Examining the relationship between five-factor personality traits and perception of distance education in recent times

Distance education, which has been on the agenda in the recent past, has experienced difficult times both in the world and in our country due to the pandemic and the severe psychological and physiological effects of the earthquake in 10 provinces. However, education is an area that should not be interrupted under any circumstances. For this reason, an important change was made in education due to the ordinary situation conditions and this situation attracted attention by educators. One of the decisions taken in the face of major events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters that could interrupt face-to-face education was the transition to distance education. There are points that distinguish distance education from face-to-face education. At the same time, individuals who receive distance education each have different personality traits. Students who experienced severe psychological breakdowns due to illness and earthquake had to continue their education. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of these periods and the relationship between the personality traits of distance education students and their education. In the research, a quantitative research method, namely the survey model, has been applied. The student group participating in the survey was 154 students who are actively studying in the Department of Social Studies Teaching at Akdeniz University Faculty of Education. Two scales were used in the survey. 'Attitude scale towards distance education offered during the Covid-19 pandemic' and the second is 'Five factor personality inventory'. According to the findings of the study, some relationships were determined between students' perception of distance education and five factor personality traits. In the factor of social interaction and human relations, it was concluded that both female and male students were generally participatory. In the factor of order and organization, it was seen that female participants were more than male participants and the relationship between them was low. In the emotional balance and empathy factor, it was found that male participants had higher levels of emotional balance and empathy than female participants. This factor has a significant relationship with gender. In the factor of personal inner experience and self-development, the average score of female participants was higher than that of male participants. The scores of the participants were higher than the scores of the participants. This situation also differs according to gender. In the study in which the big five personality factors of extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, responsibility, emotional stability and intelligence/imagination were also evaluated, it was seen that students with high extroversion were more active in meetings, those with high agreeableness were interested in people and understood the feelings of others, and those with high conscientiousness were prepared and liked order. It was found that students with high emotional stability were generally relaxed and those with high intelligence/imagination had a wide vocabulary and mentally visualized events. In conclusion, this study examined the relationship between students' personality traits and their perception of education in the distance education process. The findings show that there are some relationships between gender and five factor personality traits. These results emphasize that students' personality traits and perceptions should be taken into consideration in the distance education process. Future research can examine these relationships in more detail and help us better understand the effects of the distance education process on students' personality traits.