Student satisfaction and the progress in their performance: Case study at an IELTS center in Vietnam
Previous studies have focused on the relationship between students’ satisfaction and students’ academic performance in a higher education context. However, little is known about the relationship between students’ satisfaction and the progress in their performance regarding studying for the IELTS. The author, therefore, explores the correlation between student satisfaction and the progress in their IELTS performance. The study was conducted at McIELTS center in Ho Chi Minh City, using a modified version of the SERVPERF model developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992).
A quantitative method was adopted with the use of an online survey. Questionnaires were sent to 96 students who were currently or had been previously enrolled in the classes at McIELTS from June to October 2020. The study analyzed a total of 63 valid responses. Cronbach’s Alpha, Pearson correlation test, multiple linear regression, and t-test were used to analyze the data.
The findings suggest that student satisfaction has a negligible correlation with the progress in their IELTS performance because of lack of valid data. This is the caveat of the study and therefore cannot be generalized to a larger population.
However, going to McIELTS to study is effective, as shown by the t-test result, with scores after taking the classes higher than scores upon enrolment.
- All 5 key components of service quality (Competence, Reliability, Tangibles, Empathy, Responsiveness - CRTER) have moderate and low correlations with students' overall satisfaction.
- Tangibles and Empathy are the strongest components that affect student satisfaction. Male students rate these two components higher than their female peers.
- If students spend 2.5 months taking a certain class at the center, they will be expected to have an increase of 0.395 in their IELTS performance. In this regard, female students are likely to perform better than their male peers as their study time increases.
The figures are readable to color-blind people with the help of rcartocolor package.