Student orientation in higher education: development of the construct

This paper argues that student orientation (SO) is a high order construct that should be measured formatively rather than reflectively. Using a discovery-oriented approach, conducted by supplementing educational and marketing literatures with in depth interviews from 23 academic staff in seven different universities, the authors identified three second-order formative constructs and one first-order reflective construct to measure the concept of SO. The study then developed a self-administrated survey to validate the four identified constructs that form SO. Through using rigours statistical analysis, the study confirms that the measurement instrument for SO is the 53-item which can be validly and reliably measured using the nine multi-item components of: Measuring and Adapting Teaching Practices, Promoting Best Teaching Practices, Assessment and Feedback, Adopting Outside-In-Approach, Student Engagement, Employer Engagement Initiatives, Intrafunctional Coordination, Interfunctional Coordination and Effective Personal Tutoring System. The effect of SO on student satisfaction and university reputation was also hypothesised and tested using a structural equation modelling (SmartPLS 2.0).