Evaluation of the Attitudes and Opinions of Veterinary School Students on Distance Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic
JOURNAL OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EDUCATION, cilt.51, sa.1, ss.14-26, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 51 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2024
- Doi Numarası: 10.3138/jvme-2021-0150
- Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EDUCATION
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Veterinary Science Database
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.14-26
- Anahtar Kelimeler: COVID-19, distance education, online education, pandemic, veterinary students
- Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study aimed to determine the attitudes and opinions of the students of veterinary schools in Turkey regarding distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in two stages: (1) develop and validate a scale for assessing Turkish veterinary students' attitudes and opinions regarding distance education (DE) (n = 250 students; one veterinary school) and (2) widespread use of this scale amongst veterinary students (n = 1,599 students, 19 veterinary schools). Stage 2 was conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 with students from Years 2, 3, 4, and 5 who had experienced both face-to-face and distance education. The scale contained 38 questions, which were divided into seven sub-factors. Most students considered that practical courses (77.1%) should not continue to be delivered by DE; and that catch-up face-to-face programs (77%) would be required for practical skills after the pandemic. The main benefits of DE were that studies did not have to be interrupted (53.2%) and the ability to retrieve online video material for later study (81.2%). A total of 69% of students considered that DE systems and applications are easy to use. Many (71%) students considered that the use of DE would adversely affect their professional skills, 26.5% expected that the duration of their studies would be extended, but only 18.1% had considered suspending their studies for the period of the pandemic. Therefore, it appeared that face-to-face education was considered indispensable by students in veterinary schools, which provide practice-oriented education in the field of health sciences. However, the DE method can be used as a supplementary tool.