Determination of the Anxiety Levels of Postgraduate Students who are Receiving Digital Scenario Supported Education towards Scientific Research

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to determine the anxiety of postgraduate students who are receiving digital scenario supported education towards scientific research. The research was a quantitative study and the experiment and control group were designed according to the pre-test and post-test research model. In both groups, the courses were carried out in the form of blended learning (distance education and face to face) via the NEU-DEC (Near East University – Distance Education Centre) system. The experiment group was also supported by digital scenarios. The course materials were shared on the system with each group created in the special section. The distance education courses were carried out synchronously and asynchronously: it was possible with the Big Blue Button virtual classroom plugin when it was synchronous; when it was asynchronous, it was possible with the repetition of the courses that are recorded on the system when requested and also with the chat panel. In both groups, there were 40 postgraduate students from the programmes affiliated to institutes in Near East University. As a result of the success test applied as a pre-test before the study, the groups were assigned with the homogeneity as the test group with the last number being the odd number according to the school numbers in terms of achievement and gender. An anxiety scale for scientific research for collecting the required data was used with the necessary permission. The obtained data were analysed by appropriate analysis techniques. Findings obtained from this research revealed that, at the end of the application, the students’ -both in experiment and control group- levels of anxiety related to scientific research decreased. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the groups, it was determined that the average level of anxiety of the experimental group supported by digital scenarios decreased more than the ones in the control group. According to this result, it can be said that the education given with digital scenarios had a positive effect of reducing students' anxieties about research.