Evaluating the Quality and Student Satisfaction Towards the Online Education Service Provided by Eastern Mediterranean University during COVID-19 Pandemic

Due to the unfortunate circumstances related to the global health crisis of coronavirus, most of the educational institutions heavily relied on the fully online system to continue the scholastic process. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the students’ satisfaction regarding the online education quality service provided by Eastern Mediterranean University. Besides, it examined the major factors that influenced the quality of this program. Additionally, the current study investigated students’ problems in using the online learning and suggested solutions on improving the quality of this service. This study adopted the quantitative approach, which involved a questionnaire based on empirical researches majored in the theme of quality and satisfaction. In regards to the data collection, a pre-testing was used to measure the validity and reliability of the questions. The Google form was distributed via Microsoft teams platform and emails. Following, the data were collected from more than two hundred ten male and female students with different ages and educational levels enrolled in several departments. To analyze the data, the study used the descriptive statistics, t. test, and one-way ANOVA. In respect of the findings, the descriptive analysis showed a number of factors that generally influenced the respondents’ satisfaction towards the distance education such as relevance, authentic learning, course structure, and autonomy. Additionally, one-way AONVA results revealed the insignificant impact of gender, faculty, and educational level on students’ satisfaction considering the virtual learning. However, the age played an important role in this theme. Besides, the students reported problems in using the online learning related to computer skills, Internet access, technical devices, and instructors’ feedback. Moreover, Preparing the academic staff with advanced technical skills, enabling free access to the Internet, providing technical devices, and designing a system guideline for the learners were students’ most suggestions on improving the quality of online learning. The study provided implications for curriculum planners, designers, instructors, and institution regarding the online learning. Also, it reconsidered the study's limitation and recommended for future studies.