Development of Medical School Students’ Attitudes Towards Online Learning Scale and Its Relationship With E-Learning Styles

Abstract

This study aims at determining students' attitudes towards distance education/online learning through a scale developed by the authors and determine the relationship between these attitudes and e-learning styles. The study carried out on students of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Medicine using the online system of the university., the sample group consists 815 students from different classes, the participation rate was 89.46%. Following the explanatory factor and confirmatory factor analysis resulting structure of the scale was confirmed. Construct validity, criterion validity and internal consistency of the scale were high. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to assess the predictive strength of the students' learning styles which were determined using the e-Learning Styles Scale for Electronic Environments for the attitudes towards online learning. Presented Medical School Students' Attitudes Towards Online Learning Scale was valid and reliable instrument to measure medical school students' attitudes towards distance/online learning. Although students' attitudes toward online/distant education were divided, it was negative on the average. The regression modeling showed that the learning styles are significant predictors for attitudes towards online education and the audio-visual learning style was determined as has the highest predictive strength for attitudes towards online education. The developed tool can be used to monitor medical school students' attitudes towards distance/online learning and will contribute to preparing medical education for a change towards distance learning.

The effect of repetition- and scenario-based repetition strategies on anatomy course achievement, classroom engagement and online learning attitude

“…No difference was found between the two groups when the students' attitudes towards online learning and online medical education were questioned; the low scores obtained showed that the students did not favour online education so much [45]. Considering online medical education based on the data we obtained, we found that, similar to online education, the students did not favour distance medical education and were against online education particularly in the area of practical applications.…”

“…MSSATOLS: Developed by Yurdal et al [45], this scale is a measurement tool consisting of 22 items and two subscales. The scale is a five-point Likert type measurement tool.…”

Distance Learning in Higher Education During Covid-19

“…Due to the pandemic's quick move to online education, many schools have an insufficient infrastructure. Infrastructure deficiency is more evident in fields that require laboratory work such as engineering (Andrzej, 2020) and medicine (Yurdal et al, 2021).…”

“…Students' attitudes toward distance learning differ according to the studies. In some studies (Mathew and Chung, 2020;Avsheniuk et al, 2021), it is stated that especially the students' attitudes are positive, while in some studies (Bozavlı, 2021;Yurdal et al, 2021) it is clearly stated that their attitudes are negative. In addition, there are also studies (Akcil and Bastas, 2021) that indicate that students' attitudes are at a moderate level.…”

COVID-19 and The Impact of Online Learning on the Higher Institution Students’ Health

“…Students' attitudes toward online learning differ according to the studies. In studies conducted by Mathew and Chung (2020); Avsheniuk et al (2021) stated that students' attitudes are positive, while in different studies (Bozavli, 2021;Yurdal et al, 2021) it is clearly stated that students' attitudes are negative. There would be various reasons why students point out the negativity of online learning, whether learning environment conditions, access to a quality internet connection or adaptation to online learning during the MCO operation (Abrosimova, 2020;Balta-Salvador et al, 2021).…”