The impact of curriculum design on learning satisfaction

Against the background of global economic recession, college graduates are becoming increasingly anxious in fear of facing unemployment upon graduation. Entry into college has never been easier than the time being, which further undermines the competitiveness of college education by largely admitting less qualified students. Given the guiding mission of satisfying students' need for acquiring professional skills, it is key to equip college students with adequate expertise and professional skills for employment in the face of more various demands from employers. Reviewing domestic and international literature to probe the relevance between curriculum design and learning satisfaction, the study targets Taiwanese college students and gleans data using questionnaire survey. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, with 341 valid responses and collection rate of 68.2%. The collected copies are studied using SPSS 14.0 and through factor, credibility, and regression analyses. The following fi ndings were yielded: 1) curriculum design is found largely positively correlated with the factor “learning environment” in learning satisfaction; 2) curriculum design is found largely positively correlated with “instructor and teaching;”3) significant positive correlation is found between curriculum design and “course context and materials;”and 4) significant positive correlation is found between curriculum design and “administrative service.” The article concludes by formulating a comprehensive discussion on all findings from the study and providing recommendations for the academia and employers.