Students’ Opinions on COVID-19 and University Life

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine how the university students who continue their education online after the universities shifted to distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic evaluate this process. The study was designed as a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group was selected using the maximum variation sampling method among the university students studying at a public university in the 2020-2021 academic year in Turkey. Semi-structured interview form was used as data collection tool. It was found that the university students were struggling with academic, social, psychological, economic, and health problems during the pandemic period. In addition, in the study, the effect of being at the family home on the university education was also examined. While some participants considered it as an opportunity to stay at the family home for the reasons such as the support of the family and being more comfortable, some others considered it as negative due to the reasons such as the absence of a study environment, behaviors of the family members, family problems, and family pressure.