The Pathology of the Effect of Virtual Education on Learning in Coronavirus Conditions; A case Study of the Graduate Students of Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute (IKI)

The present qualitative research, which has been conducted based on grounded theory, aims to investigate and do the pathology of the effect of virtual education in coronavirus conditions on learning, the research population consisted of the graduate students of Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute. Sampling was purposive and theoretical. For data collection, in-depth interviews and participatory observation were used. To this end, 10 students were interviewed. In addition, researchers themselves were involved in e-learning, and a part of theoretical saturation resulted from their own experiences and participatory observations. In order to analyze the data, the Strauss-Corbin approach was used, based on which three stages of open, axial and selective coding were used to analyze the data. The main research finding shows the "incomplete transfer of content and the complementary educational methods’ failure in compensating for it". The causal conditions governing this phenomenon include four categories: "reduced concentration, inappropriate educational location, reduced academic motivation, and poor educational system." The mediating contexts and conditions include: "lack of sufficient skills or unfamiliarity with educational activities in cyberspace, non-institutionalization of e-learning norms, sudden coronavirus conditions, high Internet costs, inappropriate legal requirements." The strategies for dealing with this phenomenon include: "self-based study, considering virtual education desirable and sufficient, tolerance and submission", as a result of which we will witness consequences such as "individual and self-centered study, engaging in extracurricular activities and discouragement and lack of motivation".