Distance Education Experiences of Formal Child Development Undergraduate Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic Process

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to examine the distance education experiences of students who are receiving formal undergraduate education in the field of child development at public and private universities in Türkiye during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The convergent parallel design, one of the mixed method designs, was used in the study. In March-April 2021, when the data were collected, 788 students who continued their formal child development undergraduate education through distance education due to the pandemic were included in the quantitative dimension and 11 students were included in the qualitative dimension of the study. Due to the measures taken during the pandemic, quantitative data were collected through online form and qualitative data were collected through online interviews. It was determined that the students benefited from distance education the most in terms of theoretical knowledge and the least in terms of professional practice skills, that the students’ general satisfaction level with distance education was 4.55±2.75 on a numerical rating scale during the pandemic and that the vast majority of the students demanded that all courses be face-to-face, while 5.1% demanded that all courses be through distance education after the pandemic. The reported distance education experiences are part of the temporary adaptation process in an extraordinary situation such as a pandemic. After the pandemic, efforts should be continued to make distance education more qualified by determining the needs for applied fields with such studies.