Quality of Educational Services in the Distance Format: Assessment of Moscow Higher Education Institutions’ Students

The sphere of education was one of the first to experience the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and responded to the introduced restrictions by transferring all educational activities to the distance learning format. The gist of the problem is to preserve the quality of educational services in the transition to the distance learning format. The purpose of the study is to analyze students' assessment of the quality of educational services provided in the distance format by Moscow higher education institutions. The authors report the results of a survey of students from two universities, the Moscow State University of Food Production and the Russian State Social University. The survey sample includes 423 MSUFP students and 350 RSSU students studying in the full-time, part-time, and extramural forms of study. The time frame for the study is March-May 2022. The results obtained show that, according to students, the transition of the higher education system to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic was performed quite promptly and efficiently. However, the problem of the implementation of distance learning in teaching university students requires further work on both methods and technological instruments. The research results demonstrate that preservation of the quality of educational services in the transition to distance learning depends on the level of students' learning motivation, their readiness for independent studies, reliable means of communication (computers, laptops, tablets), high-speed communication channels and digital infrastructure of higher education institutions, and much more. The research findings suggest that the main problems faced by students as a result of the transition to distance learning can be classified into two groups. The first group is technical difficulties (Internet speed and quality of connection) and the lack of necessary gadgets (computer/tablet, and a headset for them), i.e. inability to communicate with the teacher. The second group includes problems of a personal nature: willpower, self-organization, motivation, and self-discipline. © 2022 by Cherkas Global University All rights reserved. Published in the USA