Rademics Research Institute

Abstract

Sentiment analysis has emerged as a powerful tool in the realm of higher education, offering valuable insights into student experiences, institutional reputation, and overall educational quality. This chapter explores the integration of sentiment analysis into teaching enhancement and institutional branding, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize both academic strategies and public perception management. By leveraging sentiment data derived from student feedback, online reviews, and social media, institutions can gain a deeper understanding of stakeholder sentiments, identify areas for improvement, and tailor their engagement strategies accordingly. The chapter examines key frameworks for incorporating sentiment analysis into institutional decision-making, highlighting the importance of real-time monitoring, visualization tools, and multi-stakeholder dashboards. It also discusses the operational and ethical considerations that must be addressed to ensure responsible and effective implementation. By benchmarking institutional brand equity through sentiment indices, universities can strategically position themselves in a competitive higher education market. The findings suggest that sentiment analysis, when used in conjunction with other institutional strategies, can enhance teaching effectiveness, foster student engagement, and strengthen institutional branding efforts.

Introduction

Sentiment analysis has emerged as a transformative tool in the field of higher education, offering powerful insights into the emotional tone and perception of students, faculty, and other stakeholders regarding academic experiences and institutional reputation [1]. In recent years, the higher education sector has increasingly embraced data-driven approaches to address evolving challenges related to student engagement, academic performance, and institutional branding [2]. Traditionally, universities have relied on surveys and feedback forms to capture student opinions; These methods often fail to provide real-time, comprehensive insights [3]. Sentiment analysis, by contrast, enables institutions to process large volumes of unstructured data from diverse sources such as social media, course evaluations, and online forums [4]. This provides a continuous, real-time pulse on the sentiment of stakeholders, allowing institutions to make informed decisions that foster academic success, student satisfaction, and brand equity. By tapping into this wealth of data, higher education institutions can effectively monitor their strengths, identify areas for improvement, and swiftly adapt to the changing needs of their communities [5].

The integration of sentiment analysis into educational practices goes beyond simply tracking student satisfaction [6]. It provides deeper, more nuanced insights into the emotional and cognitive aspects of student feedback, uncovering the underlying reasons for positive or negative sentiments [7]. For instance, while students may express satisfaction with academic offerings, sentiment analysis can reveal whether these feelings are rooted in the quality of instruction, the availability of resources, or the overall campus environment [8]. Understanding these dimensions of student experience allows universities to tailor their approach to teaching, course design, and student services in a way that directly addresses student concerns and expectations [9]. This level of detail is not attainable through traditional evaluation methods, which often rely on structured questions and limited response options. Sentiment analysis, on the other hand, enables the detection of sentiment across a wide range of topics, offering a more holistic view of student feedback [10].