TITLE:
Business Ethics during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative Analysis of Remote Learning on Business Students
AUTHORS:
Justice McAdoo
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Remote Learning, Online Learning Strategies, Higher Education, Constructivism
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.11 No.3,
May
19,
2023
ABSTRACT: Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the education
system in immeasurable ways. Given this unchartered scenario, it is vital to gain
a nuanced understanding of students’ remote learning experience during the COVID-19
pandemic. Although many studies have investigated this area, limited information
is available regarding the comparison between business ethics students’ performance
before and during the pandemic in their final grades. Thus, this study attempts
to add more information. The research method
included a quantitative comparative analysis using a one-way ANOVA to determine
whether a statistically significant difference existed between business ethics
students’ final grades before COVID-19 and business ethics students’ final grades
during COVID-19. The dependent variables were 1) In-person business ethics students’ final grades and 2) business ethics students’ final grades
who met remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The independent variable was the
course instruction method. Using constructivist learning theory, the researcher
related student performance to instructional method. The findings revealed that
the performance of business ethics students showed no statistically significant
difference in student final grades across semesters. Their greatest challenge
was linked to their learning environment, while their slightest challenge was technological
literacy and competency. The findings further revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic
considerably impacted students’ ability to focus due to stress. To cope with the
stress, students used university resources, including the student resource center,
computer labs, and student support staff. Implications for classroom pedagogy and
future research were discussed. This study contributes to the knowledge on further
adapting to online instructional methods delivering higher education business materials.
Future research could expand the subject matter to include further analyses of extraneous
variables such as socio-economic class, educational infrastructure, and preferred
learning styles.