Perception of students on performance of dual-mode education: information quality perspective

Abstract

In recent years, there have been radical developments in higher education in China. The most significant of these has been the aspiration of Chinese universities to form partnerships with overseas universities that allow their students to have the advantages of dual-mode enrolment, that is, to get the advantages of courses developed by other universities via distance education in addition to their University’s on-campus courses. The current literature investigating general perceptions of service quality by distance education students has so far barely examined perceptions of dual-mode students. This preliminary research attempts to fill this gap. It ascertains the relevance of information quality (IQ) dimensions for delivery evaluation of various education modes. This paper employs a qualitative methodology and uses importance-performance analysis to investigate information quality dimensions affecting student satisfaction of dual-mode education. The case considered is a newly established Chinese University that has a partnership with an Australian University. The results show significant gaps in the performance of accessibility, amount of information, coherency, relevancy and timeliness.