Student Satisfaction With Quality Assurance of Academic Programs: Students’ Voice

Abstract

Over the past 11 years, Kazakhstani higher education has been involved in reforms of Bologna Process implementation. New amendments to the law on academic freedom, oriented universities to the consumers’ voice, and accountability according to the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance. Consumer orientation is becoming a fundamental principle in organizing the educational process, with constant evaluation of student satisfaction with academic programs. Such an issue is unusually strict at private universities that do not present scholarships and wish to keep leading positions in terms of academic competition. This research presents the experience of one private Kazakhstani university in monitoring student satisfaction with academic experience, and the extent students’ voice is accounted for in the quality assurance process. The study used a quantitative method, which included a survey focused on students’ satisfaction of five areas, including program content and teaching process, assessment and feedback, and learning environment. In light of the ECTS, PLUM regression, and ANOVA analysis are conducted to determine the predictors that influence students’ satisfaction and reveal the difference between the year of the study. The results showed that students are mostly dissatisfied with their academic experience as they have no clear instructions and rubrics before the assessment and clear feedback after it, together with the opportunity to implement their knowledge in real life. Moreover, students’ voice is not heeded by the students’ committees in quality assurance, as they exist mostly on paper in university’ annual report. The results of the research will help the university authority understand students’ needs and fulfill the gap between primary stakeholders and program designers in building mutual trust and recognition in internal quality assurance of academic programs.