COMPARATIVE STUDY OF QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION BY USING STUDENT SATISFACTION SURVEY IN OMAN MEDICAL COLLEGE

Dr. A. R. Mullaicharam*, Dr. Yaseen Al Lawatia and Dr. Nirmala Halligudi

ABSTRACT

Purpose – The study aims to compare how students perceive the services they are offered at a Oman Medical College(Currently Known as National University of science and Technology, College of Pharmacy) at Boushar campus in 2015-16 and 2016 -17 of two academic years. For this purpose, an evaluation study using a new tool to measure six dimensions of student satisfaction at an institutional level will be presented that covers most aspects of student life. Design / Methodology / Approach - Questionnaires were handed out in 18 lectures for the main study. The response rate was 50-60%. Students filled in the newly developed questionnaires using Likert scales. Results – The study gave a valuable insight into how students perceive the quality of the services offered at a College and how satisfied they are with these offerings. Our results show that students’ satisfaction with the College 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. In both academic Students were highly satisfied with lab facilities, library facilities, academic advising and IT services compared to campus life and governance related issues.

Keywords: Service quality, Student satisfaction, Higher education.