Service quality improves students’ evaluation of good teaching

Personalization has been used in service operations as a mean to improve perceptions of service quality. The current study applied personalization principles to assignment feedback to examine its effect on student perceptions of teaching quality. The first study utilized 63 undergraduate students who randomly received a hypothetical feedback scenario that included either personalization or no personalization. Personalization involved the use of a greeting, valediction, and names and no significant differences were found between the two groups across four items from the Good Teaching Scale. The second study randomly allocated 91 student assignments to receive either personalized or non-personalized feedback. Students rated the amount of time and the helpfulness of the feedback significantly greater for the personalized group compared to the non-personalized group. However, personalization did not affect other measures of good teaching. These results are discussed in terms of blending pedagogy with service principles to maximize the student experience.