THE PANDEMIC PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The Covid-19 outbreak has caused serious threats to the physical and mental health of individuals, and has caused many psychological problems such as depression. During pandemic associated shutdown of universities and travel restrictions on going abroad, international students had to spend this process in a foreign country where they were educated, away from their families. In this study, emotional states (moods) and academic concerns of university students were examined. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the reflections and effects of social supports offered to students and distance education provided at universities on their quality of life using qualitative research method. 360 international students who participated in the study from 30 different countries considered the interruption of education during the Covid-19 process as an important decision. The findings of the study are as follows: The interruption of face-to-face instruction (in-person learning) affected them negatively (r = 0.197 **), the most important problem they encountered in distance education was " the language of instruction education" (r = 0.247 **; r = 0.354 **) and this might pose problems in their future university life as well (r = -0.152 **). They also stated that negative feelings such as "fear", "anxiety" and "helplessness" brought students from different religions, languages and races closer to each other. In conclusion, the significant importance of social supports/aids for international students and various teachings of global catastrophes were revealed in the study. In addition, as a result of value-oriented distance education during the epidemic, it was determined that students have gained various gains in both the education process and their lifestyles.