Abstract:

The field of informatics is very dynamic and constantly evolves. Educational institutions and their study programs are obliged to change to live up to the evolved circumstances and to fulfill students’ expectations. Also, they influence students’ views on the future and their professional development.

While focused on the analysis of students’ satisfaction with the study, universities conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis on students’ expectations and factors influencing the level of their satisfaction. Universities are aware that the general student experience in the higher education described by the defined set of criteria greatly influences their general satisfaction with an institution.

This paper presents a wider ongoing research on students’ attitudes, satisfaction and their expectations from the study program. The authors conducted a three-year research on the factors of influence on students’ satisfaction and their study expectations in the field of informatics. The goal was to define criteria which influence students’ satisfaction the most. That way the institution could influence the more relevant criteria during the years of their study.

Students’ attitudes regarding students’ satisfaction and students’ expectations were tested using an anonymous survey, in three sessions, i.e. during three years in a row with the same group of an undergraduate students. The survey consisted of 21 statements that were used to express students’ opinions on the influence of the chosen criteria on overall satisfaction with the study. The chosen criteria are: study program, organization of the study, the content of obligatory courses, the choices of elective courses, the art and quality of informing, teaching style and teaching methods, grading style and grading criterion, availability of literature and learning materials, availability of IT resources, the possibility for acquiring practical competencies and quality of communication with teachers.

Additional attention is focused on students’ perception and insight into students' reasons for migration for employment, which is currently recognized as one of the key influences in shaping the new world society.

The main contributions of this paper are:
a) a defined set of satisfaction criteria,
b) information on students’ perception of influence of criteria on overall satisfaction with the study,
c) insight into students’ expectations from the study and
d) insight into students’ reasons for seeking an employment at home or abroad.

Keywords:

Survey, Student preferences, Study satisfaction, Study expectations, Higher education, ICT education.