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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in University of Makati
The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in University of Makati
The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in University of Makati
Abstract
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From literature, two constructs serve as metrics to evaluate the quality of
service – service quality and consumer satisfaction, or in the case of higher
education institutions, student satisfaction. Weerasinghe, et al. (2017)
defined student satisfaction as a short-term attitude resulting from an
evaluation of students’ educational experience, services and facilities. It can
be deduced from this definition that satisfaction is a result of previous
experiences on a number of purchases or transactions over time. Onditi and
Wechule (2017), citing the 2009 work of Arambewela and Hall, asserted that
student satisfaction could be a major source of competitive advantage as it
could lead to student attraction, retention, and spread of positive word of
mouth from satisfied students. The other construct scholars use to evaluate
the quality of service is service quality which is based on perceived quality.
Zeithaml (1987) and Zammuto et al (1996), as cited in Onditi and Wechuli
(2017), defined perceived quality as the consumer’s judgment about an
entity’s overall experience or superiority. By far, the most popular is the
SERVQUAL model developed by Ziethaml, Parasuraman and Berry in 1985.
The model defines service quality in five dimensions, namely: reliability,
assurance, tangibility, empathy, and responsiveness. Though popular,
scholars criticized its use in the higher education sector as it is too business-
focused whereas the sector is a not-for-profit industry. Other scholars have
since then offered various models for service quality for the higher education
sector. Among the models reviewed by Onditi and Wechule are Cronin and
Taylor’s SERVPERF in 1992, HETQMEX of Ho and Wearn in 1996, Firdaus’
HedPERF in 2006. The various models to measure satisfaction and the lack of
consensus among scholars prompted Onditi and Wechule to raise the
question: is student satisfaction an antecedent to service quality or does
service quality lead to student satisfaction. However, a 1997 study has
asserted that the two constructs are not the same and contended that
service quality is a consequence of student satisfaction (Athiyaman, 1997).
The reviews on the various models yielded this conclusion on student
satisfaction – it is a psychological process affected by many factors in
different settings. That is, no single model can fully capture all aspects of
student satisfaction or service quality.
Yet another approach to measure customer satisfaction is the importance-
performance analysis (IPA) model. First introduced in 1977 by Martilla and
James as a marketing tool, IPA has found wide use in various service
industries including higher education (Silva & Fernandes, 2010; Wong, et al.,
2011; and Ormanović, et al., 2017) as an approach to evaluate customer
satisfaction due to its simplicity. IPA is a graphical tool that measures not
only customer satisfaction on attributes of service but also the importance of
those attributes. The IPA model plots the importance and performance on a
two-dimensional coordinate system where the importance scores are on the
y-axis and the performance on the x-axis.
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
Martilla & James’ (1977) model divides the coordinate system into four
quadrants: concentrate here (high importance-low performance), keep up
the good work (high importance-high performance), low priority (low
importance-low performance), and possible overkill (low importance-high
performance). Yet, despite its popularity, the IPA model has encountered
criticisms over the years. Ormanović et al (2017) summed up the issue into
two: (1) the method of dividing the model into quadrants and (2) the
method of measuring importance and performance.
The advent of ICT has expanded the realm by which teaching can be
delivered. In recent years, there has been an onslaught of online courses on
a variety of subjects. There is also a plethora of free instructional blogs and
vlogs that are available online. Not only has ICT allowed learning to take
place beyond classrooms, it also has transformed how learning happens
inside the classroom. Integrating ICT in classroom teaching can have a
tremendous effect on the learning experience. Puentedura proposed a
framework by which teachers can integrate ICT in classroom teaching – the
SAMR model which stands for substitution, augmentation, modification and
redefinition. The first two are referred to as enhancement steps while the
latter two are transformation steps. In the substitution phase, technology
acts as a direct substitute, with no functional change. The next phase,
augmentation, technology still acts as a direct substitute but with functional
improvement. For the two transformation steps, technology allows for the
redesign of a task and its learning outcome in the modification stage while in
the redefinition phase, technology allows for the creation of new tasks that
were previously inconceivable.
Subscribing to the argument that service quality is a consequence of
customer satisfaction, this study was conducted to identify aspects of service
where the university showed strength and weakness.
METHOD
Participants
The participants of the study were third year students of the university (134
males, 311 females, 18 LGBTQI, 11 did not indicate) taking curricular
programs with licensure examination. In terms of residency, 372 or 79% are
residents of the city, 75 or 16% are from Metro Manila and the remaining 15
or 3% are from the provinces. About 12 of the respondents also did not
indicate their residency. From the results on residency, it is understandable
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
that there were students who are dormers (66 or 14%), staying with
relatives (55 or 12%), and the majority were staying with family (337 or
71%).
Majority of the students, 418 or 88%, are full-time students and taking full
load (408 or 86%) while 38 or 8% are not. Thirty-seven or 8% of the
participants were not taking full class load when the study was conducted in
the second semester of SY 2018-2019.
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
Statistical Treatment
Results
As can be seen from Table 2, 32% and another 20% of the respondents had
a GWA of between
1.51 to 2.00, which corresponds to an adjectival grade of “very good”.
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
A different picture emerges though when the % gaps from importance are
plotted (Fig. 2). The figure shows that the university is not meeting the
expectations of the students. These gaps were clustered into three: 10%
and below labeled as acceptable gaps, above 10 but less than 20% labeled
as serious gaps, and above 20% labeled as severe gaps.
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Fig. 2. Gap Chart
Taken by itself, satisfaction scores show that the university is able to provide
services to the satisfaction of the students. However, when taken against
importance scores, the resulting gap and percent gap varies in degree.
Table 4 shows that the participants find the faculty members’ command of
the English language, and their use of social media to get in touch with
students to be meeting their expectations. The participants also find the
classroom temperature and chair to be comfortable and conducive for
learning. The %gap though suggests that these measures are a weak
strength.
Table 4. Aspects of Student Satisfaction with Acceptable Gaps
Importance Performance Gap from
Measures Importance
M SD M SD Gap %
8. Teacher has a good
command
of the English language. 4.4 0.72 4.0 0.7 0.43 9.5
8 5 5 %
12. Classroom
temperature is
conducive for learning. 4.6 0.62 4.1 0.8 0.47 10.0
5 9 9 %
13. Classroom chair is
comfortable. 4.7 0.59 4.2 0.8 0.45 9.5
1 6 3 %
36. Teacher uses social
media to
communicate with 4.4 0.82 3.9 0.8 0.42 9.5
students. 1 9 7 %
44. Teacher gives
students
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
assignment that requires
the use
of internet. 4.2 0.92 3.9 0.9 0.28 6.7
3 5 1 %
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11. Teachers use
teaching
strategies that allow
students to
be active participants in
the
learning process. 4.68 0.57 3.87 0.81 0.81 17.3
%
15. Classroom has a
functioning
DLP. 4.48 0.85 3.76 1.04 0.71 15.9
%
16. Classroom is well-
illuminated. 4.61 0.59 4.04 0.83 0.58 12.5
%
22. Food choices in the
canteen
allow me to practice and
adhere
to my religious belief. 4.23 1.11 3.51 1.14 0.72 17.0
%
25. Student
organizations for co-
curricular activities are 4.46 0.78 3.78 1.01 0.68 15.3
aplenty. %
26. The campus has a
vibrant co-
curricular activities 4.47 0.73 3.78 0.96 0.69 15.4
calendar. %
29. The campus has
facilities
that make it PWD- 4.65 0.74 3.80 1.14 0.85 18.3
friendly. %
34. Teacher use email
and/or
SMS to communicate
with
students. 4.56 0.68 3.95 0.92 0.61 13.3
%
35. Teacher makes use
of
learning management
system
(LMS) like edmodo to
upload
lectures. 4.56 0.68 3.95 0.92 0.61 13.3
%
37. Teacher administers
MCQ
quiz or exams through 4.23 0.86 3.62 1.02 0.61 14.4
LMS. %
38. Teacher audio/video
record
lectures and upload it to 4.07 1.11 3.31 1.29 0.75 18.5
LMS. %
40. Teacher enhance
lecture with
videos to illustrate a
point
related to the lecture. 4.52 0.75 3.89 1.00 0.63 14.0
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
%
41. Teacher provide links
to
digital sources as helpful
references. 4.55 0.77 3.79 0.98 0.76 16.7
%
42. Teacher makes use 4.16 0.95 3.39 1.09 0.77 18.5
of LMS %
43. Teacher provides
links to helpful open
source learning
resources that improve
quality
of work of students. 4.5 0.70 3.7 0.99 0.82 18.0
7 5 %
46. Teacher give
students tasks
that require them to use
content
authoring software like
Adobe Captivate, Udutu,
and
Easygenerator, etc. 3.6 1.42 2.9 1.98 0.70 19.4
1 1 %
47. Teacher use LMS to
assess
progress of students 4.1 1.01 3.3 1.12 0.74 17.9
learning. 3 9 %
48. Teacher use LMS to
encourage group 4.1 1.02 3.3 1.14 0.78 18.9
discussions. 3 5 %
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
DISCUSSION
Results of this study are consistent with criticisms against the IPA model –
the grid it produces using mean scores for importance and performance can
mislead management into believing it is meeting customer expectations as
the division of the coordinate system into four quadrants involves
arbitrariness. Other researchers have proposed alternatives to address the
limitations of the IPA model (Ramirez-Hurtado, 2017). This study made use
of gap chart to identify strengths and weaknesses that the management can
address.
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
REFERENCES
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The Use of Importance-Performance Analysis in Evaluating Student Satisfaction in
University of Makati
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