Purpose -This paper aims to investigate how students perceive the services they are offered at a German university and how satisfied they are with them. Design/methodology/approach -An evaluation study using a new tool to measure 15 dimensions of student satisfaction at an institutional level that covers most aspects of student life was used. It was decided to develop a new measurement tool as many existing surveys are poorly designed, lack standardization and give no evidence concerning reliability or validity. Questionnaires were handed out in eight lectures for the pilot study and 18 lectures for the main study. The response rate was 99 percent. A total of 374 students (pilot study) and 544 students (main study) filled in the newly developed questionnaires using Likert scales. Findings -The study gave a valuable insight into how students perceive the quality of the services offered at a university and how satisfied they are with these offerings. The results show that students' satisfaction with their university is based on a relatively stable person-environment relationship. Thus, the satisfaction of students seems to reflect quite well perceived quality differences of offered services and of the wider environment. Students were particularly satisfied with the school placements and the atmosphere among students. Students were mostly dissatisfied with the university buildings and the quality of the lecture theatres. Research limitations/implications -As the study involved only two samples of students from one university, the results cannot be generalized to the German student population as a whole. Originality/value -The study was the first to successfully apply a measurement tool, which has previously not been used. The study has hopefully opened up an area of research and methodology that could provide considerable further benefits for researchers interested in this topic. It also shows how the concept of student satisfaction could be assessed in future studies.

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Purpose -The study aims to develop a deeper understanding of the teaching qualities of effective lecturers that students desire and to uncover the constructs that underlie these desire expectations and reveal the underlying benefits that students look for.Design/Methodology/Approach -A semi-standardized qualitative technique called laddering was applied that allows researchers to reach deeper levels of reality and to reveal the reasons behind the reasons. The study was conducted amongst teacher education students at a large German University of Education and laddering questionnaires were handed out to 53 students enrolled in a business management course. Findings -The exploratory study gave a valuable first insight into the desired qualities of lecturers. In particular, the study results indicate that students want lecturers to be knowledgeable, enthusiastic, approachable, and friendly. Students predominately want to DESIRE EXPECTATIONS 2 encounter valuable teaching experiences to be able to pass tests and to be prepared for their profession. This study also showed that students are mainly concerned about vocational aspects of their studies and are less interested in their subject.Research limitations/implications -Due to the exploratory nature of the study and the scope and size of its sample, the results outlined are tentative in nature. As the study involved only a single group of university students from one university, the results cannot be generalized to the student population as a whole.Originality/value -The study was the first to successfully apply the means-end approach and the laddering technique to the issue of service quality in higher education. The study has, hopefully opened up an area of research and methodology that could provide considerable further benefits for researchers interested in this topic. Keywords Service quality, Higher education, Means and ends, Laddering Paper Type Research paper The Desired Teaching Qualities of Lecturers in Higher Education -A Means End Analysis IntroductionIn January 2005, Germany's highest court overturned a federal law that had banned the introduction of fees and thereby paved the way for German universities to start charging student tuition fees for the first time. By 2009/2010 German universities will also have switched completely to the two-level system of higher education (bachelor-master) to achieve the objectives of the Bologna process. The aim of the so-called Bologna process is the establishment of a European higher education area by harmonising academic degree standards and quality assurance standards throughout Europe by 2010. 45 European countries participate in the Bologna Process, which is named after the Italian city of Bologna where the Bologna declaration was signed by European ministers of education in 1999. All participating DESIRE EXPECTATIONS 3 countries commit themselves to adopt a system of comparable academic grades, introduce a system with two main cycles (undergraduate/graduate), and to promote European cooperation in quality...

PurposeThis paper aims to explore satisfactory and dissatisfactory student‐professor encounters in higher education from a student's perspective. The critical incident technique (CIT) is used to categorise positive and negative student‐professor interactions and to reveal quality dimensions of professors.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory study using an online application of the well‐established CIT method was conducted. The study took place at a large European university. A total of 96 students took part in the study on a voluntary basis and reported 164 incidents. Respondents were aged between 19 and 24 years (x=23.2) and slightly more female students (52 per cent) filled in the online CIT questionnaire than male students (48 per cent). On average, every student provided 1.7 incidents.FindingsThe results of the critical incident sorting process support previous classification systems that used three major groups to thoroughly represent the domain of (un)satisfactory student‐professor encounters. The results of the CIT study also revealed ten quality dimensions of professors, corroborating previous research in this area.Research limitations/implicationsOwing to the exploratory nature of the study and the scope and size of its student sample, the results outlined are tentative in nature. The research study also only investigates the experiences of one stakeholder group.Practical implicationsGaining knowledge of students' classroom experiences should be beneficial for professors to design their teaching programmes. Based on the results, universities might consider the introduction of student contracts or student satisfaction guarantees to manage student expectations effectively.Originality/valueThe paper was the first to successfully apply an online version of the CIT techniques to the issue of higher education services. This paper shows that the CIT method is a useful tool for exploring student‐professor encounters in higher education. The paper has hopefully opened up an area of research and methodology that could reap considerable further benefits for researchers interested in this area.

This research uses the Kano model of satisfaction to investigate professor characteristics that create student satisfaction as well as those attributes that can cause their dissatisfaction. Kano questionnaires were handed out to 104 undergraduate students at a university in the Southwest and to 147 undergraduate students at a university in the Midwest of the USA. The two resulting Kano maps show the same delighting attributes while other satisfaction attributes are also similar.The findings reveal the importance of the personality of professors and the characteristics of professors which: a) are desired by students, b) are not desired by students, c) impact student satisfaction the most, d) impact satisfaction the least. The results also demonstrate how professors and universities can focus attention on those attributes most likely to influence satisfaction. No attributes of professors are classified as basic or taken for granted factors by students, while three attributes are excitement factors that have the potential to delight students. The findings illustrate that there is a set of multiple attributes that professors need to possess for satisfying studentprofessor classroom service encounters. Student populations appear to show strong similarities in their preferences for characteristics of professors that lead to satisfaction and dissatisfaction outcomes. 3 Investigating the Influence of Professor Characteristics on Student Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction: A Comparative StudyIncreasingly, higher education is being regarded as a service industry and universities are beginning to focus more on meeting or even exceeding the needs of their students (Davis & Swanson 2001;DeShields, Kara, & Kaynak, 2005). As a consequence, the evaluation of students' satisfaction becomes all the more important to institutions that want to retain current and recruit new students (Helgesen & Nesset, 2007). Research indicates that the recruitment of students is several times more expensive than their retention (Joseph, Yakhou, & Stone, 2005) and so student retention becomes an important management task for universities which gives rise to increasing emphasis on student satisfaction with the learning experience (Lala and Priluck, 2011).. In this regard, Arambewela, Hall, and Zuhair (2006) regard student satisfaction as a key strategic variable in maintaining a competitive position, with long-term benefits arising from student loyalty, positive word-of-mouth and image of the higher education institution.Consequently, increasing levels of student satisfaction and decreasing sources of dissatisfaction would be beneficial to universities (Douglas, McClelland, & Davies, 2008). Finally, Appleton- Knapp and Krentler (2006) suggest that students' satisfaction with their educational experiences should be a desired outcome in addition to learning and knowing.Although higher education institutions are beginning to see themselves as part of the service industry, there is a debate on whether students are customers (Desai, Damewood, & R...