Shahid Beheshti University Journal of Management and Planning In Educational System 2423-5261 16 1 2023 03 21 Investigating the Effects of Online Education on the Professional Ethics of Academic Staff During the Pandemic of the Covid-19 Investigating the Effects of Online Education on the Professional Ethics of Academic Staff During the Pandemic of the Covid-19 97 122 103241 10.48308/mpes.2023.103241 FA Akbar Goldasteh Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-0969-2889 Homayoun Aria Assistant Professor of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-4048-4308 Roya Mansouri MA, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0002-6771-3609 Journal Article 2022 09 14  <br />Objectives: The sudden and inevitable encounter of the country's higher education with online education in the last two years and after the pandemic of the Covid-19 virus has necessitated the need to examine the effects of this educational method on different aspects of professors' performance in the classrooms. The present study was conducted to identify and prioritize online education's effects on university faculty members' professional ethics during the Covid-19 pandemic.<br />Materials and Methods: The current research is practical type, and it is post-event in terms of the time dimension. Also, according to the investigated problem, the qualitative approach and thematic analysis method have been used. The population of this research is made up of 85 faculty members of the University of Science and Culture, and the theoretical saturation of the data has been achieved by collaborating 14 of them through purposive sampling. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. The method of data analysis was the interpretative analysis approach and the theme network analysis method.<br />Discussion and Conclusions: The findings of the research showed that there are a total of 46 categories in the form of three general themes (individual, communicational and proficiency) that they have been extracted from different motivational, legal, behavioral, educational and research aspects, in connection with the observance of professional ethics by the participating academic staff members in the research. The “individual” theme has been identified as the most important theme, covering nearly half of the frequency of the extracted primary concepts. The "proficiency" theme with about one third and the “communicational” theme with covering about one fifth of basic concepts are placed in the next categories. The results of the research showed that online education has caused faculty members to apply the legal and educational rules and requirements assigned by the university as the effects of online education on their actions related to professional ethics; those roles which have the capability to be monitored and evaluated. On the other hand, interactive and motivational aspects related to the professional ethics of faculty members have been recognized weak. If the university is satisfied with monitoring the contractual forms of professional ethics of academic staff members and only shows sensitivity towards observing these aspects, the academic staff members would also use their efforts to strengthen these aspects and they would make less effort to strengthen other mainly ritualistic aspects of professional ethics such as fairness, respecting students' rights, fostering interaction, communication with students, and etc.s<br />   <br />Objectives: The sudden and inevitable encounter of the country's higher education with online education in the last two years and after the pandemic of the Covid-19 virus has necessitated the need to examine the effects of this educational method on different aspects of professors' performance in the classrooms. The present study was conducted to identify and prioritize online education's effects on university faculty members' professional ethics during the Covid-19 pandemic.<br />Materials and Methods: The current research is practical type, and it is post-event in terms of the time dimension. Also, according to the investigated problem, the qualitative approach and thematic analysis method have been used. The population of this research is made up of 85 faculty members of the University of Science and Culture, and the theoretical saturation of the data has been achieved by collaborating 14 of them through purposive sampling. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. The method of data analysis was the interpretative analysis approach and the theme network analysis method.<br />Discussion and Conclusions: The findings of the research showed that there are a total of 46 categories in the form of three general themes (individual, communicational and proficiency) that they have been extracted from different motivational, legal, behavioral, educational and research aspects, in connection with the observance of professional ethics by the participating academic staff members in the research. The “individual” theme has been identified as the most important theme, covering nearly half of the frequency of the extracted primary concepts. The "proficiency" theme with about one third and the “communicational” theme with covering about one fifth of basic concepts are placed in the next categories. The results of the research showed that online education has caused faculty members to apply the legal and educational rules and requirements assigned by the university as the effects of online education on their actions related to professional ethics; those roles which have the capability to be monitored and evaluated. On the other hand, interactive and motivational aspects related to the professional ethics of faculty members have been recognized weak. If the university is satisfied with monitoring the contractual forms of professional ethics of academic staff members and only shows sensitivity towards observing these aspects, the academic staff members would also use their efforts to strengthen these aspects and they would make less effort to strengthen other mainly ritualistic aspects of professional ethics such as fairness, respecting students' rights, fostering interaction, communication with students, and etc.s<br />  https://mpes.sbu.ac.ir/article_103241_78b3226ec8105ba19ad30fc7010c1ca1.pdf