Abstract:
Öz:
Due to the increasing number of curricula offered via distance learning at university level every year, there has been a corresponding significant increase in the number of students benefiting from distance learning. However, there are only a few descriptive studies revealing the views of university students related to 5i courses via distance learning. The aim of this study is obtain detailed information about the experiences in the distance learning process of university students who were registered on common compulsory courses, or who had previously taken these courses, via distance learning, as well as to learn their ideas about the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning. The participants of the study consisted of a total of 15 university students studying at three universities. In order to collect data, four open-ended interview questions were used. After faceto-face interviews, the data were transcribed, and then analyzed via content analysis. In general, the findings ofthe present study revealed that the students seem to have a positive attitude towards distance learning The participants indicated that having control over the study process and learning environment was the most positive aspect of distance education, whereas limitations for communication and interaction, and lack of opportunity to obtain feedback from the course instructor were the most negative aspects of it. Participants considered both the educational dimension and the technical dimension of the system to be equally important. The recommendation most frequently expressed by the students related to development in the educational area was that learning should be made interactive by adding multiple environments to the system that would increase communication and interaction, both between the lecturer responsible for the course and the students, and among the students themselves.
