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Quantifying Quality: Examining Student Satisfaction and Enjoyment of a Middle Eastern Tutorial Centre

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Book cover Individual and Contextual Factors in the English Language Classroom

Part of the book series: English Language Education ((ELED,volume 24))

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Abstract

This piece of exploratory research is an attempt to draw parallels between students who attend Tutorial Centre sessions and their experience in and perceptions of the centre. The research involves quantitative analysis of student feedback based on their perceptions and experiences in the Tutorial Centre as they relate to student learning and development, as well as data collected from the online scheduling database, WCONLINE. Participants were 51 Foundation Programme students from the same course who completed a survey, written in Arabic and English, featuring questions about their experiences of Tutorial Centre sessions and perceptions of how these impacted their learning and level of satisfaction. Analysis of participant responses also indicated whether there was any connection between this information and their number of visits to the Tutorial Centre. Student satisfaction is one key indicator of return visits, and understanding the quality of service from the students’ point of view provides informative and meaningful feedback to guide future improvements. It was found that the rate of satisfaction did not significantly increase for students attending multiple sessions; however, overall results suggest students overwhelmingly find their sessions enjoyable and valuable. Implications of these findings for similar contexts around the world are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Ryan McDonald

  2. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

    Susan Finlay

Authors
  1. Ryan McDonald
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  2. Susan Finlay
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan McDonald .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of the Sultan Qaboos University Council, Muscat, Oman

    Rahma Al-Mahrooqi

  2. Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Christopher J. Denman

Appendix: Data Collection Instrument

Appendix: Data Collection Instrument

The CPS Tutorial Centre (TC) is very interested in your opinions about its services. Please take a few minutes to complete this questionnaire about your experience of the TC this semester (FL 17). Please write a number or tick, as appropriate.

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McDonald, R., Finlay, S. (2022). Quantifying Quality: Examining Student Satisfaction and Enjoyment of a Middle Eastern Tutorial Centre. In: Al-Mahrooqi, R., Denman, C.J. (eds) Individual and Contextual Factors in the English Language Classroom. English Language Education, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91881-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91881-1_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91880-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91881-1

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