Student Satisfaction, Needs, and Learning Outcomes

A study of student satisfaction, needs, and learning outcomes wascommissioned by a comprehensive university in Western Europe to provide a professionalevaluation of student services and the co-curricular activities of students. Such astudy had not been completed in the past and was needed to align student services withthe mission, long-range goals, and strategic planning of the university. The researchinvolved both qualitative and quantitative methodologies conducted through volunteersdivided into five focus groups of 33 national and international students and a surveyinvolving 104 national students, of whom 86 provided complete data. The results wereanalyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 22) and theconstant comparison method. The study demonstrated that students view interactionsoutside the classroom as important opportunities to develop and hone a myriad ofpersonal knowledge and skill sets important to becoming global citizens andinternationally competent professionals