Ethics in Distance Education during the Pandemic: Undergraduate Students' Views about Ethics

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran

Ethics plays a central role in education and in scientific research integrity. This case study examines undergraduate students’ ethical views regarding distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic, using semi-structured interviews with 31 students from Balıkesir University in the 2020–2021 spring term. The findings suggest that some students may display unethical behaviors and that ethics instruction is insufficient. The study recommends earlier ethics education and stronger guidance to help students develop enduring ethical awareness.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Highlights

What is already known about this topic

What this paper contributes

Implications for theory, practice and/or policy

Introduction

Ethics in Distance Education during the Pandemic: Undergraduate Students' Views about Ethics Gürhan Durak, Serkan Çankaya, Mahmut Ali Şahin, Özge Banur Göktaş, Özge Öztuzcu Abstract: The concept of ethics is very important in education as well as in scientific research studies. The purpose of this case study was to determine the ethical views of undergraduate students who continue their education with distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research sample included 31 undergraduate students who continued their education at Balıkesir University in the Spring Term of the academic year of 2020-2021. In the study, a semi-structured interview form consisting of 10 questions was used to determine the views of the participants. In the interview form, sample cases were given to the students, and they were asked how they would behave in the case of these events. As a result of the study, it was revealed that some students were likely to exhibit unethical behaviors. The results also showed that the ethics lessons were not sufficient for the students. Therefore, it was suggested that students should be educated about ethics at an early age. Keywords: covid-19, distance education, undergraduate students, ethics , unethical behaviors Highlights What is already known about this topic: • The concept of ethics is fairly important in the scientific world. • The development of technologies and the spread of distance education have led to a change in the concept of ethics in education and the term distance education ethics has arisen. What this paper contributes: • In literature no study was found that investigated the views of students about ethics in the distance education process. • It is believed that addressing undergraduate students' views about ethics during the pandemic will contribute to the literature. Implications for theory, practice and/or policy: • Ethical rules should be established to guide the teachers and students in distance education in educational institutions. • Students should be made aware of these policies, and they should be informed about it. • Ethics education should start at an early age because it takes a long time for people to form a permanent sense of ethics. Introduction Science is quite important for the development of societies. Progress in science is based on trust (Hendriks et al. , 2016) . The fact that the products emerging in the scientific life are misleading may negatively affect the whole society. Ethical rules must be followed in order to prevent misleading information that may occur in the scientific world (Bell & Bryman, 2007) . Therefore, the concept of ethics is fairly important in the scientific world. The term ethics is based on the Greek word “ethos” meaning morality and defines the behaviors and rules that must be followed (Östman et al. , 2019) . Mistakes made intentionally or unintentionally in the scientific world are defined as "Unethical" behaviors, and unethical behaviors demonstrated during the scientific research process affect the reliability of the research (Wenger et al. , 1999) . In case of unethical behavior in scientific research, the trust in the researcher and in the institution to which the researcher is affiliated decreases (Zuber, 2015) . Examples of unethical behaviors in scientific research include "Fabrication", "Falsification", "Plagiarism", "Duplicate publication/text recycling", "Salami publication", " Non-disclosure of conflicts of interest" and "Ghost or guest authorship” (Tübitak , 2018) . Fabrication, which is one of the unethical behaviors in scientific research, is to present, report or publish fictitious data not included in the research. Falsification refers to modifying research tools that may yield different results or altering the results obtained based on the research data. Plagiarism is using the text written by someone else without giving their name. Duplicate publication/text recycling is publishing or att

FAQs

What was the purpose of this case study?

To determine the ethical views of undergraduate students continuing their education through distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic.

How was the study conducted?

It used a semi-structured interview form with 10 questions, including sample cases, and involved 31 undergraduate students from Balıkesir University.

What did the study conclude about ethics education?

Some students were likely to exhibit unethical behaviors, and ethics lessons were not sufficient; the paper suggests educating students about ethics at an early age.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aran