DISTANCE EDUCATION IN FACULTIES OF SPORTS SCIENCES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF ACADEMIC STAFF

Abstract

The current study aims to examine the opinions of academicians who give both theoretical and applied for courses at the faculty of sports sciences on distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was designed as phenomenology in the qualitative research method in order to obtain in-depth information. A total of 10 academicians, four lecturers, four Dr. Assistant Professors, and two Professor. Dr. participated in the study voluntarily. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. In the analysis of the obtained data, the content analysis method was used in order to make objective and systematic inferences. When the results of the research were evaluated, it was found that the academicians participating in the research did not have an effective education period, especially due to the inefficiency in the functioning of the applied courses, the infrastructure and internet connection problems encountered at the beginning of the process, the problems encountered at the point of measurement and evaluation, and the inability to interact with the student. On the other hand, it was concluded that the distance education process is also advantageous and effective for academicians thanks to the efficiency of the theoretical courses, the comfort provided by distance education in terms of space and time, and the new gains they gained in this process.