Determination of Perceptions and Views of the Faculty Members in the Nursing Education Program Regarding Distance Education

Abstract

Background: In the coronavirus pandemic during, distance education has been widely used in nursing, which is an applied program. Objective: Designed as a descriptive research, this study was conducted in order to determine the basic, self-efficacy, benefit perceptions and opinions of the faculty members of the nursing department regarding the distance education, which has been necessitated due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Methods: The faculty members who work at the nursing departments of state universities in Turkey constitute the research population (N = 2164). The study was completed with 546 faculty members who gave lectures at the institution and volunteered to participate in the research. The data was collected using the Personal Information Form, Perception Scale on Distance Education, Self-Efficacy Perception Scale on Distance Education and Benefit Perception Scale on Distance Education. Results: More than half (51.5%) of the faculty members participating in the study stated that they gave lectures at the undergraduate level, and that 25.5% of them taught 1-2 courses and 38.3% of them taught 3-4 courses through distance education. The study found out that the faculty members' perception of distance education had an average score of 62.73 ± 12.75, and the highest score in its sub-dimensions was obtained in "planning of education and training", and the lowest score was in "perception of basic perspective" with 2.58 ± 0.85. It was discovered that the perception of self-efficacy towards distance education had an average score of 38.93 ± 6.18, and the highest score in its sub-dimensions was obtained in "technology management" and the lowest in "virtual classroom management". It was also determined that the average score in perception of the benefit of distance education was 49.95 ± 12.34, and the highest score in its sub-dimensions was obtained in "the economical system" and the lowest score was in "the effectiveness of learning outcomes". Conclusion: faculty members should be informed about distance education and encouraged to know and try new education/training approaches. Especially in applied programs, the trainings containing information on distance education should be given/ such infrastructure should be strengthened.