STUDENT SURVEY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY – CHALLENGES TO DESIGN AND ANALYSE DATA

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The objective of this study was to present useful practical advice on the process of designing questionnaires for student surveys for higher education quality, as well as conducting such survey through the analysis of results of such survey that was held in National University "Odesa Law Academy". Methodology: This research is based on the results of an anonymous online survey among 142 students of the Faculty of Advocacy of the National University "Odesa Law Academy", which was conducted in April 2017. The survey consisted of 29 questions. All questions were divided into 3 separate groups: assessment of academic discipline, assessment of lectures, and assessment of practical classes. Each group consisted of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Closed-ended questions were evaluated on a 10-point scale, where 1 is the lowest score, and 10 is the highest. Main Findings: The research findings demonstrate that to increase the response rate of student it's better to reduce the number of questionnaires and questions in them. Also, the authors stated that the online form of survey is better than paper form (in aspects of accessibility, anonymity, and convenience for students). It was found that the vast majority of students' responses were received during the first days of the survey, which indicates that it is impractical to be conducting such a survey over a long period. It was found that in response to closed-ended questions most students chose the highest mark (10 out of 10), so developers of questionnaires have to choose another scale for closed-ended question assessment which has some real references. Also, it was stated that only a fraction of open-ended questions will contain really useful information that can be further used to improve educational services. Application of this study: This research can be used by administration staff and teachers of universities as a guideline in conducting similar surveys. Novelty/Originality of this study: The novelty of this research lies in the attempt of combining relatively easy in implementation but quite effective in usage rules of conducting student’s survey on higher education quality in one paper.