Assessment of the Status of Academic Ethics in Virtual Education during the Covid 19 in Paramedical College Students

One of the important issues that we face in the corona is the use of virtual education among students. Unfortunately, apart from its positive aspects, it has also led to some immoral issues and has caused disorders in people's lifestyles. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the status of academic ethics in virtual education in the period of Covid 19 in paramedical students.

In this stratified-random type Cross-sectional study, 200 undergraduate students of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences participated in the study in 1400 through internet call and Pors Line. After explaining the objectives of the study and gaining informed consent from students, the Golparvar educational ethics questionnaire was provided to them. Data after collection were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were used.

The frequency distribution of students based on academic ethics score showed that 86(43%) students have a good academic ethics score and only 2(1%) students have an undesirable ethics score. The correlation between age and academic ethics was not significant (p=0.269). In terms of academic ethics, female students had higher academic ethics than males, which was statistically significant (p=0.002). Also, between different semesters, the sixth semester had statistically lower academic ethics (p=0.014).

The status of academic ethics in virtual education during the Covid 19 is moderate for paramedical students but still needs further investigation. In this regard, it is suggested that professors focus on some ethical skills and teach them to students along with the courses.