Impact of Factors on Students' E-Learning Outcomes Evidence from Pedagogical Universities in Vietnam with Applications in Decision Sciences

[Purpose] In the modern era of technology, Decision Science plays a crucial role across various domains, including Education. As educational practices adapt to the challenges posed by the fourth industrial revolution and the Covid-19 pandemic, e-learning has emerged as a superior approach, as evident from numerous studies conducted across Europe and Asia, this study utilizes a widely recognized decision-making model to define the priority of the factors affecting the students’ e-learning outcomes at Pedagogical Universities in Vietnam. [Design/methodology/approach] The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach, one of the most widely used multi-criteria decision-making approaches, is applied in this study. The study points out the limitations of Chang's (1996) fuzzy AHP approach and conducts a more comparative analysis by using the approach proposed by Hue et al. (2022). To do so, this study collects the data via in-depth interviews with lecturers and managers at Pedagogical Universities in Vietnam. [Findings] The findings in this study demonstrate that the dimensions of both "lecturers" and "students" have the most significant impact on students' e-learning outcomes at Pedagogical Universities in Vietnam, followed by system and technology, as well as course design and content. Specifically, within the lecturer dimension, Information, and communication technology skills (L2) and easy language communication (L3) play crucial roles and exert the strongest influence on students' e-learning outcomes. Conversely, within the student dimension, the most influential factors are students' motivation (S2) and self-learning ability (S6). Informed by Decision Science, a set of recommendations can be suggested for pedagogical universities aiming to enhance students' e-learning outcomes: (i) strengthen training and development programs for both lecturers and students, focusing on technology-related skills and effective teaching and learning methods; (ii) implement policies that incentivize lecturers and teachers to adopt innovative and positive teaching methods; (iii) develop blended learning models, invest in suitable equipment, and establish policies that encourage the creation of digital teaching materials; (iv) establish a clear roadmap and strategy for investing in equipment and online teaching infrastructure; (v) provide students with techniques to maintain focus, knowledge on maintaining a healthy balance during online learning, and self-learning abilities; (vi) carefully select appropriate courses to maximize the effectiveness of online learning, with a focus on theoretical subjects that require less practical or in-class calculation; and (vii) meticulously choose software that meets the specific requirements of each course and aligns with the existing educational infrastructure. [Originality/value] This study compares Chang’s (1996) and Hue et al.’s (2022) fuzzy AHP approaches to determine the critical factors impacting students’ e-learning outcomes in pedagogical universities in Vietnam. Four dimensions were considered: lecturer; students; course design and content; and system and technology. As far as we know, this study is the first paper to obtain the above-mentioned results in the literature.