Impact Of Teaching Methods On Student Satisfaction

The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of teaching methods on Student satisfaction. The aim of the research is to identify the techniques that hold great importance and are effective for teachers today when it comes to changing their teaching methodologies and techniques in order to make the students keener towards learning and hence, enhancing their satisfactions in this regard. We will use the survey method to conduct our research mainly consisting of structured questionnaires given to the respondents. Linear Regression Method would be used for analysis. Our population is Students of IBA Lahore. Our research would help to identify those methods that can have a great influence on the satisfaction of today’s students.

Introduction

In this research, we intend to find if there is really an impact of different teaching methods on student’s satisfaction or not. Institutions now a days are focusing more on using variety of teaching methods to enhance the interest of students in class which ultimately results in increased student satisfaction. Our research would try to find out what methods if any, exist, that may result in enhancing the satisfaction level of students. Several factors affect this satisfaction. This research holds great important since we all know the fact that as a satisfied customer is highly important for any organization. Similarly, a satisfied student deems to have a great worth for an educational institution.

We will first define Teaching methods(Palmer, Parker,(n.d)) itself as:

A mechanism that comprises of different principles and techniques used for instruction. Commonly used teaching methods may include class participation, demonstration, recitation, memorization, or a combination of the above. The choice of an appropriate teaching method depends largely on the information being taught plus the skills of the perspective teacher who has the responsibility of guiding students in that particular area. It may also be influenced by the aptitude and enthusiasm of the student.So, we can infer from the definition of variety of teaching methods (Brandt, R.S., & Meek, A. (Eds.,1990):

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Discovery of new ideas and concepts of teaching in accordance to the methods and techniques of the changing world rather than just relying on only one source of information(e.g. Textbooks only); and to improve the learning of the students by creating interest in the subject and the curiosity to learn; and developing the creativity in the students within themselves. And most importantly to make the student understand that how the knowledge being taught in the class stand up in the real world.

Student motivation is quite important to student learning and satisfaction. This motivation can be intrinsic (from within) or extrinsic. Highly motivated students tend to try harder and achieve better educational results (Brewer & Burgess, 2005). Highly motivated students also tend to be more satisfied with their education (Jones, 2008; Roebkin, 2007). Student satisfaction is important because it serves as a common measure of the performance of instructors and universities and to some extent, as a measure of student adjustment or success (Jones, 2008). It may also contribute to student retention (Suhre, Jansen, &Harskamp,2007).

Furthermore, psychologists have found that students will feel satisfied when they would aquire knowledge; develop useful skills which would result in their enhanced self confidence. For example, Aitken (1982) found that academic performance is one of the most important factors in determining satisfaction, and Pike (1991) concludes that satisfaction exerts greater influence on grades than academic performance on satisfaction. According to Bandura [1977] and Schunk [1991], learners use self-regulatory attributes to control their personal learning processes and self-efficacy influences choice, efforts, and volition. Successful students seem to have an ability to motivate themselves to complete a task, while the less successful ones have difficulty in developing self-motivational skills (Dembo & Eaton, 2000)

Literature review

Students are the customers of the university and like any other organization; it is the responsibility of the university to satisfy its customers. It is obvious that student satisfaction for any university holds immense value for the students and the providers. Some universities routinely measure satisfaction while some not. Additionally, most of zthose measurements are not used for marketing planning, evaluation and controlling (Piercy, 1995). According to Elliott & Shin (2002, p. 197) “focusing on student satisfaction not only enables universities to re-engineer their organizations to adapt to student needs, but also allows them to develop a system for continuous monitoring of how effectively they meet student needs”. So, student satisfaction is important for the development of a culture of continuous quality improvement. In the present research, the impact of teaching methods on the satisfaction level of students will be investigated. It will be hypnotized that different teaching methods bring different level of changes in the student’s overall satisfaction.

We have sought down different teaching methods that may have an everlasting impact on the satisfaction of students. We would be considering these four methods: Class Discussions, Activities (Within and Outside the Class), Usage of Multimedia, Case studies.

There are also certain characteristics associated with this satisfaction and the overall education experience. They can be best illustrated by the help of the following figure 1:

Figure 1(http://outcomes.ceiss.org/Publications)

The concept of Student Satisfaction is adapted from Herzberg theory of Motivation-Hygiene (Two Factor Theory); and it has the following dimensions which include: Achievement, Responsibility and Growth of students.

To see the most important aspect of student satisfaction affected by teacher’s use of various teaching methods.

To understand the impact of student satisfaction on student performance and in the end the performance of the whole educational institution.

To improve the creative learning skills of the students in IBA, Lahore.

Classroom Discussions:

In a research article by Leda Nath and Lawrence Anderson (2007), the effects of a classroom discussion technique on student satisfaction were studied. Results revealed that when classroom discussion technique was used, the students in that class were found to be significantly more satisfied than students in the class where the technique was not used. Studies conducted over time(Davidson), (Slavin), (Webb) have revealed that classroom discussion has been observed as a positive way of learning. Goodman said that discussion in the classroom helps teach students about cultural diversity. This mainly happens because students in any class belong to diverse backgrounds. This helps them in knowing what sorts of cultures exist and enables them to understand the aspects told by fellows belonging to different cultures. (Burchfield, 1999) argue that discussion in the classroom is important enough that it should be portrayed to students as a critical element in success. VanDeWeghe (2005) argues that discussion plays a critical role in students’ literacy development. Voelkl’s (1995) found that participation in discussion is closely linked to course grades, a variable related to student satisfaction. Others (Hutchinson & Beadle, 1992) have found that students who did not participate in discussions in class were at a disadvantage relative to those who did. Anderson (2007) states that student satisfaction is not only based on the teaching methods but there are several other factors such as independence of expressing the ideas and their thoughts. It will help in building or decreasing the satisfaction level of a student.

Activities (Within and Outside the Class)

Various activities if conducted within the class and outside do lead to enhanced satisfaction because they increase the exposure of the students. It is quite natural that when students would feel the sense of achieving newer things, they would automatically be motivated to take part because they would be having a feeling of becoming more knowledgeable and practical and that is what the modern world expects us to be. Activities within the classroom would mean presenting students with various issues and ideas and then seeing how every individual student or groups of students perform regarding the issue. Outside the class activities would be diverse, ranging from educational trips to educational surveys. All activities would in one way or the other help the students experiencing new arenas of knowledge leading to increased satisfaction.(Hoyt, 1999).

Usage of Multimedia

Due to the impact and influence of information technology on society and education, computer-assisted teaching is becoming the trend in modern teaching. These days, teachers are trying to create interest in their lectures through the usage of multimedia while delivering their lectures. This enables the teacher to carry techniques such as simulations, videos, slide shows with interest generating colours and backgrounds, different animationswhile using the multimedia. How ever it makes student sleepy when they don’t have to take notes.

Case Study:

Another useful technique which can lead to students being satisfied and in turn achieving excellent results is to provide them with case studies. Case studies are one way to provide the students with detailed knowledge about any certain issue. Students when told about the facts of those subjects which hold great importance and interest in their lives are very keen to know about them in detail and this detail is communicated to them via case studies. Sometimes, students are even asked to prepare case studies about certain areas themselves. This makes them search for every bit and detail to prepare a comprehensive case study.

As preeminent case study teacher C. Roland Christensen(1987) points out in his analysis of case discussion, student involvement develops on at least three distinct levels: “At the first level, students explore a problem by sorting out relevant facts, developing logical conclusions, and presenting them to fellow students and the instructor. The students discuss someone else’s problem; their role I that of the commentator-observer in a traditional academic sense” (Christensen, 1987). On the second level, students can be assigned roles in the case, and take on perspectives that require them to argue for specific action from a character’s point of view, given their interests and knowledge. Finally, on the third level, students will take the initiative to become fully involved, so that topics are no longer treated as abstract ideas, but become central to the student’s sense of self. (TEACHING, 1994)

According to the article written by John Foran (1997), a professor of sociology, the case method is a student-centred, highly-interactive pedagogy that changes the classroom process.He himself changed his teaching method from traditional lectures to case studies. He wrote in his article that he aimed to encourage debate and the developmentof critical skills in his students. For this, he adopted the use of case studies in teaching and has been see the changes in students that he aimed for. He also mentioned that:

Class discussion of cases is intimidating to some students, and working in a group is unfamiliar to many, as well. Students were learning to work with each other in groups. This learning was again of great importance for a student and increases his level of satisfaction. It is valuable for a student to feel a positive change in him in the form of improved analytical skills and discussion with justification. This increased satisfaction improves the performance of student in the class.

The Research Paradigm

Research paradigm is the framework for thinking or a ‘school of thought’ about how research ought to be conducted. There are different issues a researcher encounters while deciding the research methodology, some of the dichotomies are:

Positivist versus Interpretive

Quantitative versus Qualitative

Induction and Deduction

Experimental versus Non Experimental

This descriptive study on ‘impact of teaching methods on student satisfaction’ can be safely regarded as following positivist, quantitative, deductive and non-experimental research paradigm. According to positivist research paradigm, the truth the researcher is aiming at has to be understood within a framework of principles and assumptions of science. This paradigm is used when variables related to the research can be identified and isolated. In our study, we identified the variables from the literature review and based on that, we proceeded to find out whether they hold true for the selected sample. It is because in the light of previous researches conducted, we came out to the conclusion that different teaching methods have an impact on student satisfaction. These methods fall under the category of conceptual learning. The data collected through our questionnaire is numeric. We will use the descriptive statistics in order to analyze the data. Hence, quantitative research paradigm holds true for our study. It is a non-experimental research because environment is not being controlled by the researchers.

Research Objectives:

The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using a variety of teaching methods on the satisfaction level of students studying at IBA, Lahore. We intend to find if there is an impact of different teaching methods on student’s satisfaction or not. Institutions, now a days are focusing more on using variety of teaching methods to enhance the interest of students in class which ultimately results in increased student satisfaction. In defining the objectives of the study, our assumption regarding various teaching methods include: case study method, class discussion, activities and use of multi-media. A careful review of the research question led to the development of the research objectives stated as:

To find the preference between conventional and conceptual mode of teaching.

To find the most effective teaching method in terms of student satisfaction.

To find the level of effectiveness against each teaching method.

To find the most important aspects of student satisfaction achieved through various teaching methods.

To find the most enhanced skill by the use of various teaching methods.

Primarily we are testing if conventional and conceptual teaching methods have same impact on student satisfaction or not. In this test, we will further explore the extent to which variety of teaching methods affects the satisfaction of students. Each teaching method is further tested on account of its effectiveness. The various teaching methods discussed establish and enhances certain aspects of student satisfaction. Each of the method is rated against each aspect to know the most affected one. We have divided the skills of students into three broad categories, i.e. analytical skills, social skills and communication skills. The most enhanced skill because of the use of the various teaching methods is identified against each method.

Hypothesis of Our Study:

Ho: Conventional and conceptual teaching methods has same effectiveness on the student learning

H1 : Conventional and conceptual teaching methods have different effectiveness on the student learning

H0: There is no difference in BBA, MBA and Pgd and MBA executive students’ opinion regarding the conceptual teaching method effectiveness.

H1: There is a different in the BBA, MBA and Pgd and MBA executive students’ opinion regarding the conceptual teaching method effectiveness

Ho:”Use of various teaching methods will have no impact on development of various skill

H1: :”Use of various teaching methods will have an impact on development of various skills

We have defined the variables as follows:

Name of variable

Type of variable

Various Teaching methods

Independent

Student Satisfaction

Dependent

Methodology:

The Constructs to measure student satisfaction are achievement, responsibility and work commitment of the student. Our assumption regarding various teaching methods include: case study method, class discussion, activities and use of multi media.

Use of multi-media

Student satisfaction

Various Teaching Methods

Case Study

Activities

Class DiscussionConceptual Framework

Research Methodology:

In our research we have used the Survey method as our research design; the survey will be conducted through questionnaires; and the respondents of the study will be the students of IBA. We will use probability sampling to select our sample from the population in order to make it a true representative of the population.

Methods of Procedure:

We have used the Survey method to conduct our study. Survey will be based on “Structured Questionnaire” which will include close ended questions.

The data from the respondents will be collected by “Likert Scale” because we have to measure construct (student’s responsibility, growth and achievement); and qualitative information is needed to be transformed into quantitative data, As we are finding the perception of the student regarding various teaching method that can effect their level satisfaction. The SPSS will be used to analyse the information collected through the questionnaire. Respondents of the research will be the students of IBA Lahore.

Sample Size and Description:

Study Population: Students of IBA, Lahore.

Sampling Frame: List of all the students studying in all the disciplines of IBA, Lahore.

Sample Size: Expected respondents of our study are 30.

Sampling Technique: The sampling will be based on “probability sampling” as we are having the sampling frame. Multi-stage cluster Sampling technique will be followed to divide the various disciplines of IBA into clusters; and then we will choose the respondents randomly from these clusters. There will be three clusters namely Pgd and MBA executive, BBA and MBA. A sample size of 10 respondents from each cluster will be selected.

Data will be largely collected through questionnaire survey; Sample size will be 30, as per the project requirement. Sampling technique will be:

Quota based on various degree program in IBA

MBA

BBA

Pgd and MBA executive

Total

Number of Subjects

10

10

10

30

Within each quota, 10 respondents will be approached for data collection. These will be randomly selected within each quota.

Proposed data categories in questionnaire:

Questions in the survey attempt to provide data in the following dimensions.

Demographic profile

Question 1

Business program profile

Question 2

Preference of teaching method

Question 3

Effectiveness among various teaching method

Question 4,5

Finding important aspects of student satisfaction through various teaching methods

Question 6

Finding most enhanced skill by use of various teaching methods

Question 7

Use of various teaching methods:

In this category, it will be discovered that how much a teacher is creative in use of teaching methods and how much a student prefers a teacher being creative. Such as:

What type of method of teaching is used by teacher and whether student likes that method?

What type of tools a teacher used as assistant for teaching?

If teacher provide only bookish knowledge, whether that is enough according to view point of students?

How much teacher focused on original work in assignments and projects?

What value a student will achieve by the teacher’ providing knowledge?

What types of expectations are of a teacher towards the learning of student? Whether he focuses on cramming or wants a permanent change in behaviour of student which gives him value in practical world?

Student Satisfaction:

The second category of questionnaire will be student satisfaction which includes the following dimensions:

Achievement

Responsibility

Growth

With the help of these dimensions, the satisfaction of students will be found out. If the Use of various teaching methods increases the achievement, responsibility and growth of student then it will be resulted in his satisfaction. Thus the students will be the main focus of our study and will be reflected in the questionnaire. Therefore in questionnaire the questions will be related to achievement, responsibility and growth such as:

If teacher said to do original work in assignments, no copy paste, whether that will increase the internal value of a student?

If teacher endow with creative work to do, whether that increase a sense of responsibility of a student?

Conceptual work not only enhances thinking out of box but also endow to grades and scholarships. Is student agreed or not?

If teacher increase technology in his teaching method, then student learning ability will increase or not?

Which method of teaching student like:

Conceptual system

Concrete system (Conventional)

So these are the proposed categories of our questionnaire through which the aim of study will be achieved: “Whether Use of various teaching methods by a teacher has an impact on student satisfaction?”

Scheduling of Research Project:

Project Stages

Time Period

Defining Research Problem

4days

Literature Review

7days

Planning a Research Design

6days

Planning a Sample

5days

Scheduling and Costing of Research:

Project Stages

Expected Time Period

Cost in PRs.

Gathering the Data

5days

650

Processing and

Analyzing the Data

6days

150

Formulating Conclusionsand Preparing Report

5days 300

Time line :

Start

Fri 01-10-12

Finish

Wed 10-12-12

1 Oct ’12

08 Oct ’12

23 Oct ’12

25 Nov ’12

2 Dec ’12

9 Dec ’12

10 Dec ’12

Defining Research problem

Sat 02-10-12 – Wed 14-09-11

Literature review

Thu 03-10-12 – Fri 08-10-12

Planning a research design

Mon 16-10-11 -Mon 23-10-12

Data analysis and conclusion

Thu 06-11-12 – Tue 11-11-12

Gathering the Data

Wed 25-11-12 – Tue 1-12-12

Processing and gathering of Data

Wed 2-12-12 – Wed 7-12-12

Formatting and completion of report

Monday 09-12-12

Start

Fri 01-10-12

Data Analysis:

As our research is correlation in nature we have to analyze the relationship between independent and dependent variable. We will use linear regression method e.g. teachers who add creativity by use of various teaching methods, while teaching helps students in achieving something. And as a result the students are satisfied; and it can be shown by the help of graphs linear relationship.

The teacher who adds creativity in his teaching by using various teaching methods will determine a positive correlation and positive regression with “A” resulting in “S” as compared to teacher who lacks creativity.

Univariate Table Of Independent Variable: Various Teaching methods

VARIOUS TEACHING METHODS

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

MULTIMEDIA

11

36%

CASE STUDY

4

13%

ACTIVITIES

9

30%

CLASS DISCUSSION

6

20%

TOTAL

30

100%

Interpretation:

Univariate Table Of Dependent Variable: Student Satisfaction

DEGREE OF STUDENT SATISFACTION

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

HIGH

11

36%

MEDIUM

11

36%

LOW

8

28%

TOTAL

30

100%

Bivariate Table: Impact Of Various Teaching Methods on Student Satisfaction

STUDENT

SATISFACTION

VARIOUS TEACHING METHODS

MULTIMEDIA

CASE STUDIES DISCUSSION

ACTIVTIES

TOTAL

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

FREQUENCY

% FREQUENCY %

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

HIGH

7

64%

3

75% 5 56%

2

33%

11

36%

MEDIUM

2

18%

1

25% 2 22%

1

17%

11

36%

LOW

2

18%

0

0% 2 22%

3

50%

8

28%

TOTAL

11

100%

4

100% 9 100%

6

100%

30

100%

Data gathering and analysis:

For the positivist research paradigm and quantitative approach, one of the most widely used techniques is survey questionnaire. Data from our questionnaire is self-reported and respondent completed. Variables measured in our research are:

Table A1

Variables

Level of Measurement

Coding

Gender

Nominal

None

Business Program

Nominal

1: BBA

2: MBA

3: Pgd and MBA executive

Preference of Learning Mode

Scale

1: Strongly Disagree

2: Disagree

3: Neutral

4: Agree

5: Strongly Agree

Effectiveness of Case Study

Scale

1: Highly not Effective

2: Not Effective

3: Neutral

4: Effective

5: Highly Effective

Effectiveness of Class Activities

Scale

1: Highly not Effective

2: Not Effective

3: Neutral

4: Effective

5: Highly Effective

Effectiveness of Class Discussion

Scale

1: Highly not Effective

2: Not Effective

3: Neutral

4: Effective

5: Highly Effective

Effectiveness of Multimedia

Scale

1: Highly not Effective

2: Not Effective

3: Neutral

4: Effective

5: Highly Effective

Satisfaction through Case Study

Nominal

1: Curriculum Content

2: Quality of Instruction

3: Personal Growth

Satisfaction through Class Activities

Nominal

1: Curriculum Content

2: Quality of Instruction

3: Personal Growth

Satisfaction through Class Discussion

Nominal

1: Curriculum Content

2: Quality of Instruction

3: Personal Growth

Satisfaction through Multimedia

Nominal

1: Curriculum Content

2: Quality of Instruction

3: Personal Growth

Skills developed through Case Study

Nominal

1: Analytical Skills

2: Social Skills

3: Communication Skills

Skills developed through Class Activities

Nominal

1: Analytical Skills

2: Social Skills

3: Communication Skills

Skills developed through Class Discussion

Nominal

1: Analytical Skills

2: Social Skills

3: Communication Skills

Skills developed through Multimedia

Nominal

1: Analytical Skills

2: Social Skills

3: Communication Skills

Data preparation involves certain activities like logging the data, checking the data for accuracy, developing a database structure, entering the data into computer and data transformations. Variables and coding of the data is explained in the above table.

General techniques of data transformation include accounting for missing values, scale totals, item reversals, and categorizing responses. Descriptive statistics tools are applied on the data to find out different trends and choices made by subjects. Also, pictorial presentations are made to explain the findings. SPSS has been used to derive the findings of our research.

Descriptive

Conceptual Methods

Table-1

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error

95% Confidence Interval for Mean

Minimum

Maximum

Lower Bound

Upper Bound

BBA

10

15.2000

1.03280

.32660

14.4612

15.9388

14.00

17.00

MBA

10

15.3000

2.83039

.89505

13.2753

17.3247

9.00

19.00

Pgd & MBA executive

10

15.7000

1.70294

.53852

14.4818

16.9182

13.00

17.00

Total

30

15.4000

1.94049

.35428

14.6754

16.1246

9.00

19.00

ANOVA

Conceptual Methods

Table-2

Sum of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Between Groups

1.400

2

.700

.175

.840

Within Groups

107.800

27

3.993

Total

109.200

29

From the above tables the mean of different Business Programs, MBA (M=15.30), BBA (M=15.20) and Pgd & MBA executive (M=15.7), where as F (2) =0.175, p>0.05 which shows that there is no significant difference among the various Business Program regarding the effectiveness and satisfaction of the Conceptual Method of Teaching.

Hence we will accept our null hypothesis as there exists no difference in the opinion of the student belonging to BBA, MBA and Pgd and MBA executive regarding the effectiveness of the conceptual teaching methods.

Table-3 Independe