(Re)considering Motivational Scaffolding: A Mixed-Method Study on Turkish Students’ Perspectives on Online Learning Before and During the Pandemic

Abstract

Motivational scaffolding is of key importance in online learning since online learners are isolated alone. Recently, this need has doubled with the educational disruption because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which moved classroom learning to entirely online. However, little research has been particularly conducted to explore the perceptions of online learning before and during the pandemic. Therefore, this study empirically investigated 26 university-level Turkish students' experiences in learning online before the pandemic and teacher support in the time of crisis. Data were collected through a mixed-method research design conducting a questionnaire and interviewing via dialogue journals and essay writing. The data were analysed through descriptive statistics and coding themes based on deductive and inductive approaches. The findings from quantitative data analysis revealed that students believed the advantages of online learning resources (OLRs) for their own learning but still needed teacher support. Furthermore, the results from the qualitative data analysis demonstrated that students needed teacher-student interaction most and favoured motivational scaffolding in this regard. The study shed light on the role of caring for learning as motivational scaffolding and calls for an institutional development for the integration of pedagogy of care into online education.