Stakeholder Perception of Service Quality in Qatar Higher Education Institutions: An Application to Qatar University

Managing quality of services offered by institutions of higher education is important in any country due to the inherent aim of producing quality graduates from programs offered in the university. Qatar has made substantial investments in higher education. Qatar University, being the national university of the country, the perception of stakeholders on the service quality in education becomes an important factor for developing a quality education system. Therefore, the main goal of this thesis is studying the perceptual context of quality of services provided by higher education institutions among the students in Qatar University. A research framework is developed for quality assessment with seven hypotheses that are commonly used in the literature. A survey with 65 instruments was used for gathering the required data for the analysis. The results presented here are based on survey response of 397 students. Seven dimensions (determinants) of services quality were identified in this study: the original dimensions of the SERVQUAL namely, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles, and; two additional dimensions image and culture/value. The results proved significant positive association between the provided services quality and students' loyalty. Finally, the findings indicated that there are no statistically significant differences in the perception of services quality based on the students' demographic variables (gender, age, nationality, and education level).In terms of perceptions, the analysis showed that the provided services of the university falls short of meeting the students' expectations. The finding indicates that, in order to provide quality education in Qatar University, expectation of student's needs should be carefully understood and addressed. Management also needs to consider factors such as corporate image and culture/value when measuring service quality. Although there is a limitation in the responses as the outcome of this study is based on the survey of students, this nevertheless provides an attempt to study services quality in Qatar education sector. The findings of this thesis is expected to help filling the literature gaps by providing empirical knowledge on quality of services assessment and customer's satisfaction in higher education

Enhancement-led institutional review: handbook

Description The third edition of the Enhancement-led Institutional Review (ELIR) Handbook, which sets out the review method that will be applied to Scottish higher education institutions in the period 2012-16

Teaching and Learning in Interdisciplinary Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Interdisciplinary higher education aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking. In the present review study, interdisciplinary thinking was defined as the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills. The review was accomplished by means of a systematic search within four scientific literature databases followed by a critical analysis. The review showed that, to date, scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education has remained limited and explorative. The research advanced the understanding of the necessary subskills of interdisciplinary thinking and typical conditions for enabling the development of interdisciplinary thinking. This understanding provides a platform from which the theory and practice of interdisciplinary higher education can move forwar

Transversal Competences in Engineering Degrees: Integrating Content and Foreign Language Teaching

[EN] There has been a constant advance of the labour markets and permanent reorientation towards digital Industry 4.0. Yet, the environments for learning remain unchallenged when it comes to the provision of new professionals across the globe. Therefore, this has created a gap in transversal competences, which has compelled students of higher learning institutions to pursue them. The majority of higher learning institutions have emphasised transversal skills among learners and developed curriculums to accomplish these demands. The primary focus of the study was to attain integration and fusion of transversal skills into the development of specialised curriculum training for foreign language proficiency. The study applied mixed methodology techniques, which combined qualitative and quantitative methods in the study. To guarantee cohesion of the study, four research and monitoring techniques such as course dossiers, needs analysis, task-based activities and adapted competences scales were used. The outcome of the research shows findings provided by the piloting stage of the teaching experience and emphasises the need for student-based skill training.The described experience was carried out as part of the work in the Innovation and Quality Education Teaching (EICE DESMAHIA) Development of active methodologies and evaluation strategies applied to the field of Hydraulic Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de València.Polyakova, O.; Galstyan-Sargsyan, R.; López Jiménez, PA.; Pérez-Sánchez, M. (2020). Transversal Competences in Engineering Degrees: Integrating Content and Foreign Language Teaching. Education Sciences. 10(11):1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10110296S1131011Laguna-Sánchez, P., Abad, P., de la Fuente-Cabrero, C., & Calero, R. (2020). A University Training Programme for Acquiring Entrepreneurial and Transversal Employability Skills, a Students’ Assessment. Sustainability, 12(3), 796. doi:10.3390/su12030796Moldovan, L. (2020). A Reference Framework for Continuous Improvement of Employability Assessment. Procedia Manufacturing, 46, 271-278. doi:10.1016/j.promfg.2020.03.040Succi, C., & Canovi, M. (2019). Soft skills to enhance graduate employability: comparing students and employers’ perceptions. Studies in Higher Education, 45(9), 1834-1847. doi:10.1080/03075079.2019.1585420Competency Framework. OECDhttps://www.oecd.org/careers/competency_framework_en.pdfSerrano, R. M., Romero, J. A., Bello, M. J., & Pérez, J. D. (2011). Student Training in Transversal Competences at the University of Cordoba. European Educational Research Journal, 10(1), 34-52. doi:10.2304/eerj.2011.10.1.34Graczyk-Kucharska, M., Özmen, A., Szafrański, M., Weber, G. W., Golińśki, M., & Spychała, M. (2019). Knowledge accelerator by transversal competences and multivariate adaptive regression splines. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 28(2), 645-669. doi:10.1007/s10100-019-00636-xHortigüela Alcalá, D., Palacios Picos, A., & López Pastor, V. (2018). The impact of formative and shared or co-assessment on the acquisition of transversal competences in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(6), 933-945. doi:10.1080/02602938.2018.1530341Vasconcelos, S., & Balula, A. (2019). DO YOU SPEAK DIGITAL? – A LITERATURE REVIEW ON LANGUAGE AND DIGITAL COMPETENCES IN TOURISM EDUCATION. doi:10.20867/tosee.05.32Villardón-Gallego, L., Flores-Moncada, L., Yáñez-Marquina, L., & García-Montero, R. (2020). Best Practices in the Development of Transversal Competences among Youths in Vulnerable Situations. Education Sciences, 10(9), 230. doi:10.3390/educsci10090230Sá, M., & Serpa, S. (2018). Transversal Competences: Their Importance and Learning Processes by Higher Education Students. Education Sciences, 8(3), 126. doi:10.3390/educsci8030126Cepic, R., Vorkapic, S. T., Loncaric, D., Andic, D., & Mihic, S. S. (2015). Considering Transversal Competences, Personality and Reputation in the Context of the Teachers’ Professional Development. International Education Studies, 8(2). doi:10.5539/ies.v8n2p8Developing key competences at school in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for Policy; Eurydice Report 2012/11https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/developing-key-competences-school-europe-challenges-and-opportunities-policy_enCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, and Assessment. Companion Volume with New Descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishinghttps://rm.coe.int/cefr-companion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/168078798Zamora-Polo, F., Martínez Sánchez-Cortés, M., Reyes-Rodríguez, A. M., & García Sanz-Calcedo, J. (2019). Developing Project Managers’ Transversal Competences Using Building Information Modeling. Applied Sciences, 9(19), 4006. doi:10.3390/app9194006Smit, U., & Dafouz, E. (2012). Integrating content and language in higher education. Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education, 25, 1-12. doi:10.1075/aila.25.01sm

Development of predicting model for safety behaviour based on safety psychology and working environment

The increasing trend of occupational accident due to unsafe act and unsafe condition especially in construction site suggests the need for more proactive safety assessment model. Therefore this research aimed to establish a prediction model of safety behaviour based on safety psychology and working environment factors in construction site. Theory of Planned Behaviour (TpB) was adapted to examine on the prediction model of safety behaviour among construction workers using safety psychology representing unsafe act and working environment factors representing unsafe condition. A modified perception questionnaire named Safety Psychometric Model (SPM) was proposed based on TpB questionnaire and safety attitude questionnaire (SQA). Previously, the approach has successfully applied in health care and manufacturing sector. The questionnaire has been validated by three industrial and academic experts. A total of 554 respondents among 92 construction site were selected as the subjects for analysis. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) was use for analysis purpose which involve correlation, regression and structural equation analysis. The results demonstrated that safety psychology and work environment factor was related positively with safety behaviour intention. The elements of workers’ attitude, subjective norm and perceived control that form the safety psychology context found to be significantly has the ability to predict safety behaviour. The demographics variances of personal and education background, working experiences and training background also determine as the factors of safety behaviour of the construction workers. The research also successfully established a safety behaviour prediction model that named Safety Psychometric Model. The model can be benefited by safety practitioners, organizations and researchers to explore the safety behaviour prediction. It also enhanced the knowledge in the area of employee behaviour prediction and modelling