The Relationship Between Attitudes of Students Studying in Aviation Departments Towards Distance Education and Their Commitment to University During COVID 19 Epidemic Period

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between university students’ attitudes towards distance education and their university commitment in aviation departments/programs, where practical (applied) courses are vital in addition to theoretical courses, in the distance education which is compulsory during the pandemic process caused by COVID 19. Within the scope of the research, 282 participant students enrolled in the Civil Air Transport Management and Civil Aviation and Cabin Services program of the 2-year Vocational Schools of the foundation universities in Istanbul, and the Aviation Management and Pilotage Departments of the 4-year aviation departments could be reached. The questionnaire administered to the participants consists of 3 parts. The first part comprises questions regarding the demographic characteristics of the participants. The second part, includes survey questions including the “Attitude Scale towards Distance Education Applied during the Epidemic Period” and the third part include “Student Commitment in Higher Education Scale”. In order to analyze the data obtained from this survey, SPSS 25.0 statistical package program is employed. According to the findings of the research; 51% of the change in student commitment in higher education was explained by the attitude towards distance education offered during the COVID 19 pandemic. Significant differences are found between the attitudes towards distance education and student commitment according to the department types and grade levels of the students. It has been observed that student commitment increases as the scores of satisfaction with the opportunities offered by the university in distance education, communication and access in distance education, and comparison scores of distance education and face-to-face education increase.