Multicreteria evaluation in measuring student satisfaction: the case of Open University Cyprus

Abstract

The purpose of this postgraduate dissertation is to investigate students’ satisfaction with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). In particular, the present dissertation represents a study dealing with the evaluation of students’ satisfaction with the Open University of Cyprus (OUC).

The main objective of the study is to identify the factors that are important in determining satisfaction experienced by students in HEIs; and to identify in what extend those factors influence students’ satisfaction with OUC. One of the main interests in this research is to identify groups with distinctive preferences and expectations. Another point of interest is to observe whether students’ expectations from online learning are different from previous conventional studies.

The methodological approach is based on the development of a multicriteria satisfaction model and relies on the assumption that students’ satisfaction depends on a set of variables and criteria.

According to the findings, the study concludes that students’ satisfaction with Higher Education (HE) is determined by the academic personnel, content of the programme, the educational process and infrastructure and support services. Although OUC students are generally satisfied with the above criteria and their overall experience, the results are suggesting marginal improvements, with the content of the academic programmes being in the center of priority. Furthermore, faculty of study is the main factor significant with students’ satisfaction. In addition, students are satisfied with online experience compared with previous conventional education experience.

In conclusion, although extend of meeting students’ expectations is generally high there is still room for improvement, since students’ expectations determine the outcome of satisfaction.