International student satisfaction with, and behavioural intentions towards, universities in Victoria
- Authors: Padlee, Siti , Reimers, Vaughan
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Vol. 25, no. 1 (2015), p. 70-84
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- Description: International students make a vital contribution to the Australian economy. Due to their importance, a number of studies have been undertaken to examine the living experiences, attitudes and behaviours of international students in Australia. However, very few studies have examined international students' overall satisfaction with their university experience. The primary objective of this paper is to measure the influence of six individual university service factors on international students' satisfaction, and its subsequent impact on behavioural intentions. The results from the structural equation modelling analysis revealed that overall student satisfaction is influenced by the level of satisfaction with academic services, courses offered, access and augmented services. In contrast, administrative services and physical evidence were found to have a non-significant impact on overall satisfaction. Analysis also revealed a strong relationship between overall satisfaction and behavioural intentions. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.
Conceptualising and measuring student engagement through the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) : A critique
- Authors: Hagel, Pauline , Carr, Rodney , Devlin, Marcia
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education Vol. 37, no. 4 (2012), p. 475-486
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- Description: Student engagement has rapidly developed a central place in the quality agenda of Australian universities since the introduction of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE). The AUSSE is based on one developed in the USA. The main arguments given for adopting this survey in Australia are that it provides a valid instrument for measuring engagement and that it enables international comparisons. However, the survey instrument and scales have been adopted with little scrutiny of these arguments. This paper examines these arguments by considering different perspectives of engagement, examining the importance of contextual differences and evaluating the AUSSE engagement scales in the light of both. The paper concludes that the AUSSE results should be used by universities and policy-makers with caution. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
An exploratory study of international students studying and living in a regional area
- Authors: Townsend, Peter , Poh, Huay
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Vol. 18, no. 2 (2008), p. 240-263
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- Description: The aim of this research is to explore the similarity and differences international students encounter while studying and living in a regional area of Australia as compared to their Asian homeland. This study builds on both academic and lifestyle issues previously identified in research and explores the international students' experiences on their academic adjustments while living in a regional area. The findings of this investigation identified three themes: education, finance, and culture. The analysis identified that students experience some level of difficulty at an initial stage but were positively accustomed to the local settings after a period of time. Finally, the findings in this paper are valuable to educational institutions, especially those of regional areas seeking to understand how international students behave and act when studying and living in a regional area. Additionally, this paper will also give prospective students an overall understanding of what to expect when they choose to study in a regional area in Australia.
Why do Chinese universities seek foreign university partners: An Investigation of the motivating factors behind a significant area of alliance activity
- Authors: Willis, Mike
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Vol. 16, no. 1 (2006), p. 115-14
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- Description: Considerable research has been undertaken into the issue of Sino foreign strategic alliances in the area of higher education, particularly since the late 1990s, when universities in China signed an increasing large number of alliance agreements with foreign universities (Willis 2000, 2005a). Although there has been considerable research regarding various aspects of these alliances, including the types of activities undertaken, and the levels of alliances formed in this sector (Hayhoe 1989, 1996; Willis 2000), there has been less evaluation of the factors which have motivated the majority of Chinese universities to actively seek suitable foreign partners for collaboration particularly in regard to the delivery of activities and programs within China. This research identifies a range of factors driving the Chinese desire to form alliances with foreign universities. These in general relate to the special and somewhat idiosyncratic role of universities as agents of social and economic change in China. To effect this change they have often sought foreign partners who are able to assist China to develop a market economy. Universities within the Chinese top 100 university system have become increasingly selective in their choice of foreign universities and are requiring far higher levels of commitment than hitherto. It is now not unusual for foreign universities to deliver degree programs in China, and not just via study abroad and distance means. Gradually, over time, Chinese universities have become more discerning, particular and careful in the selection of foreign university partners. To this end, this paper identifies three distinct phases of Chinese university selection of foreign partners, dating back to 1978. The current phase, which emerged around 2000-2001 underscores the growing desire on the part of Chinese universities to select better quality, more committed and longer-term foreign partners-partly an issue of signing agreements with fewer, but better universities than in the past when a more “scattergun” approach was utilised.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003007125
An evaluation of how student expectations are formed in a higher education context: The case of Hong Kong
- Authors: Willis, Mike , Kennedy, Rowan
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Marketing for Higher Education Vol. 14, no. 1 (2004), p. 1-21
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- Description: This research identifies a range of issues and factors which impact on the formation of initial expectations developed by local university students wishing to study for a foreign degree program in Hong Kong. Key factors were foreign university Internet sites, exhibitions, agents and associations, brochures and friends. This is one of the first times this kind of research has been undertaken relating to the delivery of foreign programs within the home country, as previous research has tended to focus on study abroad, where the student travels to the foreign country to undertake a degree program. The research also considers how expectations change over time, as students undertake their study for a foreign degree program in Hong Kong, and develops the concept of continuous formation of expectations whereby students mould change, rebuild and continually revisit their expectations of the university program as they undertake a wide range of subjects. This part of the research is quite new and indicates the volatile and changeable nature of the educational service encounter. Both parts of the research are of value not just in regard to the location of the data collection but potentially further afield as an indicator of formative factors regarding expectations and in regard to the concept of continuous formation of expectations.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003007130