Validation of the JDS satisfaction scales applied to educational university environments

Martha Giraldo-O'Meara,Monica Martinez-Gomez,Juan A Marin-Garcia

doi:10.3926/jiem.906

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to review and summarize the main satisfaction scales used in publications about human Resource Management and educational research, in order to adapt the satisfaction scales of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) to higher education and validate it with a sample of university students and to assess the concept of satisfaction in two different ways: as a single-item measure, with a global indicator and as a multi-item measure, analyzed as a global model and composed by several scales. Design/methodology/approach: Confirmatory factor analysis with maximum likelihood, using structural equations model, was employed to assess the model fit in 152 business management undergraduates. Findings and Originality/value: The satisfaction model measured as multi-item scale present an acceptable fit. Even though, some of the satisfaction scales did not present a satisfactory fit, they can be used and interpreted independently with carefulness. Nevertheless, the satisfaction single-item scale presents a better fit and has been validated as a simpler and less costly measure of satisfaction. Originality/value: In the current process of change that is taking place in universities according to the plan developed by the European Space of higher Education, validated instruments as the satisfaction scale of JDS, adapted to teaching, may facilitate this process through the diagnosis, and follow-up of changes in satisfaction levels in university classrooms.

Highlights

The analogy between the academic world and the enterprise world was proposed over 20 years (Berliner, 1983, en (French & Chopra, 2006)), has been in recent years that it has been studied in various disciplines (Freed, 2005; Armstrong, 2003; Donaldson, 2002; Martínez-Gomez & Marin-Garcia, 2009; O'Neil & Hopkins, 2002), especially in business management and engineering
Given that job satisfaction questionnaires intend to analyze and determine the aspects or facets that are included and/or related in it taking into account several processes like motivation and, we have not been able to find an instrument that assess student satisfaction through learning, and identify and facilitate the modification of different aspects of satisfaction, the aim of this study is to adapt and validate to the academic world, a widely used tool in the workplace (Job Diagnostic Survey, JDS) (González, 1997; Hackman & Oldham, 1980), which has been used to evaluate the motivating potential of the workplace (Freed, 2005; Griffin, 1991), making a diagnosis to determine how they can be redesigned so as to promote the motivation and satisfaction of employees
Instruments used to measure the satisfaction of students are basically focus on assessing aspects related to the quality of the service offered by an institution, the questionnaire JDS can fill a gap in this field (Brennan et al, 2003) making an assessment of satisfaction from a different perspective, where the process of teaching and learning, and students relations with their environment, are its object of analysis and its main objective

Summary

Introduction

The analogy between the academic world and the enterprise world was proposed over 20 years (Berliner, 1983, en (French & Chopra, 2006)), has been in recent years that it has been studied in various disciplines (Freed, 2005; Armstrong, 2003; Donaldson, 2002; Martínez-Gomez & Marin-Garcia, 2009; O'Neil & Hopkins, 2002), especially in business management and engineering This analogy is represented by the possibility of seeing a teacher as a leader who creates the appropriate conditions for learning (Freed, 2005), managing, organizing, and monitoring students achievements (French & Chopra, 2006). We pretend to extrapolate these aspects to a sample of students

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion