Özet:

The aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of pre-service Science Teachers about distance education by using metaphor technique. The study group included 34 students enrolled in a state university in 2020. The research design is phenomenology as the qualitative methods in this study. Participants were given a questionnaire consisting of the sentence “Distance education is like … Because …” to state their conceptualizations of distance education. The data were analyzed by content analysis method and then categories and themes were formed. The perceptions of students about distance education were interpreted according to the emerged themes and categories. Metaphors were formed in four themes: “Communication,” “Emotional,” “Educational,” and “Accessibility.” While some of the participants had positive opinions about distance education, some of the participants stated negative opinions. In the communication theme, participants stated that they could not communicate properly and socialize. In the emotional theme, some participants were satisfied with distance education, while others were not satisfied with the process. In the educational theme, participants' perceptions of distance education were included under the categories of technology use in distance education, individual differences, independent learning, efficiency, and supportive. In the theme of accessibility, technological problems experienced in distance education, the flexibility of distance education and participant perceptions of the equality of opportunity it provides are included. Some suggestions have been made for effective distance education: Technological and connectivity problems should be resolved. Suitable content for learners' wishes and learning strategies should be prepared. Strategies should be developed to increase the interaction between learner-learner and learner-teacher

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