The investigation of undergraduate students' attitudes and satisfaction towards distance education and improvement suggestions for distance education processes

The aim of this research is to determine undergraduate students' attitudes towards distance education and their satisfaction levels with this process; to examine these two variables in terms of various demographic variables; and to propose improvement suggestions for distance education based on students' opinions. The research employed a descriptive survey model from quantitative research methods. The Demographic Information Form, the "Distance Education Attitude Scale," and the "Distance Education Satisfaction Scale" were used as data collection tools. The study was conducted with the participation of 102 undergraduate students who had experience with distance education. Independent samples t-test was used to examine the differences between the variables. Additionally, qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions were evaluated using descriptive analysis methods. According to the quantitative findings of the research, students' attitudes towards distance education were generally positive, and their satisfaction levels were moderate. The study examined whether attitudes and satisfaction varied according to gender, faculty, and class level variables. In addition, a positive, moderately significant correlation was found between attitude and satisfaction. According to qualitative findings, students viewed the ability to rewatch lecture recordings as the system's strongest feature, while they cited inadequate technical infrastructure, lack of interaction, and concentration problems as the main obstacles. In conclusion, to increase student satisfaction in distance education, it is recommended to develop more interactive pedagogical content, support instructors' online teaching skills, and systematically evaluate student opinions.