Improving undergraduate students' learning through Online Educational Guidance Meetings (OEGMs)

Abstract

This study aimed at obtaining reflections on Online Educational Guidance Meetings (OEGMs), executed in the English preparatory program during COVID-19 Pandemic in a university in Istanbul. The OEGMs were voluntary meetings between a student and the instructor. Students were able to ask for suggestions to study more effectively via an online meeting platform. The qualitative collaborative action research design was operated in the study. One-on-one interviews with 8 instructors and focus group interviews with 12 students were conducted to obtain the data. Content analysis method was employed to analyze obtained data. The findings revealed that this new method, which brought the students together with their instructors in personal one-to-one meetings, provided numerous advantages psychologically and academically in the learning process.