Loading... Back 1 article(s) will be saved. The link information below provides a persistent link to the article you've requested. Persistent link to this record: Following the link below will bring you to the start of the article or citation. Cut and Paste: To place article links in an external web document, simply copy and paste the HTML below, starting with "Course work characteristics and students' satisfaction with instruction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- COURSE WORK CHARACTERISTICS AND STUDENTS' SATISFACTION WITH INSTRUCTION The present study attempted to extend the work on perceived job characteristics to the higher learning environment and the perceived characteristics of course work. on the basis of organizational theories, several characteristics of the learning process as perceived by students were defined, measured and related to students' satisfaction with instruction. The study was conducted in the School for Health Professions and the sample consisted of a total of 140 students participating in the academic programs of the School. Regression and path-analytic models were constructed and tested. The major findings of the study were: (1) identification of three dominant predictors of instructional satisfaction: clarity of instructional tasks, professors' feedback, and identity of instructional tasks; (2) ranking of the causal effects of the dominant predictors on instructional satisfaction as follows (from the highest to the lowest): (a) professors' feedback (0.49), (b) task clarity (0.31), and (c) task identity (0.19). The implications of the present study for higher education and suggestions for future research are discussed. Research on students' satisfaction with their course work has attracted considerable attention in recent years (Neumann and Finaly-Neumann, 1989; Finaly-Neumann and Neumann, 1992) towards various facets of the learning experience, which is cumulatively influenced by the students' experience with (a) different instructors in college and their teaching and personal styles, (b) different types of courses, and (c) requirements and assessment criteria. The overall generalized attitude may have distinct policy implications for the organization. It may be useful as a predictor of various outcomes, such as students' future relationship to the college as alumni (future commitment) and the general attractiveness of the college for new students (by creating an outside image for the college). Thus, instructional satisfaction may be important both for policy-makers at the university level, and for institutional researchers and students of higher education. The present study attempts to examine whether or not the various perceived characteristics of course work are an important predictor of students' satisfaction with their instruction. Course Work Characteristics <#toc> Organizational researchers and executives alike have had a vested interest in understanding how job characteristics relate individual productivity and job satisfaction. The research on work design has succeeded in identifying a set of perceived job characteristics that contribute to job satisfaction. The characteristics most often discussed in the literature are: autonomy, variety, task identity, task feedback, supervisor feedback, challenge and role clarity (Griffin, 1987; Moorhead and Griffin, 1992; organ and Bateman, 1991). This research resulted in recent efforts to develop job enrichment and job enlargement programs directed toward redesigning job and work environment to reduce problems of burnout, boredom and alienation, and to increase motivation, productivity and job satisfaction. Job characteristics are defined at the perceptual level. They are the perceived attributes of the job. They are measured in most studies by the notion of need fulfillment, i.e., the response to a "How much is there now" item for a particular facet of job characteristics. The dominant paradigm and research findings have clearly indicated that not the objective characteristics of the job but how the individual perceived his or her job is the salient predictor of an individual's job satisfaction. The present study attempts to extend the work on perceived job characteristics to the higher learning environment and the perceived characteristics of course work. In other words, on the basis of organizational theory, several characteristics of the learning process as perceived by students are defined, measured and related to students' satisfaction with instruction. Course work characteristics are derived from previous studies on organization. Seven dimensions of course work characteristics are defined as follows: Clarity of instructional tasks is defined by two complementary facets: (1) the predictability of the outcomes of or the responses to students' behavior, and (2) the existence of clarity of behavioral requirements to guide behavior and provide knowledge that the behavior is appropriate. Challenge derived from instructional tasks is defined as the degree to which the knowledge, skills, and abilities of students are perceived to be engaged and enlarged by instruction and the learning process. Identity of instructional tasks is defined as the extent to which students can clearly identify the results of their learning. Feedback derived from instructional tasks is the degree to which students receive information from their learning experience as they are studying which reveals how well they are performing in their course work. Feedback derived from professors is defined similarly to the previous dimension but students receive the information from their professors. Autonomy in instructional tasks is the extent to which students have a major say in scheduling their studies and selecting their courses and instructors. Variety in instructional tasks is the extent to which the learning process requires students to perform a wide range of activities in their course work and experience diversity in their topics and subjects of study. This study examined the model in which instructional satisfaction is the dependent variable, and task clarity, challenge, identity, task feedback, professors' feedback, autonomy and variety are the independent variables. Method <#toc> Sample The present study was conducted in the two academic programs of the School for Health Professions at a small university: (1) the Department of Nursing, and (2) the Department of Physical Therapy. The sample encompasses a total of 140 students participating in those two programs. All respondents were interviewed by means of a questionnaire. Variables Students' satisfaction with instruction was measured by an instrument with fourteen items which was derived from Keaveny and McGann (1978). This instrument was designed to cover the relevant aspects of students' satisfaction with college instruction. Table 1 presents all scale items used, their means, standards deviations, and correlations with the summative scale. Students were asked to rate how satisfied they were with each aspect of their course work. Five-point scales were used (1-very dissatisfied; 2 - dissatisfied; 3 - neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; 4 - satisfied; 5 - very satisfied). A summative scale of instructional satisfaction was constructed by adding together all fourteen items. The summative scale ranges from 14 to 70 with a mean of 48.92 and standard deviation of 6.37. Table 2 presents all scale items of course work characteristics, their means, standard deviations and correlations with school year and average grade. The items for the various course work characteristics were derived from the instrument of job characteristics used by Walsh, Taber and Beehr (1980), and were modified to fit the higher learning environment. The eighteen items belong to seven different domains. Each item is measured on a five point scale (1- strongly disagree; 2 disagree; 3 - neither agree nor disagree; 4 agree; 5 - strongly agree). Clarity of instructional tasks is a summative scale of the first three items. Challenge derived from instructional tasks consists of two items (No. 6 and No. 7) and the scale was created by adding these two items. Feedback derived from instructional tasks includes item 8 and item 9. -Feedback derived from professors is the summ of items 10, 11 and 12. Autonomy in instructional tasks was composed by adding 13, 14 and 15. Variety in instructional tasks is a summative scale of the last three items (16-18). Results Table 3 presents the course characteristics scales, their means, standard deviations, interrelationships and reliability coefficients. Since the present study is the first one to use the concept of course characteristics, adopted from the organizational literature, the performance measures of the various scales are reported for future studies' comparison purposes. In order to compare the true means of each scale, the mean summative scale was divided by the number of items in each scale. The true means usually reflect the nature of the program as perceived by the students. In the present case, identity of instructional tasks has the maximal mean (4.06 out of a five point scale), whereas autonomy in instructional tasks has the lowest mean (1.87). Four out of the seven scales have means around 3.50 (+ 0.2). These scales are: (1) clarity of instructional tasks; (2) challenge derived from instructional tasks; (3) feedback from instructional tasks, and (4) feedback derived from professors. The reliability coefficients for the various scales range from 0.59 (task feedback) to 0.84 (autonomy) where the median reliability is 0.72. The correlations among the various scales range from -0.07 to 0.68 and the median correlation is 0.32. The maximum correlation (0.68) was observed between professors' feedback and task clarity. It may be the case that feedback received from professors contributes to upgrading the level of task clarity. Another relatively strong correlation was found between task identity and challenge (0.56). The identification of the results of one's learning is positively associated with enlarging the knowledge and skills of the individual. All other correlation coefficients are smaller than 0.5. Table 4 presents the regression model where the dependent variable is the summative instructional satisfaction scale and the independent variables are course work characteristics scales. The seven independent variables explain thirty-five percent of the variation in instructional satisfaction. (p<.001). The two best predictors of instructional satisfaction are feedback derived from professors, and task clarity with respective beta weights of 0.28 and 0.26 (p<.01). The two other variables with statistically significant direct effect on course work satisfaction are variety and task identity with respective beta weights of 0.19 and 0.18 (p<.05). These four variables have a positive impact on the dependent variables. The other three variables (challenge, task feedback, and autonomy) have only a negligible and statistically non-significant role in predicting students' satisfaction with instruction. In all three cases, the direct effect's absolute value is smaller than 0.1. Table 5 (a) presents an adapted regression model where the independent variables are: task clarity, task identity, professors' feedback and variety, i.e., the independent variables with non-negligible direct effects on instructional satisfaction (non-negligible direct effects are those whose absolute values are greater than 0.1). The four predictors explain thirty-four percent of instructional satisfaction variation. The difference between the two models in explained variation is only 0.01. In other words, the two models reach a similar level of predictability despite the substantial reduction in the number of independent variables. Thus, three independent variables do not play an important role and were removed from the analysis. Among the four remaining independent variables, two groups of variables were identified. The first group includes the two dominant predictors: clarity and professors' feedback (respective beta weights are: 0.26 and 0.24; p<.01). The second group consists of two predictors: task identity and variety, whose beta weights are considerably smaller than those of their dominant counterparts (0.15 and 0.14; n.s.). In order to examine whether an additional reduction is possible, a step-wise partitioning of the explained variation was performed. The increment of the explained variation in instructional satisfaction due to clarity, identity and professors' feedback are statistically significant at 0.05 level. The increment of the explained variation of instructional satisfaction due to variety is statistically non-significant. In other words, a three independent variable solution resulted in explained variation of 0.325 which is approximately the same as the four independent variable solution (0.34), and the two coefficients of determination (R^2 ) are not statistically different from one another. Thus, we decided to use a reduced model with three independent variables. Table 5 (b) presents the result of the reduced model where task clarity, task identity. and professors' feedback are the determinants of students' satisfaction with instruction. All beta weights in the reduced model are statistically significant: the direct effect of task identity is significant at the 0.05 level while the two other coefficients are statistically significant at the 0.01 level. Clarity of instructional tasks and professors' feedback account for eighty percent of the explained variation in the fair-share partitioning scheme (0.26 out of 0.325) whereas task identity's share is twenty percent (0.0965 out of 0.325). Discussion <#toc> Towards a Causal Mode Walsh, Taber and Beehr (1980) suggested a causal model of job characteristics and job satisfaction based on the distinction between the information component (supervisor feedback, task feedback, task clarity, task identity) and the action component (variety, autonomy, and challenge) and causal ordering considerations within each component. Interestingly,alldominant predictors of instructional satisfaction in our study belong to the information domain. Based on the results of the present study, the preliminary hypothesis indicated that instructional satisfaction is a function of three independent variables: task clarify, task identity, and professors' feedback. Following Walsh, Taber and Beehr's causal ordering, the following contingencies can be derived: (1) task clarity depends on the feedback received from professors - the stronger the feedback, the higher the level of task clarity of instructional tasks; (2) task identity assumes the presence of some degree of task clarity and an adequate level of information, guidance and supervision received from professors. Figure 1 presents the preliminary causal model of course work characteristics and instructional satisfaction. The causal effects of the various work characteristic variables on instructional satisfaction can be ranked as follows (from highest to the lowest): (1) professors' feedback (0.49), (2) task clarity (0.31) and (3) task identity (0.19). Thus, despite the impressive overall correlation between task clarity and instructional satisfaction (r = 0.50), only one portion (0.31) is causal (direct effect = 0.26, and indirect effect = 0.05), while another portion (0.19) is non-causal, i.e., due to the existence of a prior variable, namely professors' feedback. Similarly, the total correlation of task identity on instructional satisfaction 0.33, whereas the causal portion is only 0.19. The examination of the two direct effects on task clarity revealed that the direct effect of professors' feedback on task clarity is only 0.05 (N.S.). Therefore, this path was empirically eliminated from the model. Figure 2 presents the revised causal model of course work characteristics and instructional satisfaction. The causal effects of the various course work characteristic variables on instructional satisfaction are about the same as before. Moreover, within each pair of relationships where instructional satisfaction is the dependent variable, the differences between implied correlations and observed correlations are zero. This finding suggests that the revised model accurately describes the causal scheme of students' satisfaction with instruction (based on the premises upon which the model was constructed). Conclusions This study defined the core dimensions of course work characteristics, designed an instrument to measure those dimensions, and related them to students' satisfaction with instruction. Afte rexamining the predictability of the defined core dimensions, they were reduced, on the basis of their relative contribution to the explained variation of instructional satisfaction. Then, preliminary and revised causal models of instructional satisfaction were identified and tested. Several conclusions can be drawn. First, the seven core dimensions of course work characteristics account for thirty-five percent of the explained variation of instructional satisfaction. on the basis of the relative size of the beta weights, three variables were found to have statistically non-significant direct effects on instructional satisfaction: (1) challenge derived from instructional tasks, (2) task feedback, and (3) autonomy in instructional tasks. Another independent variable, variety in instructional tasks, was eliminated due to statistically non-significant increment of the explained variation in a step-wise partitioning method. Thus, the findings of the present study reveal three dominant predictors of instructional satisfaction: clarity of instructional tasks, professors' feedback, and identity of instructional tasks. Second, a preliminary causal model of instructional satisfaction determinants was constructed, tested, and then revised. The causal effects of the various predictors on instructional satisfaction reflect their level of influence on the dependent variable. The policy implication derived from the revised model is quite clear. The major determinant of instructional satisfaction is professors' feedback with a causal effect of 0.49. The second most important predictor is task clarity (causal effect = 0.31). Thus, the academic program can engage itself in an organizational change by upgrading the level of feedback professors give to their students and by clarifying the various instructional tasks, either through the increment of the predictability of outcomes, or through setting clear behavioral requirements to guide student behavior. Third, this study was conducted in a School for Health Professions of a single university. Thus, the results are only valid for similar schools in the Israeli system. We believe that the approach can be generalized to other schools and other western countries although the results may not be the same. Findings of this research and other studies that may follow can be used to design strategies of organizational change in universities. Future studies are needed to assess the impact of course work characteristics on student satisfaction with instruction in various types of universities. Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations of Instructional Satisfaction Items and Correlations with the Summative Scale Instructional Satisfaction Items Means S.D. Scale Corr 1. Professors lead classes through a logical sequence of material 3.44 0.60 0.47 2. Prompt feedback is given of tests and homework 3.47 0.82 0.58 3. Lectures are lively and interesting 3.61 0.65 0.43 4. Professors are knowledgeable and up to date in the field 4.12 0.81 0.53 5. Professors present material in a way that students understand 3.50 0.75 0.57 6. Real world examples are incorporated in the course 3.66 0.84 0.41 7. Homework contributes to students' understanding 3.68 0.99 0.45 8. Students are encouraged to ask questions in class 3.37 0.98 0.50 9. Professors are considerate indealing with students 2.98 0.92 0.56 10. Individual students are treated fairly by professors 3.48 0.81 0.64 11. Professors help students having trouble with the course 3.03 1.00 0.58 12. Tests cover material stressed in class 3.56 0.90 0.58 13. Thest are free of confusing and ambiguous questions 3.27 1.03 0.64 14. The quality of instruction is emphasized by this university 3.77 0.72 0.54 Table 2 Means, S.D.'s of Course Work Characteristics Items and Correlation With School Year and Average Grade Corr. w/ Corr. w/ School Avg Mean S.D Year Grade 1. It is clear what is expected from me at school? 3.62 0.74 0.21 0.11 2. My professors make it clear how I should study 3.50 0.98 0.08 0.06 3. I know what performance standard is expected of me 3.85 0.96 0.03 0.11 4. At school, I get a chance to use my skill and abilities 3.68 1.00 -0.16 0.09 5. I keep learning new things which open new horizons for me 3.68 0.98 -0.25 0.02 6. My studies make a visible impace on my personal growth 4.18 0.91 -0.21 -0.13 7. I can see the results of my studies 3.94 0.88 -0.08 0.01 8. I can tell myself how well I am doing at my studies 3.46 1.02 -0.09 0.02 9. At school, there is a clear link between efforts and success 3.50 1.14 -0.21 -0.90 10. Our professors meet with us regularly, tell us their assessment criteria, and discuss our performance 3.42 0.94 -0.13 0.11 11. I fully understand the criteria professors use in assessing us 3.35 0.93 -0.02 0.17 12. Our professors judge accurately our performance using clear criteria 3.35 0.93 -0.02 0.17 13. I have some influence in selecting my courses 1.89 1.26 -0.16 0.07 14. I have some influence in selecting my courses 1.72 1.13 -0.21 0.11 15. I have some influence in determining my load of studies 2.02 1.34 -0.14 -0.02 16. There is enough diversity in the various courses in the program 2.05 1.19 -0.28 -0.07 17. I do a large number of different things in my course work 2.95 0.97 -0.19 -0.05 18. In most courses there is a wide range of topics which do not repeat themselves 3.58 0.96 0.01 0.09 Table 3 Mean's, S.D.'s, Reliability Coefficients and Intercorrelations of Course Work Characteristic Scales Clarity Challenge Identity of derived of Instructional from Instructional Tasks Tasks Tasks Challenge Derived from Instructional Tasks 0.41 Identity of Instructional Tasks 0.31 0.56 Feedback from 0.33 Instructional Tasks 0.32 0.35 Feedback from Professors 0.68 0.45 0.24 Autonomy in Instructional Tasks -0.01 0.09 -0.07 Variety in Instructional Tasks 0.20 0.36 0.30 Mean Scale 10.98 7.36 8.12 S.D. 2.16 1.75 1.50 No. of Items 3 2 2 Mean Divided by Number 3.66 3.68 4.06 of Items Spearman-Brown 0.74 0.72 .060 Reliability Coefficients Feedback Feedback of from Instructional Professors Tasks Challenge Derived from Instructional Tasks Identity of Instructional Tasks Feedback from Instructional Tasks Feedback from Professors 0.42 Autonomy in Instructional Tasks 0.26 0.20 Variety in Instructional Tasks 0.33 0.28 Mean Scale 6.96 9.92 S.D. 1.76 2.40 No. of Items 2 3 Mean Divided by Number 3.48 3.31 of Items Spearman-Brown 0.59 0.82 Reliability Coefficients Autonomy Variety of in Instructional Instructional Tasks Tasks Challenge Derived from Instructional Tasks Identity of Instructional Tasks Feedback from Instructional Tasks Feedback from Professors Autonomy in Instructional Tasks Variety in Instructional Tasks 0.42 Mean Scale 5.62 8.55 S.D. 3.23 2.13 No. of Items 3 3 Mean Divided by Number 1.87 2.84 of Items Spearman-Brown 0.84 0.67 Reliability Coefficients Table 4 Regression Model: Dependent Variable - Summative Instructional Satisfaction Scale: Independent Variables - Course Work Characteristic Scales Independent Variables Beta Weight Simple r Clarity of Instructional Tasks 0.26[**] 0.50 Challenge Derived from Instructional Tasks -0.09 0.30 Identity of Instructional Tasks 0.19[*] 0.33 Feedback from Instructional Tasks -0.03 0.25 Feedback from Professors 0.28[**] 0.49 Autonomy in Instructional Tasks -0.06 0.04 Variety in Instructional Tasks 0.18[*] R[sup2] 0.35[**] [*] p<.05 [**] p<.01 Table 5(a) An Adapted Regression Model: Dependent Variable - Instructional Satisfaction; Independent Variables - Task Clarity, Task Identity, Professors' Feedback, and Variety Legend for Table: A - Beta Weight B - Simple r C - Partitioning of R2 Fair-Share Independent Variables A B C Clarity of Instructional Tasks (X[sub1]) 0.26[**] 0.50 0.13 Identity of Instructional Tasks (X[sub2]) 0.15 0.33 0.05 Professors' Feedback (X[sub3]) .24[**] 0.49 0.12 Variety of Instructional Tasks (X[sub4]) 0.14 0.30 0.04 R[sup2] 0.34 [**] p<0.1 "Fair Share" Partitioning of R2 = Beta X Simple r Step-wise partitioning of R2: R[sup2] (Y.X[sub1] = 0.25; R[sup2] (Y.X[sub2]X[sub3]) = 0.29; R[sup2] (Y.X[sub1]X[sub2]X[sub3]) = 0.325; R[sup2] (Y.X[sub1]X[sub2]X[sub3]X[sub4]) = 0.34 Table 5(b) A Reduced Model: Dependent Variable - Instructional Satisfaction; Independent Variables - Clarity, Identity, Professors' Feedback Legend for Table: D - Beta Weight E - Simple r F - Partitioning of R2 Fair-Share Independent Variables D E F Clarity of Instructional Tasks (X[sub1]) 0.26[**] 0.50 0.13 Identity of Instructional Tasks (X[sub2]) 0.19[**] 0.33 0.65 Professors' Feedback (X[sub3]) .24[**] 0.27[**] 0.49 0.13 R[sup2] 0.325 [**] p<.05 [**] p<.01 Legend for Table: G - Total Correlocation H - Direct Effect I - Indirect Effect J - Causal Effect K - Non-Causal Effect L - Difference Between Implied and Observed r Pair of Relationship G H I J K L Professors' Feedback- 0.49 0.27[**] 0.22 0.49 0. Not Satisfaction Applicable Task Clarity- 0.50 0.26[**] 0.05 0.31 0.19 Not Satisfaction Applicable Task Identity- 0.33 0.19[**] 0. 0.19 0.14 Not Satisfaction Applicable [**] p<.01 [*] p<.05 Additional Estimates of Direct Effects Professors' Feedback on Task Clarity = 0.68 (p<.01) Professors' Feedback on Task Identity = 0.05 (N S) Task Clarity on Task Identity = 0.27 (p<.01) Legend for Table: M - Total Correlocation N - Direct Effect O - Indirect Effect P - Causal Effect Q - Non-Causal Effect R - Difference Between Implied and Observed r Pair of Relationship M N O P Q R Professors' Feedback- 0.49 0.27[**] 0.22 0.49 0. 0 Satisfaction Task Clarity- 0.50 0.26[**] 0.06 0.32 0.18 0 Satisfaction Task Identity- 0.33 0.19[**] 0. 0.19 0.14 0 Satisfaction [**] p<.01 [*] p<.05 DIAGRAM: Figure 1: A Preliminary Causal Model of Course Work Characteristics and Instructional Satisfaction. Decomposition of the Various Effects on Instructional Satisfaction DIAGRAM: Figure 2 A Revised Causal Model of Course Work Characteristics and Instructional Satisfaction. Decomposition of the Various Effects on Instructional Satisfaction Additional Estimates of Direct Effects Professors' Feedback on Task Clarity = 0.68 (p<.01) Task Clarity on Task Identity = 0.27 (p<.01) References <#toc> Finaly-Neumann, E. and Neumann, Y. (1992). Quality of Learning Experience and Student's College outcome. International Journal of Educational Management (In Press). Griffin, R. W., (1967). Toward an Integrated Theory of Task Design. In L. L. Commity, and B. M. Staus (eds), Research in organizational Behavior, 79-120. Greenwich, Conn., J A I Press. Keaveny, T. J., and McGann, A. F. (1978). Behavioral Dimensions Associated with Students' Global Ratings of College Professors. Research In Higher Education (9) 333-345. Moorhead, G. and Griffin, R. W. (1992). organizational Behavior, Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin. Neumann, Y., and Finaly-Neumann, E. (1989). Examination of Affirmative Models of Students' Assessment of Their College. Assessment and Evaluation In Higher Education, (14) 11-19. Organ, D.W. and Bateman, T. S. (1991). organizational Behavior, Fourth Edition, Homeward,IL: Irwin Walsh, J.T., Taber, T.D., and Beehu., T.A. (1980). An Integrated Model of Perceived Job Characteristics. organizational Behavior and Human Performance (25) 252-267. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Edith Finaly-Neumann, Director of the Center for Policy Research and Evalution and Professor of Health Sciences CSU-Dominquez Hills, 1000 East Victoria Street, Cason, California 90747-0005. ~~~~~~~~ By Edith Finaly-Neumann, Ph.D. Edith Finaly-Neurmann, School of Health, California State Univesity, Carson, California. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright of Journal of Instructional Psychology is the property of Educational Innovations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. Back