Modelling Students' Satisfaction with Computer-Based Assessment (CBA) Environments in Higher Education: The Roles of CBA Center Service Satisfaction and Perceived Trust

It has been extensively researched how satisfied students are with the vast majority of goods and services offered by educational institutions of higher learning. However, there appears to be a paucity of research on students' satisfaction with the facilities and services of computer-based assessment (CBA) centers in higher education institutions, especially when the centers are equipped and staffed by third-party vendors. The CBA centers are public and private examination centers in developing countries that administer computer-based tests for higher education and other external organizations. Although satisfaction with the services and facilities is essential, it has been asserted that having the feeling of trust when using the CBA is even more critical to the students. Trust is essential for the success of any technological advancement, especially in the field of education. Any educational technology that lacks the stakeholders' trust, regardless of how effective it may be, is doomed to fail to be adopted on a large scale. However, limited studies have investigated how students' trust in the CBA affects their satisfaction. Therefore, this study aims to model and analyze the roles of CBA center service satisfaction and perceived trust in the CBA in attaining overall satisfaction by exploring their roles in influencing student satisfaction. A research framework based on the updated information system success model (ISSM) is validated using a survey incorporating system quality, service quality, question content, the cost-effectiveness of CBA services, CBA center service satisfaction, and perceived trust. A total of 459 survey responses collected from three higher education institutions in Nigeria were analyzed using structural equation modelling. As a result, the findings confirmed that students' satisfaction with services at the CBA centers is a mediator between service quality, system quality, and overall satisfaction with CBA. The correlation between CBA centre service satisfaction and overall CBA satisfaction was also found to be the strongest, indicating that student satisfaction with the services and facilities at the CBA centre is crucial. CBA center managers and institutions can utilize the findings from this study to successfully implement the CBA. In enhancing students‘ CBA satisfaction, higher education institutions should consider focusing on the necessary steps towards improving the conditions of the CBA centers in terms of infrastructure and services rendered. Meanwhile, to increase student satisfaction besides enhancing the system and service quality and cost-effectiveness, institutions should seriously consider promoting the CBA to the students by highlighting the personal impact of the CBA in terms of trust by improving the quality and features of the CBA.