The views of associate degree students from child development on distance education after the earthquake

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the satisfaction and experiences of associate degree students from the child development department on distance education after the earthquake in Türkiye. The research was carried out in a mixed method embedded design with the participation of 133 associate degree students who studied in the child development department in a vocational school affiliated with Bursa Uludağ University in the spring term of the 2022-2023 academic year. The quantitate data were collected through "The Distance Education Satisfaction Scale of University Students.” The qualitative data were obtained through a semi-structured interview with 20 students from the same study group. Descriptive statistics, Independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H Test, and content analysis were used to analyze the data obtained. According to the findings, online education was less effective than face-to-face education due to the earthquake. The student’s satisfaction with distance education differs significantly depending on having technological tools. The students stated that they had difficulties due to the adverse psychological effects of the earthquake and the infrastructure problems. It was determined that distance education's most significant advantage is having a flexible environment and listening to the course recordings. However, they were disadvantaged in not making enough applications during the lessons in online education.