Opinions of the faculty of sport sciences students on the changes in education system during COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative research

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is defined as illness caused by a novel coronavirus now called severe acute respiratory syndrome. The only common thing to be evaluated in the flu category is that it is caused by the virus. The diseases have caused serious health problems and social problems throughout the world. The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of the faculty of sport sciences students about the changes in the education system during COVID-19 Pandemic. Case Study Pattern, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The data were collected virtually by interview method. The sample of the study consisted of 18 students studying at the Faculty of Sports Sciences of Çukurova University (Male: 13, Female: 5). Descriptive content analysis method was used to analyze the data. The data summarized and interpreted through descriptive analysis, coded themes and sub-themes were created. Subjects such as "the opportunity to watch the lesson again", "Protecting health", "Ease of focus", "Exam advantage", "Ease of access for students with disabilities", "Facilities provided by the university administration", "encouraging research" are positive opinions about distance education. Conditions such as "Problems in the Distance Education Infrastructure", "Lack of Education Face to Face", "Negative Emotion due to Pandemic", "Exam Anxiety" were found as negative findings. As a result, it is seen that the distance education system is advantageous in some aspects and disadvantageous in some aspects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The solution suggestions presented for the elimination of problems in the distance education system are as follows, both in our study and other studies in the literature. "Improving distance education infrastructure", "Using web-based additional applications", "Assigning homework instead of exams, being fair in grading", "Exemption and adding additional courses to accelerated programs", "Producing solutions for increasing efficiency in practice classes", "ensuring ease of transportation", etc. We think that the state institutions should take the necessary precautions by considering the solutions based on scientific studies.