Evaluation of the emergency remote teaching process during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications based on students’ views

Abstract

This study aims to examine the level of students’ satisfaction and opinions about the emergency remote teaching process during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey. Based on the results a guide was constructed for universities to be prepared for emergency remote teaching situations. The study was designed as a survey method which is a quantitative research. Data was collected using an 8-section quantitative questionnaire with 53 close-ended questions. Participants were 3540 university students consisting of 150 graduate students and 3390 undergraduate students. The results indicated that 72.5% of participants (n= 2567) graded their distance learning experiences during the pandemic as moderately satisfactory or higher during the pandemic at the university. Based on the results, the highest satisfaction score is for the system including LMS and videoconferencing tools, and the lowest satisfaction score is for assessment and measurement methods. Moreover, attendance of synchronous lessons, regular instantaneous feedback provided by instructors, asynchronous activities and instantaneous interaction with instructors contributed to students’ learning during the emergency remote teaching process in the pandemic. On the other hand, deficiency of face-to-face interaction, homework, technical problems during synchronous lessons, and motivational deficiencies were scored as obstacles. In addition, universities should be prepared for an alternative way of teaching for similar crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, and distance education technologies must have a supportive role in face-to-face learning in universities. Universities who were using emerging technologies before COVID-19 crisis had a comparative advantage over those who did not integrate new technologies into their education system.