COVİD-19 SALGININDA ÖĞRETİM ELEMANI VE ÖĞRENCİLERİN UZAKTAN FİZYOTERAPİ VE REHABİLİTASYON EĞİTİMİNE YÖNELİK ALGI VE TUTUMLARININ İNCELENMESİ

Abstract

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many institutions and instructors tried to continue without disruption through distance education (DE) instead of canceling their lectures. This study aims to investigate of academicians and students' perception and attitudes for distance physiotherapy and rehabilitation education in COVID-19 pandemic.
 Methods: This study was conducted at School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation between May to June 2020. Study information were given to 22 academicians be assigned in distance education and Distance Education Perceptions Scale questionnaires were filled. Web Based Instruction Attitude Scale online survey link was sent to through students' class WhatsApp groups to all of the 620 undergraduate students.
 Results: Academicians' perception of DE were at moderate level, most of the academicians stated that students don’t have the opportunity to think analytically in DE, the quality of education does not increase and learning outcomes are not equivalent to traditional education. More than half of the students stated that DE could be an alternative solution to the "education problem". However, they found the DE boring due to technical problems and did not feel belonging to the university they were enrolled.
 Conclusion: Although DE is seen as an alternative solution in terms of continuing educational activities during the pandemic process, attitudes towards DE create uncertainty for both academicians and students. This may be due to the fact that physiotherapy education has practical course contents. The quality of DE can be increased by making the use of technology more user-friendly and by providing basic technical training for users.