Main Factors Affecting the Quality and Provision of Higher Education Services to Students

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Education entails the process that instils skills, knowledge, and production capabilities in the labour force, and it is an important component which influences the pace and character of social, economic development of a nation. UNESCO (2005) stipulated that the educational status of individuals in a country tends to be a key indicator of its level of development. Globally, the provision of education is a basic human right. Additionally, education is globally considered as a form of investment in human capital development, which results to economic benefits, especially by enhancing the productive capacity of a country (Zhou et al., 2016). As a way of empowering young individuals, most parents and guardians have focused on investing heavily on education. This is one of the reasons why the rate of enrolment and tertiary institutions in Australia and other parts of the world have been on the increase. However, the attainment of universal participation in education will rely on the quality of education being deliverable in all levels of education. More importantly, the delivery of quality education in tertiary institutions ought to be paramount. For this reason, if there are some aspects which jeopardize the provision of quality education, they need to be address and dealt with earlier in advance.

Purpose of this Report

The report focuses on the analysis of various factors which affects the provision of quality education at the University of Sydney. Additionally, objectives of meeting the identified factors by 2020 have also been discussed. Promotional mix elements, metrics of assessing the objectives at the end of 2020 as well as budgetary requirements have also been identified and described.

Factors Affecting the Quality Education Delivery at the University of Sydney

Physical Facilities

The construction and maintenance of physical facilities tertiary institutions by sponsors, government, communities play a fundamental role in as far as the delivery of quality education is concerned. The physical resources which influence the delivery of quality education are not limited to administration blocks, lecture halls, lecture theatres, libraries, auditoriums, workshops, toilets, students` hostels, workshops, support staffs, laboratories among others (Edirisinghe et al., 2016). Lack of or inadequacy of these facilities interferes with effective learning processes. The quality of buildings at the universities are also related to other quality issues such as the working conditions for lecturers and students, the presence of adequate textbooks and instructional materials among others (Kweon et al., 2017). For example, modern lecture halls need to be equipped with materials and equipment that facilitates the teaching processes, such as the projector, adequate space, chalkboards and others (Needham et al., 2017). Libraries play a fundamental role in as far as the learning of students is concerned. Lecturers deliver only 25 percent of the contents, and it is the role of the student to gather the other 75 percent, especially through reading deeper about the contents in various textbooks in the library (Lamers et al., 2016).

High Admission Rate of Students

The Australian higher education body rarely considers the number of students it admits at the University of Sydney. What happens is that more students are admitted to the institution more than it can manage to serve (Norton & Zhang, 2018). In addition to the high number of students who are allocated by the higher education board, the University of Sydney admits more on the self-sponsored basis to gain revenues since they tend to pay more in terms of tuition fees per semester compared to the government-sponsored students. In the long run, the pressure of university resources such as student hostels, libraries, lecture halls, computer laboratories, and numerous others tends to be high. Besides this pressure, the student-teacher ratio ends up being higher than what is recommended, and this compromises the personal attention that a lecturer should give to the students (Williams & Reddy, 2016). The student-teacher ratio entails the number of students admitted to an educational institution divided by the number of lecturers (Martin & Collie, 2018). When the student-teacher ratio is high, it becomes impossible for the teacher to know the individual student`s better, and this limits the former`s capacity of identifying areas where the student may need educational assistance.

Teaching Methodologies

The method of teaching that lecturers embrace determines the quality of education being delivered to the students. There are three major teaching strategies, which are not limited to cognitive activation, active learning, and teacher-directed instruction (Hinostroza et al., 2016). Cognitive activation strategy entails the aspect of challenging students to not only inspire them but also to stimulate high order skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Active learning strategies entail the aspect of enhancing the engagement of students in their own learning (Barrow et al., 2007). It encompasses the use of various practices such as student self-assessment, the use of information and technology, and group work. Teacher directed strategies entail practices where the teacher is the main actor who is responsible for dictating skills and knowledge to the students, who tends to be the receptive (Lama & Joullié, 2015). Some of these practices are repetition, memorization, and dictating or lecturing. Teacher directed teaching strategy is the frequently used strategy not only at the University of Sydney but in numerous universities across the globe. This strategy has been a culture that most university lecturers adopt and implement for years (Ellis, 2018). Teachers talk, collaborate, and discuss their teaching practices, and this means that it is not uncommon to find out that lecturers from the same university teach the same way.

Lack of Professional Development Among the Teaching Staffs

Teachers play a fundamental role in as far as the delivery of quality education is concerned. Ensuring that lecturers have the necessary credentials of teaching is not enough to guarantee the delivery or provision of quality education at the universities (Zein, 2016). However, lecturers need to be placed at the center of education and teaching practices is a major milestone in advancing dialogues and securing policy attention. Research shows that provision of quality professional development of the teaching staffs can enhance lecturers teaching practices in a positive way, which in the long run would impact the learning of students and enhance the quality of education (Egert, Fukkink & Eckhardt, 2018). The way lecturers are prepared for teaching is among the major critical indicators of education quality (Barrow et al., 2007). Providing regular professional development of lecturers will equip them with skills and knowledge of not only effective teaching practices but also working collaborative amongst themselves, students, parents and members of the community (Lander et al., 2017). It is unfortunate that most lecturers at the University of Sydney believe that they are the main actors in the teaching process, and their directives should not be questioned by the receptive students.

Class Size and Quality of Education

The size of classes impacts academic performance and contributes to the creation of a vicious cycle (Zhou et al., 2016). Smaller class sizes are considered effective in allowing lecturers to take less time in class management, spend more time with each student, and more importantly, providing better instruction tailored to individual needs of the student, which in the long run contributes to better performances (Hu, 2015). Additionally, class size contributes to the amount of attention and time that a lecturer can give to individual students and the social dynamics among students. Large class sizes may favor some students, especially the quick learners, and be a challenge to the slow and disadvantaged students (Blazar, Kraft & Hogan, 2018). Considering that lecturers do not manage to have individual student`s attention in large class sizes, it means that the slow learning students will not manage to grasp everything that the lecturer teaches in class. Additionally, time tends to be a limiting factor when classes are large, especially since a lot of time is wasted during class management rather than in the actual teaching process (Glewwe & Muralidharan, 2016). At the University of Sydney, the classes are large to accommodate the large population of students at a time, and this means that the lecturers rarely manage to get immediate feedback from students as well as implementing effective and flexible questioning techniques.

Marketing Promotion Plan

Communication Objectives to Reflect and Achieve the Five Major Factors

  1. To enhance the teaching methodologies by 2020. Lecturers will be equipped with modern teaching methodologies in the next six months in order to facilitate the delivery of quality education at the university. Precisely, cognitive activation and active learning strategies will be emphasized.
  2. To reduce class size to a meaningful size by 2020. The class sizes will be reduced to such an extent that the maximum capacity is 100 students. This will be achieved during the next one year. Reducing the class sizes will enable lecturers to offer individualized student`s attention.
  3. To offer regular and quality professional development of lecturers by 2020. Lecturers will be required to attend professional development workshops after every six months to enhance their teaching methods. This will enable them to teach skills and knowledge that are related to the challenges that the world is facing today.
  4. To regulate the admission of students by 2020. The number of self-sponsored students that the University of Sydney will be enrolling besides or on top of those allocated by the Australian higher education board will be regulated in order to reduce the scramble of the available resources such as hostels and libraries.
  5. To equip and improve the physical facilities by 2020. The physical facilities which facilitate the learning process within the university will be equipped and improved within the next one year to facilitate effective delivery of quality education. Lecture halls will be equipped with projectors and chairs, while libraries will be furnished with additional reading materials.

Promotional Mix Elements to Achieve the Objectives

  1. Personal selling strategy. I will achieve this element by demonstrating to the university management how the teaching methodologies of lecturers fails to meet the needs in the outside world. This demonstration will take place at the board rooms or in the university`s amphitheater. I will demonstrate this in the next two months.
  2. Sales promotion strategy. I will implement this element by convincing the other students concerning the importance of regulating the rate of admission of the self-sponsored students within the university. By doing so, I will manage to gather support and a louder voice that will make the university to consider our concerns.
  3. Direct marketing strategy. I will implement this element by composing and sending emails to the dean of students and the vice-chancellor at the University of Sydney concerning the importance of holding workshops for professional development. I will be done this within the next one week.
  4. Publicity. I will implement this element by using social media platforms to inform the university management how large sizes of class affect the education delivery. Precisely, I will use Facebook page and twitter to achieve this objective. By doing this, I will manage to raise awareness to the other students how large class sizes limits the delivery of quality education.
  5. Advertising strategy. I will implement this element by advertising through the local television sets and social media platforms concerning the nature of the physical facilities within the University of Sydney and how they impact the delivery of quality education.

Criteria to Measure the Objectives at the End of 2020

  1. Physical facilities: to push the management personnel at the University of Sydney to equip and improve the state of the physical facilities within the university. Promotional mix element – advertising strategy. The term is one year. The state of the physical facilities will be improved than before. For example, lecture halls will have projectors and libraries will have adequate reading materials.
  2. Admission of students: to encourage the Higher Education Board of Australia to regulate the admission of self-sponsored students within the university. Promotional mix element – sales promotion strategy. The term is one year. By the end of 2020, the number of self-sponsored students being admitted at the university will be reduced. The pressure for university resources will be low.
  3. Teaching methodologies: to sensitize the importance of adopting active learning and cognitive activation by the educators. Promotional mix element – personal selling strategy. The term is six months. Modern teaching methods which involve students as the main actors will have been adopted.
  4. Provision of professional development to the lecturers: to encourage the university management to implement regular workshops for enhancing the teaching strategies of educators. Promotional mix element – direct marketing strategy. The term is six months. Regular workshops for enhancing professional development will be in place.
  5. Class size: advocating for the reduction of class sizes. Promotional mix element – publicity. The term is one year. The size of classes will be reduced to standard sizes.

Description

By using the advertising strategy to raise awareness on how physical facilities hinders the delivery of quality education within the university, I may end up attracting sponsors who can come and help in equipping the learning facilities with reading materials. This may be done through donation of books, construction materials or even financial donations.

Budget

1. Physical facilities: $1500000/100*10 ($750,000 – construction of an additional hostel; $50,000 – equipping the library with reading materials. $25,000 – construction of lecture hall, renovating the existing ones.

2. Teaching methodologies: $75000/100*10 ($3,500-organizing for the workshops; $3,500-payment of professional who will be facilitating the delivery of professional development).

3. Class size: $1000000/100 *10 ($50,000 – construction of additional small sized lecture halls; $50,000-particioning of the existing lecture halls into standard class rooms).

4. Admission of students: $40000/100*10 ($3000 -regular monitoring of the enrollment of self-sponsored students; $1000 – board room meetings with the stakeholders involved).

5. Provision of professional development: $50000/100*10 ($2000 – conducting research to identify the existing gaps relating to the teaching methods; $1500 – holding workshops; $1500 – regular training of lecturers).

Description

Holding professional development workshops may encompass the integration of lecturers from other universities in Australia and beyond and demonstrating ways of ensuring that the students benefit from the teaching methods that the lecturers use. For example, the lecturers from the University of Sydney may tour some of the universities in the world which are known for the provision of quality education, such as the Harvard University. This exposure will enable them to learn new teaching methods which they can implement them within the university. By so doing, the lecturers will stop using the same teaching practices which portray them as the main actors and students as recipients. The amount allocated for enhancing of the physical facilities can also be reinforced by encouraging former students, sponsors, government, and community members to chip in and help in any way possible in making the physical facilities better in terms of supporting the learning process.

Conclusion

It is, evident that there exist many factors which affects the quality education delivery at the University of Sydney. The major factors identified are not limited to high rate of admission of students, large class sizes, poor teaching methodologies, lack of professional development among the educators and poor state of the physical facilities. This report has stipulated the objectives which the management of this university can implement to enhance the education quality. Additionally, the promotional mix elements have also been discussed, the measures of assessing the achievement of the said objectives by the end of 2020, and the budgetary and timeline requirements required.

References

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