The aim of this study is to examine the success of music students in asynchronous piano education during the distance learning process in the spring semester of the 2019/2020 academic year in the Covid-19 outbreak. Participants of the study consisted of 34 students studying at Giresun University, 37 students studying at Nigde Ömer Halisdemir University and 32 students studying at Kirikkale University. Various quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used depending on the aim and sub-problems of the study. Hence, this research was carried out with a mixed method. Besides, this research is an experimental study in one dimension. In order to collect the data of the research, the "track deciphering form" "track technical form" and "track acceleration and musicality form" developed by Yücetoker were used in the assessment of the play records received from the students, and the midterm and final grades of the students were received from the student information systems of the relevant universities. Findings obtained from qualitative data were analyzed by the arithmetic mean, and findings obtained from quantitative data were analyzed by the paired-samples t-test. In light of the findings, it was concluded that the students did not gain enough deciphering, technical study, and musicality behaviors in asynchronous piano education in distance education, and their distance education achievement scores were lower than the face-to-face education achievement scores. Various suggestions were given in light of these results.
Existing distance education systems offer the opportunity of global education (benefiting from the educational opportunities of universities through distance education) and global communication (the opportunity to communicate effectively among themselves) for students and teachers living in different countries of the world. Contributing to the increase in the significance of distance education, these two opportunities also allow both students and teachers to involve in independent, individual, or collective working environments through programs. Distance education has an important place in the education system (??man, 2011: 4).
Distance education is a term that brings together the elements of "teaching and learning". Distance training highlights the institution and the teacher. It explains the course development process of a distance institution that prepares learning materials for students. Distance study is a student-oriented term that tends to neglect the role of the institution. The process is evaluated from the student's perspective. Distance training and distance study (or distance learning) are two halves of the distance education process (Kaya, 2002: 10). In this case, I??k and Güler (2008 as cited in Yungul, 2018: 1336) define distance education as "an institutional education activity where students, teachers and teaching materials in different places are brought together through communication technologies".
According to Romitsovsky, in order to carry out remote educational activities, it is necessary to determine a targeted model of training, develop, support technological infrastructure. The models used are divided into 2 as synchronous and asynchronous (cited by Demir, 2014: 205). In synchronous education, where students and the teacher have the opportunity to communicate with each other live, the lesson is conducted in a virtual environment. By virtue of this method, students may ask questions about issues that are not understood live, get the opportunity to discuss with each other. In asynchronous education, where the student can access courses at any time and from any place, the course is followed with previously uploaded materials (video, audio recording, etc.). In this method, students cannot ask questions about topics that are not understood because they are not in direct contact with the instructor (Serçemeli and Kurnaz, 2020: 42).
In the report published by YÖK, it has been stated that the goal of distance education is “to increase the effectiveness of education through the interactive environment in which information and communication technologies are provided, multimedia opportunities and the ability to access unlimited information”. Distance education, which is becoming increasingly important, especially for working people, and an effective way to reach up-to-date information, will become even more widespread along with technological advances. Thus, access to distance learning applications will be easier, the interaction between teachers and students will increase, more people will get a more convenient and easier speed of study, getting rid of restrictions (economic, geographical, social, sexual) (cited by Demirel, 2009: 701).
According to Karasar, thanks to the internet, the concept of “place” has ceased to be a concept that determines whether to use educational services because on the internet, ”one place“ is ”everywhere". “Locality”, which is firmly adhered to in the curriculum, is about to abandon its throne to the concepts of “globalism” or “universality” (Kahraman, 2020: 48).
Distance education provides a number of opportunities for individuals and society, as well as some limitations. It may not easily provide communication and interaction in face-to-face training. The socialization of students who receive education through distance education may be prevented and weakened. While distance education can work especially in the activities of theoretical courses and disciplines, it may not work effectively in practical courses and disciplines. Deficiencies can be observed in gaining skills and attitudes through distance education (Akyürek, 2020: 7-8).
Visual Arts (painting, sculpture, etc.), Auditory Arts (music, etc.), Dramatic Arts (opera, ballet, etc.), namely Fine Arts, are among the applied courses that are thought to be negatively affected in the distance education process. According to Rees, music educators have been slow to embrace the internet-based distance education process. The situation that instrument training, which is a branch of music education, continues in a practical, master-apprentice relationship and face-to-face environment, in other words, the ossification of this method is an important factor for those who want to receive music/instrument training and music educators to stand aloof from distance education (cited by Aksoy et al., 2020: 950).
According to Özen (1996: 20), instrument training should be seen as a way for the student to establish a sincere connection with music, tend to professional and amateur music and gradually acquire music as a profession. In addition, Uçan (1997: 11) defines instrument training as "one of the most important and meaningful dimensions of music teaching at all levels for whatever purpose, whether general, volunteer or professional." Given these definitions, instrument training is an important musical education at all levels. Piano education refers to one of the sub-branches of instrument training.
Based on the definition of violin education, piano education can be defined as the process of making changes and creating changes in cognitive, affective and kinesthetic behavior of individuals through their own life (Günay and Uçan, 1980: 8).
Regardless of the type of education given, it is necessary to pay attention to many factors in piano education: the correct sitting, the correct grip of the hand, arm and fingers, applying force to the keys as required, the correct reading of notes, rhythmic accuracy, the correct finger number, coordination of both hands, pressing the right key, nuance accuracy, tempo accuracy, the correct functioning of techniques like legato-staccato-portato, the correct interpretation of musical terms, the accuracy of musical expression, performing all items and memorizing the work from beginning to end (Akbulut, 2020: 1834).
Piano education, besides its technical and musical achievements, has a very important place for music teacher candidates.
The most suitable and useful instrument to be used as an instrument in music teaching is the piano. There is no intonation difficulty or disorder in this instrument, it has a fixed pitch. It sounds right from where the finger is pressed (provided the piano is not out of tune). The instrument has wide sound limits. It has a wide range of voices capable of reproducing the sounds of both women (or children), men, and instruments. In the piano, any agility is possible. Short-value sounds are easily made. It has a harmonic-polyphonic character; it is the most suitable instrument for polyphonic ear training; It is a harmonic accompaniment instrument. The reduction of all kinds of polyphonic pieces can be carried out. Choral and orchestral pieces can be played. It is suitable for analyzing large pieces. It has rich literature and so on. Because it is a heavy and expensive instrument with all these qualities, the desired place, time, and number cannot be provided immediately. It necessarily requires a private music hall or music classroom at school (Yönetken, 1952 as cited in Say, 2011: 69).
Piano education is considered an instrument education accepted all over the world. In our country, it is carried out through institutions of professional music education (Schools of Fine Arts, Faculties of Education, Conservatories, Faculties of Fine Arts, etc.), as well as institutions providing excellent music education (activities like courses, private lessons, concerts).
In faculties of education, “Teacher training programs, which have been rearranged since the 1998-1999 academic year, have been implemented. In the restructuring efforts, the programs of education faculties that train teachers for primary education have been shaped to meet the demands of eight-year compulsory primary education. " Piano lessons are given for 8 semesters pursuant to this formation. The name of the lesson given in the second semester of the 4th grade is “Piano and its Teaching” (YÖK, 2007a).
“By the end of the nearly 10-year period in the 1997 configuration, attempts have been made for it to be revised by considering the deficiencies in the 1997 configuration, and accordingly, some arrangements have been done in the vocational knowledge courses in both primary and secondary education field teaching programs.... Considering the structural changes in the Turkish education system, social needs and demands, the restructuring of education and educational sciences faculties in terms of departments, and the re-updating of teacher training undergraduate programs has emerged as a necessity.”(YÖK, 2018b). The piano lesson, which had been 8 terms previously, has been reduced to 2 terms, to be given only in the first year pursuant to this regulation (YÖK, 2018c).
The positive or negative effects of this educational instrument, whose education has been reduced from 8 to 2 terms, on music teacher candidates should be considered and researched. However, before the first graduates were even given under the new program, we have faced an unexpected global crisis that has caught all countries unprepared.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, which started at the beginning of 2020 and is still continuing, has been experienced for the first time in our country and in the world, it is being seen that there are problems in producing solutions to this outbreak (Kahraman, 2020: 47).
Problem status
COVID-19, a large family of viruses that can cause disease in animals and humans, is a virus first identified in China's Wuhan province on 13.01.2020 in late December. The disease, which was detected in those found in the seafood and animal market in this region, was transmitted from person to person by respiratory tract and spread to other cities, other states and other countries of the world (The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, 2020).
The measures taken to control the virus spreading to all countries of the world have stopped the wheels of the international supply chain; It has created various results and performance changes in social, health, education, sports, cultural and tourism activities and systems such as economic, security, food, supply chain, communication, transportation (ThinkTech, 2020).
One of the areas that the COVID-19 epidemic caught off guard and almost shocked about what to do is undoubtedly the field of education. Formal education was the first area of mass activity to be interrupted when quarantine days began in the countries. Education and training institutions were closed. In the field of education, the educational process of more than 1.57 billion students in the world has been interrupted. Due to the prolongation of the process, discussions have begun on how to continue. Many countries with partial experience, even in narrow areas, preferred distance training as a way of continuing education and training activities. While some countries prefer to abstain from this issue or be content with partial practices, some countries, including Turkey, quickly mobilized their distance training infrastructure to carry out educational activities at all levels (Karaka?, 2020: 565-566).
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has been declared as a pandemic by WHO on 11.03.2020, it was decided to suspend education for 3 weeks starting from 16.03.2020 in all higher education institutions in our country on 13.03.2020 (YÖK, 2020d).
During this period when the distance training opportunities and capacities of the universities were determined, the Distance Training Roadmap was determined on 17.03.2020 by a delegation consisting of relevant experts from universities and YÖK. Necessary regulations and decisions to be taken in 5 main areas, namely Legislation, Infrastructure, Human Resources, Content, and Implementation, started to be implemented in this roadmap (YÖK, 2020e).
In line with the statements made, it was decided that the educational process in higher education institutions in Turkey be continued only with distance education as of 23.03.2020. In this context, universities that did not have a "Learning Management System" or had deficiencies in infrastructure were given the opportunity to cooperate with other universities with distance education experience and to benefit from each other's infrastructure opportunities. It was also decided to provide support by Anadolu University, Atatürk University and Istanbul University upon request (YÖK, 2020f). The distance education process, which started in line with the application methods (synchronous - asynchronous) determined by the universities within their own structure and the academic calendar they reorganized, had been completed at the end of about 8 or 9 weeks.
During this period, the vast majority of universities continued distance education practices in asynchronous form. This clearly shows that distance education systems should be developed in terms of infrastructure (Can, 2020: 35). The distance learning system had often been used for theoretical courses prior to the outbreak. Medicine, Fine Arts, most engineering fields, as well as applications that require dexterity or physical teacher intervention on materials, could not be included in the distance education system, as it required special education.As instrument education is also a form of education that requires dexterity and physical intervention of the teacher, there is no instrument education included in the distance education system in Turkey. For all these reasons, in the post-epidemic period, that is, in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year, training in theoretical courses can be easily applied, while it has been a little difficult to implement in practical courses” (Artaç, 2018: 303; Kahraman, 2020: 48).
Due to the limitations such as not being able to provide face-to-face education relations easily in the distance education process, not being effective in performing skills and attitude-oriented behaviors, not being able to provide sufficient assistance to students who do not have the habit of self-learning and are helpless, students cannot benefit from practical courses adequately (Kaya, 2002: 20).
When asynchronous education, which increases lack of communication and decreases mutual interaction, is added to the situation of having a minimum of 2 people in a lesson, the time allocated to a student decreases, and piano education often requires a superhuman effort to achieve its purpose. Therefore, according to Bolat and Ak?nc? (2020: 341), in music/instrument education, which is a discipline in which cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills are at a high level, the educator and the student have to plan and advance the process together.
In theoretical lessons, it can be seen as a useful element for the student to reach information whenever and wherever he wants. However, this element in instrument (piano/individual instrument) training, which is an applied lesson and must be carried out in a certain discipline, creates a negative situation for both the teacher and the student, renders the distance education process, which does not require attendance, to a great extent useless, and unfortunately some students become the "losers" of this process. Taking everything into consideration, it can be said that it is obvious that the success of the “piano” course, which is a practice lesson in which asynchronous education is applied, is obvious. In this direction, the aim of this research is to examine the success status of music students in asynchronous piano education conducted in the distance education process. In order to achieve this goal, answers to the following questions are sought:
Of the works performed by music students in piano education during asynchronous distance education,
1) What are the success situations in the sight-reading stage?
2) What are the success situations in the technical stage?
3) What are the success situations in the musicality and acceleration stage?
4) Is there a difference between the success grades of the piano education of the students after their face-to-face education in the fall semester of 2019-2020 and the grades of piano education after the distance education in the spring semester of 2019-2020?
Various quantitative and qualitative research techniques have been used depending on the problem and sub-problems of the research. That being the case, this research has been carried out by mixed method. Besides, this research is an experimental study with a dimension.
Quantitative methods are one group pretest posttest experimental design and a single screening model from the general survey model. Experimental design models are accepted as controlled research in which theories can be developed as a result of determining the relationships between variables, and are accepted as the most reliable research due to the accuracy of its results (Ural and K?l?ç, 2006). Among these, the one group pre-test post-test experimental design model to be used in this study is a model that can be applied to a random group of independent variables, requiring both pre-and post-experiment measurements (Karasar, 2006).
Another model to be used in the research is the screening model that aims to describe a situation as it was in the past or a situation that still exists as it is. The single screening model to be used in this research is for the purpose of determining the formations of variables, individual, type or quantity.
Participants
This research has been carried out through distance education in the spring semester of 2019-2020. The participants of the study were 34 students who studied at the Music Education Department of Fine Arts Education Department of the Faculty of Education of Giresun University, 37 students who studied at the Music Education Department of Fine Arts Education Department of the Faculty of Education of Ni?de Ömer Halisdemir University, and 32 students who studied at the Music Education Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts of K?r?kkale University. Since there are grade-level differences in research groups, each group has been evaluated with separate works and separate evaluation criteria.
Data collection tools and data analysis
For the sake of obtaining research data, descriptive data collection tools such as literature and archive review, qualitative tools for interviews, and quantitative data collection tools were used for face-to-face training and the documents of the midterm exam and final notes received in distance education.
Written sources such as articles, theses, papers, manuscript notes that can be directly or indirectly related and accessible to the problem statement of the research and the sub-problems formed on the basis of this problem statement were scanned.
In the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year, piano lessons were conducted through distance education (asynchronous). Giresun University used the GRÜ-UZEM system established in 2013 within the scope of education programs and activities, and K?r?kkale University used the KUZEM system established in 2009. Ni?de Ömer Halisdemir University, which does not have its own infrastructure, has employed the MERGEN system, which is the technical infrastructure system of Anadolu University. Due to the lack of capacity of the MERGEN system, the learning platform Google Classroom system and the social media platform YouTube were used by both academic staff and students to support the MERGEN system for the application lessons in particular.
Three different faculty members from three universities carried out asynchronous lessons with the students selected as participants. Video recordings were requested from the assignments given at the end of each course and these recordings were evaluated with 3 observation forms developed by Yücetoker (2014). Content validities of this observation form are as follows; since the content validity index of the "work deciphering form" is 0.61 (criterion validity 0.54), the content validity index of the "technical form of the work" is 0.76 (criterion validity is 0.54), and the content validity index of "the acceleration and musicality form of the work" is 0.77 (criterion validity 0.54), these measuring tools were considered valid for practice. Limits for the interpretation of data from video recordings have been determined as 1.00 - 1.79 for "None" option, 1.80 - 2.59 for "Very Little" option, 2.60 - 3.39 for "Partial" option, 3.40 - 4.19 for the "Substantial" option and 4.20 - 5.00 for the "Completely" option (Yücetoker, 2014: 76).
Student midterm exam and final grades were obtained from the student information systems of Giresun University, Ni?de Ömer Halisemir University and K?r?kkale University in order to determine the difference between the success grades of the students in the face-to-face education in the fall semester of 2019-2020 and the distance education results in the 2019-2020 spring semester. So as to determine whether there is a significant difference between the distance education process and the face-to-face education process, a paired-samples t-test was conducted. "Paired-samples t-test is a parametric technique used to test the significance of the difference between two arithmetic means when each subpore shows normal distribution characteristic (N1> 30; N2> 30)." (Y?ld?r?m and ?im?ek, 2006: 165).
For each sub-problem, first of all, information about how piano education is done in the asynchronous distance education process is presented and then its findings are included.
Findings regarding success situations of the students at the sight-reading stage
The instructors have determined a repertoire, taking into account the cognitive and psychomotor skills of each student. During the semester, studies and works belonging to different periods were selected, videos were taken by the teacher on how to sight-read the works and studies and uploaded to the relevant system. By watching the recorded videos, students were asked to perform the behaviors specified in the “deciphering form of the work” section at the sight-reading stage of the works.
When Table 1 is examined, it is observed that the students paid "very little" (<2.30) attention to the criteria regarding finger numbers, staccato playing, and rest signs during the sight-reading of the works; and that they paid “substantial” (> 3.00) attention to the criteria of starting position, correct rhythm and correct note. They paid “partial” (> 2.60) attention to the constant tempo, the number of measures, equipment signs, and legato playing criteria.
Findings regarding the success situations of the students in the technical study stage of the work
When the sight-reading stage of the works was over, the instructors moved to the technical study part. Technical studies were described separately for the works and studies of each period. Portato, staccato and legato playing techniques, which are important for the interpretation of the works, were primarily described and applied. Beside this, sequence plays, arpeggio teaching, chord playing, double voice binding, ornamentation teaching, silent transition technique, the ability to play multiple sound parties and two-hand coordination techniques were also described. The students have been asked to perform the behaviors specified in the “technical study form” section during the technical study stage of the works by watching the recorded videos.
When Table 2 is examined, it is observed that students paid "very little" (<1.98) attention to the criteria of silent pass, arpeggio and playing two parties in one hand during the technical playing stage; and paid “substantial” (> 2.50) attention to the criteria of legato, two-hand coordination and playing staccato. They paid “partial” (> 2.60) attention to the criteria for playing chords, connected double sounds, portato and scale.
Findings related to success situations of the students in the stage of achieving acceleration and musicality to the works
When the sight-reading process and the technical work stages of the works were completed, the part of rapid vocalization of and gaining musicality to the works has been passed. The acceleration and musicality studies have been explained and applied by the instructors and the videos have been shot and uploaded to the relevant system page for the participants to watch. The acceleration ??and musicality studies have been explained separately for each period's works and etudes. The ability to apply nuances for works, warnings of not having incorrect notes in speed, metronome studies for the importance of rhythm control while accelerating, synchronous control in speed, interpretation of musical phrases, theme announcement studies in polyphonic works, mastery of touch in speed and interpretation of music periods have been explained and exemplified. The students have been asked to perform behaviors stated in the "acceleration and musicality behavior form" section in the stage of bringing acceleration and musicality to the works.
When Table 3 is analyzed, it is observed that students paid "very little" (<1.60) attention to the criteria of nuance, synchronization, and mastery of touch in the process of giving acceleration and musicality to the works; and that they paid “substantial” (> 2.50) attention for the criteria of interpreting classical works, interpretation sentences and playing correct notes. They paid “partial” (> 2.60) attention to the criteria for announcing the themes, rhythm control, and interpreting baroque works.
Findings regarding the differences between students' achievement in face-to-face education and distance education
In Table 4, two different findings have been found. A significant difference has been found between the midterm grades that students received in the face-to-face education process and the midterm grades that they received in the distance education process (p= 0.001). It may be said that the midterm grades they received as a result of face-to-face education and the midterm grades they received as a result of distance education are notably different. In the same way, a significant difference has been found between the final grades that students received in the face-to-face training process and the final grades that they received in the distance education process. (p= 0.001). In the present case, it may be said that the final grades they received in face-to-face education and the final grades they received as a result of distance education are remarkably different. In order to see at what level and where these differences originate, it is necessary to look at the means of the exams. The mean of the midterm exam in the face-to-face education process of the students is 57.99, while the mean of the midterm exam in the distance education process is 42.97. In the same way, the mean of the final exam in the face-to-face training process of the students was determined as 62.56, while the mean of the final exam is 46.47 in the distance education process.
In the study, it has been concluded that the average success rate of the students in the work sight-reading stage was low in the asynchronous piano lessons. During the distance education process, it was found that students paid attention to the starting position, correct note and correct rhythm criteria; they did not pay attention to the criteria for finger numbers, staccato and rest signs. The fact that they did not pay attention to the finger numbers, staccato, and rest signs demonstrates that they did not look carefully at the note and therefore did not see the notation signs in the note. It can be said that the logic established by the students when sight-reading the work is only about playing “the correct note and the right rhythm” at the first stage, and as a consequence, they did not pay regard to the “visual” signs. Thusly, the fact that they largely fulfill the criteria for playing notes and scales correctly supports this idea. It can be said that this situation is caused by the student's conscious work. On the grounds of the moral power he/she receives from his/her teacher, who is next to him in face-to-face training, or the authority he/she feels in a positive sense, the student becomes more motivated in the lesson and gives his attention to the work he/she is doing. On the other hand, since there is no "power" controlling in the home environment and even in asynchronous piano lessons, students become lonely and gradually their attention levels decrease. The student, who does not feel under control at all times, develops a logic in line with his own logic and emotions and narrows his perspective. This can also cause students to develop a poor attitude towards piano lessons or develop a reluctant attitude towards piano learning in distance education. Regardless of which of these thoughts are correct, it does not change the fact that asynchronous courses do not develop students' sight-reading skills and cannot be a successful process. On the grounds of this, in extraordinary cases such as the pandemic we are experiencing today, it is recommended that distance education courses not be asynchronous, and live courses should be carried out through distance education in order to get quick feedback on mistakes that students may make during the deciphering stage.
In the study, it has been concluded that the average success rate of students in the technical playing of the works in asynchronous piano lessons was low. During the distance education process, it was determined that students pay attention to legato, two-hand coordination, and staccato criteria, and they did not pay attention to the silent transition, arpeggio, and playing two parties in one hand criteria. In line with the feedback about sight-reading errors, it is seen that the staccato playing and legato criteria are paid attention to during the technical playing stage. On the other hand, despite the feedback made based on the "finger number" criterion, which they did not pay attention to during the sight-reading stage, the "silent pass" criterion was not considered in the technical playing stage. However, it was determined that the students experienced difficulties especially in the ornamentation technique, silent passages, and playing two sound partitions in one hand found in baroque works. In order to investigate this situation, feedback was asked for the students about why they could not. Based on the feedback, it was concluded that the students understood mordant, grupetto and trills from the videos they watched, but they experienced rhythmic problems in combining them with their left hand, since they vocalized their works on the organ, they could not do the silent transition due to the lightness of the touch, and could not see and understand the two sound parties in a single musical staff. The importance of technical study in piano education is indisputable and these technical studies should be done on the piano. Yet, piano lessons in distance education have forced students to perform technical work on organs with no touch quality, both because of their financial inadequacies and because they are unprepared for distance education due to the pandemic process. That being the case, in extraordinary situations such as the pandemic we are experiencing today, it is recommended that universities or higher institutions provide financial aid to music students for distance education and that music houses rent electronic pianos at low cost and develop an embezzlement system.
In the study, it has been concluded that students' average success rates were low at the stage of gaining speed and musicality to the works in asynchronous piano lessons. During the distance learning process, it was determined that students paid attention to interpreting classical works, interpreting sentences and playing the correct note, and that they did not pay attention to the criteria of nuance, synchronization, touch control. The shortcomings encountered in the basic techniques (legato, staccato) during the sight-reading and technical playing stage show themselves in a positive way in the classical period works. But the lack of attention to arpeggio playing at the technical stage leads to mistakes in the synchronization stage. As can be seen, each stage in instrument training is intertwined and complements each other. It was found that when students accelerated the works, they began to make mistakes in the notes of the works they had previously been sight-reading correctly, lost rhythm controls while gaining speed, and made two-hand synchronizing errors. Given the factors that can lead to these situations, unconscious speed studies can be interpreted more precisely as their sudden orientation to real speed without playing the work at a medium speed. In performing Baroque works, there are also errors in the inability to hear the same themes in another sound part, the inability to interpret musical phrases, and the loss of touch control. In particular, it has been found that nuance states are very poor. But this is a situation that should not only be thought as a student failure. Playing different works belonging to periods with nuances is difficult even in face-to-face education, while distance education is doubly difficult. Because students shoot through devices or phones that are inexpensive and have poor sound quality. Furthermore, students are very unlikely to be able to nuance under the influence of light-touch organs. Therefore, in order for the piano or instrument education to be of high quality and suitable for its purpose in the distance education process, it is recommended that video calling programs be improved in terms of synchronization, that high-quality audio and video recording devices be delivered to students, that internet infrastructure be developed throughout the country, and that computers that could strengthen the distance education infrastructure be provided to both academic staff and students.
In the study, it has been concluded that there were negative differences between the success grades that students received as a result of face-to-face training and the success grades that they received as a result of distance education. In face-to-face education, students' average midterm and final grades were normal, while in distance education, students' average midterm and final grades were low. The reasons leading to this condition are quite many. When considered on the student basis, many reasons can be listed such as the lack of working time of the students, the limitation of working opportunities, their low motivation towards the lessons they take remotely, the psychological tension they experience while filming themselves, the perspective of their parents who live in the same house, and so on. Considering other problems, factors such as the inability to have a piano in their home, the inability to have enough tools to record their videos, problems with the distance education system, the inability to communicate live with their teachers, the inability to do their homework on time, not attending lessons every week due to lack of attendance problem and not working on time can be listed. Consequently, in order for students' success to increase, it is recommended that universities and the Council of Higher Education impose an attendance requirement for the live lessons in distance education, just as in face-to-face education.
