A Study on the Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of Distance Education Students and Formal Students

Abstract

Recently the numbers of distance education programs and students enrolling in them have increased significantly. This increase also carries the question of what factors may have an effect on academic success. The demographic features, motivation levels, personal development status and basic computer literacy of students have been taken into account and their effects on the academic success of students have been analyzed. With this purpose, surveys prepared with the help of professional opinion have been applied to certain groups. The sample group of this study consists students of the Kırıkkale University Distance Education Center and the formal education students of the Kırıkkale Vocational School. The results have been analyzed with the help of the SPSS data analysis program (version 22.0) and have been turned into figures. The academic success of distance learning students and formal education students have been compared and this data has been used to identify whether there are any significant connections between academic success and the factors determined. In the conclusion of this study, the figures have been explained separately, and suggestions have been made regarding both distance education and formal education.