value, image value, social value, epistemic value and students’ satisfaction had Cronbach's Alpha greater than 0.6 and all Corrected Item - Total Correlations were greater than 0.3.

However, the Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted of item IF19 (0.992) is higher than current Cronbach’s Alpha (0.884), so item IF19 (I think the training service of the faculty of BA & FT has a professional style) was eliminated in order to make data highly reliable.

The others items satisfied the criterias they Could be put into Exploratory factor analysis.

5. Exploratory factor analysis

5.1. Exploratory factor analysis for independent variables

Table 1: KMO and Bartlett's Test for Independent Variables

(Source: Author's Calculation)

Table 2: Total Variance Explained

Extraction Method: Principal

Component Analysis.

(Source: Author's Calculation)

The result was that there were 5 components extracted, total variance extracted = 74.606%, it showed that the five components explain 74.606% of the data variability. In addition, the indication of Kaiser - Meyer - Olkin (KMO) is .921 > .6, and the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity had Sig. = 0 (< .05), it signifies that there are the connection of five factors; they are suitable with the case of factor analysis. Therefore, the Exploratory Factor Analysis method is seem to be useful for my research.

After testing the reliability, one item IF19 (I think the training service of the faculty of BA & FT has a professional style) was deleted, so twentysix remain items are in used to the Component Matrix^a for Independent variables, they are gathered by 5 components as table below: 

Table 3: Component Matrix^a for Independent Variables

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

a. 5 components extracted.

(Source: Author's Calculation)

According to table 3, almost variables are gathered in first component and the fourth remain components do not really have a chance to take part in. Therefore, for making clear things, the component matrix was rotated. The result of first round rotation/ final round is shown in table 4.

Table 4: Rotated Component Matrix^a for Independent Variables

(1^st round/ final round)

 (Source: Author's Calculation)

With the first rotated round, twenty six items are gathered into five components. No item is removed and the final result is made.

• Component 1 (H₃): includes IF11, IF12, IF13, IF14, IF15, IF16, IF17, IF18.

This component has eight items which are IF11 “I know a lot of new things from the faculty of BA & FT's subjects”, IF12 “The major knowledge of the faculty of BA & FT satisfies my needs”, IF13 “The faculty of BA & FT's curriculum provides me the suitable major knowledge”, IF14 “At the faculty of BA & FT, I get not only the theory but also the practical knowledge”, IF15 “I receive the enthusiastic help from the faculty of BA & FT's lecturers during studying process”, IF16 “The faculty of BA & FT's schedule helps me active in arranging my time”, IF17 “Information that I received from the faculty of BA & FT is always constant”, IF18 “I recognize the faculty of BA & FT always improves lecturers' quality”. All these items refer to Image Value dimension. Thus, component 1 still keeps the name IMAGE VALUE (IF).

• Component 2 (H₁): includes FV1, FV2, FV3, FV4, FV5.

This component has five items which are FV1 “I believe employers are interested in hiring students from the faculty of BA & FT”, FV2 “A degree from the faculty of BA & FT will allow me to earn a good salary”, FV3 “A degree from the faculty of BA & FT will allow me to achieve my career goals”, FV4 “In my opinion, the knowledge I got after graduating will be a steady foundation for me to study upper”, FV5 “The knowledge I have acquired at my business school will allow me to get promotions”. All these items refer to Functional Value dimension. Thus, component 2 still keeps the name FUNCTIONAL VALUE (FV).

• Component 3 (H₅): includes KN23, KN24, KN25, KN26, KN27.

This component has five items which are KN23 “I have heard some good news about the faculty of BA & FT”, KN24 “I believe that the interviewers have good impression about the faculty of BA & FT”, KN25 “The prestige of the faculty of BA & FT increased the value of Bachelor diploma”, KN26 “The faculty of BA & FT's reputation creates the good influences on the value of Bachelor diploma”, KN27 “I like the competition in my study because it helps me to find out myself's ability”. All these items refer to Epistemic Value dimension. Thus, component 3 still keeps the name EPISTEMIC VALUE (KN).

• Component 4 (H₂): includes EM6, EM7, EM8, EM9, EM10.

This component has five items which are EM6 “In my opinion it is worthwhile to invest four years to obtain a business degree”, EM7 “I am really pleased to choose the faculty of BA & FT for my study”, EM8 “I love my major in the faculty of BA & FT”, EM9 “I recognize my major is very interesting”, EM10 “Being a student of the faculty of BA & FT, I am really confident”. All these items refer to Emotional Value dimension. Thus, component 4 still keeps the name EMOTIONAL VALUE (EM).

• Component 5 (H₄): includes SO20, SO21, SO22.

This component has three items which are SO20 “I recognize I feel happier because of having a lot of close friends”, SO21 “I am really interested in getting acquainted with friends from other places”, SO22 “The faculty of BA & FT' outside activities provides me practical experience”. All these items refer to Social Value dimension. Thus, component 5 still keeps the name SOCIAL VALUE (SO).

5.2. Exploratory factor analysis of dependent variable

Table 5: KMO and Bartlett's Test for Dependent Variables

Source: Author's Calculation)

 Table 6: Factor analysis result for Dependent Variable

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

a.1 components extracted

According to table 5, table 6, the result was that there was one component extracted, total variance extracted = 83.934%, it showed the one component explain 83.934% of the data variability. In addition, the indication of Kaiser – Meyer - Olkin (KMO) is .945 > .6, and the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity had Sig. = 0 (< .05). All four items of Students’ satisfaction element are high loading (from .886 to .945) and grouped into the same component. It signifies that there are the connection of four items; they are suitable with the case of factor analysis.

6. Revision of hypotheses and research model

Figure 2: Revised Research Model

• H₁: There is a positive relationship between Functional value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service
• H₂: There is a positive relationship between Emotional value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service
• H₃: There is a positive relationship between Image value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service
• H₄: There is a positive relationship between Social value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service
• H₅: There is a positive relationship between Epistemic value and Students’ satisfaction towards training service

6.1. Cronbach’s Alpha after exploratory factor analysis

  After EFA, my thesis has no item changing of four dimensions (Functional value, Emotional Value, Social value, Epistemic value) and it has one new dimension of revised research model, that is Image Value dimension. Therefore, I will use the Croncbach’s Alpha again to test the reliability of Image Value dimension.

Table 6: Reliability statistics of New Image Value Dimension

 (Source: Author's Calculation)

According to table above, the Cronbach’s Alpha of New Image Value is .922 > .884 the Cronbach’s Alpha of Image Value, eight items of this dimesion has all Corrected Item – Total Correlation coefficient > 0.3. Therefore, New Image Value dimension is reliable.

Briefly, after EFA, all items of revised research model are trusty. So, we use it for continuing on next step.

6.2. Correlation testing

Table 7: Correlations Testing

(Source: Author's Calculation)

As the table above, all of independent variables (Image value, Functional value, Social value, Emotional value, Epistemic value) has the positive linear relationship with dependent variable (Students’ satisfaction). It means that if the Students’ satisfaction variable gets higher, the Image value, Functional value, Social value, Emotional value, Epistemic value also gets higher, too.

However, in all of independent variables, Epistemic value has the strongest positive linear relationship with Students’ satisfaction, because it has the biggest correlation coefficient value = .528 than other dimensions, and Functional value has the smallest positive linear relationship with Students’ satisfaction, because it has the lowest correlation coefficient value = .320 than other dimensions.

As we can see in the table of Correlation, all of variables (independents and dependent) have the correlation coefficient greater than 0, it means that there is the relationship among these variable, and they will be used to continue with next step (regression analysis).

6.3. Regression analysis

In order to test the revised hypotheses, firstly the correlation analysis was used to test if the factors could be put in the regression model, after that the Multi - Linear Regression analysis was run to test the hypotheses, or in other words, it was run to check the connection between five independent variables (Functional Value, Emotional Value, Social Value, Epistemic Value, Image Value) and dependent value (Students’ Satisfaction).

Table 8: Model Summary

a. Predictors: (Constant), SOO, EMM, KNN, FVV, IFF

 

We see that R Square of my thesis = .324, it means that there is .324 or 32.4% of Students’ Satisfaction is clarified by Functional Value, Emotional Value, Social Value, Epistemic Value, Image Value; so 67.6% remained of Students’ Satisfaction is clarified by other dimensions.

Table 9: ANOVA^b

a. Predictors: (Constant), SOO, EMM, KNN, FVV, IFF

b. Dependent Variable: SF

On the table ANOVA above, the value of the observed significance level (Sig.) = 0, it is very smaller than .05, it means that Functional Value, Emotional Value, Social Value, Epistemic Value, Image Value have the correlation with Students’ Satisfaction dimension at significant level .05. They suggested that it was safe to reject the null hypothesis of regression model was fit to population data and usable.

Table 10: Coefficients^a

a. Dependent Variable: SF

On the Coefficient above, the Standardized Coefficients β between Students’ Satisfaction and Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value was positive and significant because the significance value of Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value is lower than .05, it satisfies with the statistical standard. This demonstrated that Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value was related to Students’ Satisfaction, or there was linear relationship between Students’ Satisfaction and Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value.

In addition, for measuring how strongly of impact level between Students’ Satisfaction and Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value, we continue with the Standardized Coefficients β in table above. The largest value of the Standardized Coefficients β is .370, it means that New Image Value dimension has the strongest impact to Students’ satisfaction . The Standardized Coefficients β of Epistemic value, Emotional value, Social value is .361, .156, .137, it demonstrated that the impact of Epistemic value on Students’ satisfaction was greater than Emotional value and Social value. The smallest value of the Standardized Coefficients β is .118, it means that Functional value dimension has the lowest impact to Students’ satisfaction.

Therefore, Linear Regressive equation is:

SF = .370IFF + .361KNN + .156 EMM + .137SOO + .118FVV

6.4. Hypotheses testing result

Table 11: Hypotheses testing result

7. Conclusions and recommendations

7.1. Conclusions

All of components are meaningful statistical significance. New Image Value dimension has the strongest impact to Students’ satisfaction; Epistemic value on Students’ satisfaction has greater impact than Emotional value and Social value; and finally, Functional value dimension has the lowest impact to Students’ satisfaction.

The final consequences are showed as table below:

All of five factors (Functional value, Emotional value, Image value, Social value, Epistemic value) have positive connection with Students’ satisfaction, and all of them will be used to predict the students’ satisfaction because of their hypotheses have positive connection of all five factors with Students’ satisfaction were supported.

According to the statistical result, the average Mean value of students’ satisfaction dimension is 3.31. Comparing with 5 - maximum value, this average point is not really high. It means that overall most of students are not really satisfied with quality of training service in the faculty of BA & FT which has some matters made students unhappy. Students are not completely happy with training service in the faculty of BA & FT. Therefore, this service should be enhanced to satisfy students more, and make the good impression to student after graduating, and introducing this faculty to their friends to study. Finally, it is sensible to use the consequence of my thesis to improve the quality of training service at this faculty because of Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value and Epistemic value has important influences on the student’s satisfaction at this faculty.

7.2. Practical implication (suggestion to the business administration & foreign trade faculty)

The impact of Students’ satisfaction and Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value is examined in this research. The important practical implication of my thesis is that it brings information about the measurement of Students’ satisfaction and Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value, and also the relationships between them. In addition, the research findings give the leaders of Lac Hong university have some evidence to make suitable encouraging plans which helps the quality of training service at the faculty Business Administration and Foreign Trade more improvement and effectiveness. As the detailed, this research provides evidence to confirm that Functional value, Emotional value, Social value, Image value, Epistemic value are positively related to Students’ satisfaction. Moreover, Students’ satisfaction towards the quality of training service is a valuable tool for the faculty Business Administration and Foreign Trade at Lac Hong university, it is not only a factor that helps university to assess their training service effectiveness but also contribute a reference for future research about the students’ satisfaction in the field of education.

          The faculty should increase their Marketing activities by newspaper; or build the relationship with high school, for example, supply pupils who are going to take part in studying in university the faculty’s information because they are potential customers; or connect with some companies and open some classes with students who are employees in company. Because of employees’ knowledge receive from lecturers of this faculty will be known by their ability on work.  The quality of training service of faculty will be advertised by these employees. Moreover, faculty should hold some direct communications among business man and students in order to help students have clearly information about what business man needs, help them can plan their study timetable.

In summary, this finding draws a new direction for university leaders to build encouraging strategies in order to improve training service effectiveness. It can help them to create more competitive advantages for their university.

 

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NCS. DƯƠNG THỊ PHƯƠNG HẠNH           

Khoa Quản trị - Kinh tế Quốc tế, Trường Đại học Lạc Hồng

TÓM TẮT:

Nghiên cứu này phân tích sự hài lòng của sinh viên đối với chất lượng đào tạo tại Trường Đại học Lạc Hồng. Nghiên cứu đã tiến hành khảo sát các sinh viên năm cuối đang theo học tại Khoa Quản trị kinh doanh và Kinh tế quốc tế, Trường Đại học Lạc Hồng với kích thước mẫu là 200. Kết quả cho thấy, tất cả các thành phần đều có ý nghĩa thống kê. Giá trị Hình ảnh Mới có tác động mạnh nhất đến sự hài lòng của sinh viên; tiếp theo là Giá trị nhận thức, Giá trị tình cảm, Giá trị xã hội và cuối cùng là Giá trị chức năng.

Từ khóa: chất lượng dịch vụ, sự hài lòng của sinh viên, sự cảm nhận.

[Tạp chí Công Thương - Các kết quả nghiên cứu khoa học và ứng dụng công nghệ, 

Số 11, tháng 5 năm 2021]