Factors Affecting Students’ Satisfaction in Online Learning Evidence from National Institute of Business Management (NIBM), Sri Lanka

Abstract

With the accelerated use of online learning practices, there is an imperative requirement to investigate factors affecting students‟ satisfaction in online learning. Sri Lanka is a developing country that is far different from developed countries in the context of technology, economy, and environment. Consequently, there is a deficient insight into motivating factors predicting students‟ satisfaction in the online learning environment in Sri Lanka. As a result, there is a need to learn what factors affect the students‟ satisfaction in online learning, as organizations invest largely in adopting online learning platforms. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to discover the factors affecting students‟ satisfaction in online learning in the National Institute of Business Management. A descriptive research design with quantitative approach was employed to answer the research question of the study. After an extensive survey of the existing literature, the independent variables were identified. A survey questionnaire was distributed among students at the National Institute of Business Management and 500 responses were gathered. Multiple Regression analysis was performed to test the four hypotheses of this study. Findings revealed that lecturers‟ performance, student – lecturer interactivity, course evaluation, and the quality of the online learning system are significant factors determining the students‟ satisfaction in online learning. These findings would be beneficial to all the students, top management, and other higher educational institutes to improve satisfaction in online learning.