Unethical Behaviour in Distance Learning: Polish Student Perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15678/SER.2023.3.02Keywords:
unethical behaviour, distance learning, aanalysis of distance education, higher educationAbstract
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, a transition occurred towards remote learning. This change posed various challenges. One critical issue was the emergence of unethical behaviour. This problem has the potential to detrimentally impact students' learning experiences.
Research objectives: The study sets out to explore the array of unethical behaviors encountered by university students in distance learning. Additionally, it seeks to understand the disparity between students’ anticipations and the actual issues they faced.
Research design and methods: The research employs a qualitative approach where data were collected from 24 students at the Krakow University of Economics through semi-structured interviews, focusing on their experiences with unethical behaviour.
Results: The study unveils that students both anticipate and are apprehensive about occurrences of unethical behaviour in distance learning, including the sharing of inappropriate content. However, their actual experiences encompass different issues, such as unwarranted distractions. These distractions have a detrimental effect on the learning process.
Conclusions: The study illuminates the incongruence between students' preconceived notions and their real-life encounters with unethical behaviour during online learning. It emphasizes the importance of promoting engagement and adhering to ethical standards. Furthermore, the study advocates for broadening the research framework to include the perspectives of educators, which is essential for a comprehensive understanding.
Downloads
References
Adeoye‐Olatunde, O. (2021). Research and scholarly methods: Semi‐structured interviews. Journal of the American college of clinical pharmacy, 4(10), 1358-1367. https://doi.org/10.1002/jac5.1441 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jac5.1441
Amalaha, K. (2021). Ethics in e-learning. Research Focus, 3(1), 19-26. https://doi.org/10.36068/1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36068/1
Anitha, C. & Harsha, T. (2013). Ethical perspectives in open and distance education system. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 14(1), 193-201. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/tojde
Braimoh, D. & Osiki, J. (2009). Creating a Firewall against Unethical behaviours in open and distance education practice. Ethical Practices and Implications in Distance Learning, 49-62. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59904-867-3.ch005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59904-867-3.ch005
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2023). Toward good practice in thematic analysis: Avoiding common problems and be(com)ing a knowing researcher. International Journal of Transgender Health, 24(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2129597 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2129597
Eddy, J., & Spaulding, D. (1996). Internet, computers, distance education and people failure: Research on technology. Education, 116(3), 391-394. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18434928/AONE?u=anon~4d2dc1b6&sid=googleScholar&xid=c22e600b.
Kitahara, R. & Westfall, F. (2007). Promoting academic integrity in online distance learning courses. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(3), 265-276. https://jolt.merlot.org/Vol3_No3.html
Magaldi, D. & Berler, M. (2021). Semi-structured interviews. Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences, 4825-4830. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_857 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_857
Parlangeli, O., Palmitesta, P., Guidi, S., Di Pomponio, I., Bracci, M., & Marchigiani, E. (2021). Social distancing, stress and unethical behaviour: A study on Italian university students in the first period of isolation due to COVID-19. In Goonetilleke, R.S., Xiong, S., Kalkis, H., Roja, Z., Karwowski, W., Murata, A. (Eds.), Advances in Physical, Social & Occupational Ergonomics. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems (pp. 11–18). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80713-9_2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80713-9_2
Plebańska, M., Szyller, A., & Sieńczewska, M. (2021). Raport. Co zmieniło się w edukacji zdalnej podczas trwania pandemii. Wydział Pedagogiczny UW. https://kometa.edu.pl/uploads/publication/1186/77a7_A_Raport%20II%202021-marzec%20(1).pdf?v2.8
Ruszaj, Z. (2021). Szanse i zagrożenia w edukacji zdalnej. Edukacja – Terapia – Opieka, 3, 77-82. https://doi.org/10.52934/eto.136 DOI: https://doi.org/10.52934/eto.136
Simonson, M. (2012). Ethics and distance education. Distance Learning, 9(1), 64. https://www.proquest.com/openview/e56f6533d5ae7c0ba6e4cd0ee6fc93a8/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=29704
Smolinski, P. R., Kowalik, J., & Winiarski, J. (2022). Diversity of students’ unethical behaviours in online learning amid COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory analysis. In Themistocleous, M., Papadaki, M. (Eds.), Information Systems. EMCIS 2021. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95947-0_39 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95947-0_39
Yadav, B. & Rao, M. (2022). 2nd FICR International Conference on Rising Threats in Expert Applications and Solutions. In Rathore, V. S., Sharma, S. C., Tavares, J. M. R., Moreira, C., Surendiran, B. (Eds.), Rising Threats in Expert Applications and Solutions. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1122-4_73 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1122-4_73
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Social Entrepreneurship Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
