Online Learning Satisfaction in Higher Education amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Regarding the COVID 19 pandemic, the process should be analyzed very well in order to realize effective online education practices possessing high level communication and interaction in higher education. In this respect in this study, initially it is aimed to determine the satisfaction levels of higher education students towards online education during the pandemic process that affects the whole world and then to reveal the changes of these levels according to the variables such as gender, discipline, education level and grade level. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used in the study. The sample of the study consists of 13447 university students studying online in different faculties of Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa in the fall semester of 2020-2021. According to the results, the students' satisfaction with online education was at a moderate level. In addition, it was observed that students preferred Zoom from the synchronous platforms the most and Canvas from the asynchronous platforms in the online education process. On the other hand, satisfaction levels of female students differ significantly from male students, Science and Engineering and Social Sciences students were more satisfied with the process than the Medicine and Health Sciences students. 6th grade students' satisfaction with the process was higher than other grade levels, and graduate students' satisfaction differed significantly from undergraduate and associate degree students. Finally, the significant differences for all variables were at a low effect level. In the research, various suggestions were made for educators and future studies in order to create more effective online learning environments.