Abstract

RUBINSZTEJN GOLDFARB, Gustavo; GRIJALVO MARTIN, Mercedes; RIVERA-TORRES, Pilar  and  ARAUJO CAZERES, Luis. Understanding the best students. A look beyond teaching. Cuad. Investig. Educ. [online]. 2019, vol.10, n.2, pp.33-55.  Epub Dec 01, 2019. ISSN 1510-2432.  https://doi.org/10.18861/cied.2019.10.2.2906.

It has been documented that the students' intention to recommend their University is positively influenced by their perception on its overall quality. However, it is not clear which are the quality dimensions that impact the most on that perception, and how they evolve over time for the same student. This paper aims at filling that gap, by measuring teaching quality and quality of service, integrated with measurements of student experience and student perception of the program's overall quality. The study uses Structural Equation Models with secondary data from records of the continuous quality survey of Universidad ORT Uruguay following 232 best students over all their experience with the university, with 1681 records in total. The results show that the relative importance of teaching and service quality in the perception of overall quality evolves over time for best students. Quality of teaching is more important at initial stages of the whole student experience, while at advanced stages the quality of service becomes more important. In addition, the evidence suggests that the stage of the student experience does not moderate the positive influence of perception of overall quality on the intention to recommend their University. These results are of great importance for University policy-makers. The students' intention to recommend may be improved if teaching and services quality are designed specifically for each stage of the student experience. This is particularly important at final stages, when students are about to obtain their degrees. Higher education institutions may improve their strategic planning process by including the segmentation of students according to their experience.

Keywords : higher education; teaching quality; service quality; intention to recommend; best students; experience.

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