African Educational Research Journal - Vol. 11 - Issue 3 - Mathematics Education Faculty Members' Perceptions of Barriers to Distance Education: Q-Method Analysis

Oct 15, 2026

As a result of the Turkey earthquake disaster, mathematics education in universities shifted to distance education after the pandemic period. This article identifies barriers to distance education practices in higher education. Q methodology is used to determine faculty members’ perceptions of barriers during mathematics teaching. Findings show three main factors—student, curriculum, and technology barriers—most consistent with the literature, while teacher-related barriers show no factor load.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Background: COVID-19 and distance education

Turkey earthquake and the return to distance learning

E-learning terminology and scope

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 11(3), pp. 468-479, September 2023 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.113.23.081 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Mathematics education faculty members' perceptions of barriers to distance education: Q-method analysis Mustafa Çağrı Gürbüz Department of Elementary Mathematics Education, Faculty of Education, İstanbul Aydın University, İstanbul , Turkey. Accepted 7 September, 2023 | ABSTRACT
As a result of the great earthquake disaster in Turkey, mathematics education in universities was reorganized as distance education after the pandemic period. This article aims to identify the barriers to distance education practices in higher education. In line with the aim of this study; Q methodology was used to help determine the perceptions and perspectives of faculty members regarding the barriers to distance education in the process of teaching mathematics in higher education. Q methodology aims to reveal the internal frame of reference of individuals through their preferences. According to the findings of the study, participants identified barriers under 3 factors. These 3 factors, in order of weight, represent student, curriculum and technology barriers. In general, it was seen that the 4 factors revealed by the methodology in the study yielded results compatible with the literature. However, it was determined that the barriers arising from the teacher did not carry a factor load in the study. Another unique result was the identification of barriers arising from the nature of mathematics. It was understood that there are unique obstacles specific to the field of mathematics due to pedagogy and curriculum . In this respect, investigating the barriers to field-specific extended education will provide more accurate findings. In this study, which was conducted with Q methodology and supported by qualitative data, the identified barriers to distance education were consistent with the general literature. Q methodology reveals that it is a compatible tool for various research in similar situations.
Keywords: Barriers to distance education, mathematics education, Q methodology. | | --- | | [E-mail: mcggurbuz@gmail.com](E-mail: mcggurbuz@gmail.com). | INTRODUCTION "Coronavirus (COVID-19)" has been one of the most searched terms on the internet since 2020. The year 2020 was an extremely difficult time for the whole world due to the massive COVID-19 pandemic outbreak (Spinelli et al. , 2020) . The critical situation that started with the pandemic also affected educational settings and brought many unexpected challenges for educators and students around the world (Dhawan, 2020; Eradze et al. , 2021; Muthuprasad et al. , 2021) . Unexpectedly, this pandemic has significantly affected our living conditions and changed the usual order (Spinelli et al. , 2020) . During the pandemic, another topic that was very much on the agenda regarding education was distance education. However, we can say that the whole world has left it behind these days. However, while distance education has almost lost its attractiveness on the agenda, unfortunately, in Turkey, distance education has regained its place on the agenda, especially in higher education. The reason for this was the earthquake that occurred in Turkey in February 2023, which had a devastating impact on 10 major provinces of Turkey and Syria and caused a lot of loss of life. It resulted in the loss of about 50,000 people. In order to address the need for shelter for the many homeless people, policymakers identified student dormitories as the first alternative and turned higher education into distance learning. All stakeholders, including policymakers, educators, parents and students, have had to keep up with its many uncertainties, it is now necessary to respond Gürbüz 469 quickly to teaching, learning and online collaboration through different online learning platforms and tools. Challenges, barriers and potential concerns arise when i

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study aims to identify barriers to distance education practices in higher education, specifically in the context of mathematics teaching.

How does the study analyze faculty members’ views?

It uses Q methodology to reveal participants’ internal frame of reference through their preferences and to map perceptions of barriers.

What categories of barriers were identified by the findings?

Participants identified barriers under three factors, ranked by weight as student, curriculum, and technology barriers.

Oct 15, 2026

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