MINDORO STATE UNIVERSITY
Victoria, Oriental Mindoro
GRADUATE STUDIES
Ethics and Moral Behavior as Related to Education Adopted at
Mindoro State University - Calapan Campus Towards the New Normal
A Term Paper
Submitted to:
Cecilia G. Salazar, DEM
Professor, Ed 200
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
Advanced Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Education
( Ed 200 )
Rheya Amira N. Maminta
MA Student
February 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ………………...…………………………….…………1
A. Situationer ………………………….……………………….…………1
B. Objectives ……………………………………………………….……. 2
C. Definition of Terms ………………..…………...…………….………..3
D. Significance of the Study ………………….…………….…………….4
II. LITERATURE REVIEW …………………….……………….……..…..6
Foreign Literature ………………………..…………………….….……...6
Local Literature ……………………….….………………………….…...7
III. PRESENTATION OF THE SUB-TOPICS …….………………..……10
A. Issues ………………….……...……………………………………….10
B. Concerns ………..……...……………………………………………...11
C. Strategies …………………………………………………………..….11
D. Analysis ………………...………...…………………………….……..11
IV. CONCLUSIONS …………….………………….………..………….…. 13
V. RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………………….……. 14
VI. LITERATURE CITED …………………………..…………...………...15
VII. APPENDICES ……..……………………..……………….……………18
B. Survey Results (from Google Forms & Surveys) ………..………….. 18
VIII. CURRICULUM VITAE …….…………………..…………………... 21
I. INTRODUCTION
“Home is the Foundation of Character”
Teaching and learning do not only happen at school. When parents teach their
kids at home, it is more than reading, writing and arithmetic. In fact, developing
strong character and moral values can be the best opportunity for our kids to learn
in real-life situations. The role of parents or guardians are critical as they should
value and emphasize positive character development in their children. It should
start early at home, so they will be equipped with morality at young age.
When we see attitudes or behaviors in our children that we do not approve of,
we should take the opportunity to reinforce positive character traits. In the same
way, we should recognize and praise positive character.
Whether we like it or not, when it comes to character training, more is caught
than taught. Children will easily learn what is right and expected if they see and
experience it daily at home.
A. Situationer
The rise of the Covid-19 pandemic had been a challenge to the educational
system worldwide including the Philippines. The traditional classroom set-up had
shifted dramatically to distance education wherein different modes of learning are
implemented from kindergarten to higher education. These are the modular, online,
and blended learning that are continued at home.
In some researches, many of the students have been facing various problems
such as internet connectivity, overload of lessons activities, financial-related issues,
lack of resources for online classes, and mental health-related problems. Besides,
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with these flexible modes of learning, there will be less guidance to students’
ethics and moral behavior as they embraced academic changes in the new normal.
In fact, with the use of technology and easy access to information, there is a higher
chance for the learners to commit academic fraud like browsing their notes or the
internet during the examination, asking or paying a friend to do tasks, or
committing plagiarism.
Furthermore, this term paper will focus on the ethics and moral behavior of the
first year Information Technology (IT) students in online classes in Mindoro State
University- Calapan Campus.
Addressing these gaps can help the academic institutions to assess the ethics
and moral behavior that the students are practicing in online classes. It is to spot
the good practices and misconduct of the students to be considered as future
reference in decision making and action planning. The result of this paper may also
support the existing researches.
B. Objectives
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ethics and moral behavior as
perceived by first year Information Technology (IT) students of MinSU in an
online education.
The study aimed to achieve the following objectives:
A. Identify the ethics and moral behavior that the students are practicing
during the online class;
B. Determine the misconduct that the students are practicing in the new
normal education and;
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C. Give importance to ethics and moral behavior during the new normal
setting.
C. Definition of Terms

Coronavirus - Any one of a large group of viruses that affect people and
animals. The name describes crown-like spikes protruding from the virus
surface and which resemble the sun’s corona.

COVID-19 - The disease the new coronavirus causes is called coronavirus
disease 2019, or COVID-19 for short.

Ethics - the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.

Moral Behavior - To act according to ones moral values and standards

Flexible Learning - a method of learning where students are given freedom in
how, what, when and where they learn’

Blended learning is a pedagogical approach "that combines face-to-face
meetings with deliberately designed online activity" (Haythornthwaite &
Andrews, 2011, p. 13) such as online discussion forums to discuss particular
course topics outside of regular class hours.

Online learning is defined by Ally (2008) as "Nile use of the Internet to
access learning materials; to interact with the content, instructor, and other
learners; and to obtain support during the learning process, in order to acquire
knowledge, to 16 construct personal meaning, and to grow from the learning
experience" (p. 17). Online learning may be a component of conventional
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on-campus education, as in lended learning, or the sole mode of educational
delivery, as in DE.

Distance education (DE) is "planned learning that normally occurs in a
different place from teaching and as a result requires special techniques of
course design, special instructional techniques, special methods of
communication by electronic and other technology, as well as special
organisational and administrative arrangements" (Moore & Kearsley, 2004, p.
2).

Plagiarism - presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, with or
without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full
acknowledgement

Academic dishonesty or academic misconduct - any type of cheating that
occurs in relation to a formal academic exercise.
D. Significance of the Study
The study focused on determining the ethics and moral behavior of the
Information Technology (IT) students in Mindoro State University- Calapan set in
an online class. Moreover, the results of the study will be beneficial to the
following:
Respondents. The respondents will have an awareness on the importance of the
ethics and moral behavior in any form of flexible learning like the online class.
They will also be encouraged to take actions regarding their academic misconduct
and unethical behavior that were shown in class.
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Teachers/Mentors. The result of the study will help the teachers/mentors address
the problems in an online class. This will provide an opportunity for them to think
and find different online platforms that can help them supervise an honest online
classroom. Through this, teachers/mentors can assess their teaching strategies
promoting and highlighting the ethical practices in education.
Institution. The result of the study may help the institution to assess the quality of
education during online class. This may also serve as an opportunity for the school
to partner with different companies in securing academic honesty in various online
platforms.
Guidance Staff. The result of the study may provide on assessment of the
mentoring program whether it is effective or not. This may also encourage the
guidance staff to think of other activities that will make the students/mentees as
well as their teachers/mentors maintain ethical behavior in class.
Parents. The result of the study will help the parents of the respondents feel
secured because there are activities in the institution that will help their children
develop their ethical and moral behavior.
Future Researchers. The findings of the study will serve as a reference material
and a guide for future researchers who wish to conduct the same or related study.
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II. LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter includes some related literature and studies of foreign and local
which are presented in the following paragraphs.
Foreign Literature
As different institutions embraced the online education, students’ ethical and
moral behavior is tested since flexible learning has lesser guidance of the teachers.
Different studies claimed that some of the learners admitted academic dishonesty
in the new normal education.
In today’s world, student cheating is viewed as a significant factor in the
college classroom (Michaels & Miethe, 1989; Whitley, 1998). There have been
several studies about cheating in the college classroom (Sheard, Markham, & Dick,
2003; Roberts, Anderson, & Yanish, 1997; and Robinson, Amburgey, Swank, &
Faulkner, 2004) and also on the use of electronic devices and the Internet
(Chapman, Davis, Toy, & Wright, 2004; Grijalva et al., 2006). Cheating has been
considered a serious problem on college campuses for over 100 years (Anderson,
1998), and now, with the advance of word processors and the Internet, cheating has
entered the digital age. Students today are now part of the “copy and paste”
generation in which dishonest behavior is only a mouse click away.
Recent advancement of technologies has effected on the structure of academic
institutes, family and societies which become the major reason for the deficiencies
in the moral character of individual. Ethical issues have become more dominant
due to the use of technology.
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According to Brown, academic frauds and other kinds of electronic problems
are faced by educational institutions through the use of technology and internet.
Different researchers also highlighted some of the other ethical issues in the
educational world. They mentioned that students often use unauthorized resources
for the completion of their assignments because copy pasting is the common
practice of almost all educational world. In addition, e-learners often work in
groups to perform an individual task and they often take advantage of the possible
misuse of ICTs (Abdul Hafeez Muhammad, 2016).
Of the problems confronting contemporary universities, academic dishonesty
may be one of the most serious especially since the online environment provides a
more tempting environment for students to cheat (Pavela, 1993). The survey
conducted within U.S indicates that as high as 59% of U.S. students involved in
e-learning programs admit to some sort of academic fraud either “very often (27%)
or “often” (32%). Most of the studies on e-learning indicate “psychological
distance” as a main problem of studying online. When using information
technology we tend to break the ethical rules because the act feels less personal as
we cannot see or hear the other person. Today we cannot rely on the fact that
traditional moral rules were learnt at home. Students tend to find “easy ways” of
getting their degree and do not feel guilty breaking the ethical rules (Brown, T.,
2008).
Local Literature
According to Gorra and Bathi (2016), some of the negative consequences
listed by students in their study, “Students' Perception on use of Technology in the
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Classroom at Higher Education Institutions in Philippines” were accessing social
websites like facebook, twitter etc. during class work, playing games, playing
music, answering and returning calls and downloading and using copyrighted
material. From the frequency analysis of positive, negative and net consequences
of use of technology in classroo, it is observed that students are most likely to have
negative consequences using mobile with internet.
Furthermore, the news about academic dishonesty may be seen alarming by
different institutions and the DepEd. According to Jane Bautista (2021), a news
reporter from the Inquirer, the current setup of blended learning due to the
pandemic have resorted students to online cheating via a Facebook group where
they share notes and test answers.
The “Online Kopyahan” community had at one point more than 600,000
members, but after a local television report aired on September 17, the
now-archived Facebook group was left with 571,900 members.
Most of the information shared were students’ answers to their modules and
notes on different topics while others offered answer keys, which were also
provided in the learning materials given to them.
Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said: “This is alarming. It is
not helping that instead of the children putting in their efforts to learn, they just
copy from each other.”
“Cheating in schools is a lingering problem. I am not justifying it; I am merely
stating that it exists and we will not tolerate it. Cheating is a problem in society,
not just in the Philippines, but in human nature itself,” Education Secretary Leonor
Briones added.
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Moreover, from the recent news of Richard de Leon, (2022) a news writer
from Balita, exposed the academic commission students are now into.
“May batang nag-report sa adviser niya na may nakita siyang tweet about
academic commission services at yung mga outputs na pinapagawa ay kaparehas
ng mga requirements nila. Nireport sa akin ng class adviser kaya nag-imbestiga
ako. Laking-gulat ko na hindi lang pala mga outputs o requirements ang
pinapagawa nila, pati pagsagot sa quiz at contest entries pwede na rin,” Teacher
Dione stated.
Academic commissioning works under various codenames and dummy
accounts on twitter and facebook to hide the clients’ identity. The rate of
commissioned activities varies depending on its difficulty and the number of items.
For instance, Mathematics ranges from ₱75 to ₱150 if 5 to 10 straightforward
solving items are to be solved, while ₱150 to ₱300 if word problem. The rate for
the commissioned module is ₱300 to ₱750 from Elementary to Senior High
School.
For Teacher Dione, “ Nakaaalarma ang ganitong gawain dahil nababalewala
ang kagandahang-asal na dapat maituro sa mga mag-aaral, kagaya ng katapatan
at integridad na kaya nakapasa o nakakuha ng mataas na marka sa isang gawaing
pampaaralan o asignatura, ay dahil sa kaniyang sariling talino, kakayahan, at
pagsisikap. Ito raw ay maaaring isang anyo ng katiwalian.”
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III. PRESENTATION OF THE SUB-TOPICS
A. Issues
The dramatic shift of education from face-to-face classes to distance learning
created an impact to academic institutions. Besides,various challenges arose as
educational stakeholders adopted the new normal education such as poor internet
connection, lack on resources, and financial and emotional needs.
In traditional classroom set up, teachers are able to observe the progress and
behavior of the students. However, in the distance learning where students
continue their education at home, there will be less guidance among them whether
it is academic or their ethical and moral behavior. The critics often argue that the
lack of personal contact causes low motivation of students. They also claim that
the lack of control causes that students do not do their tasks properly (Khoury A. H.
et al., 2011, p. 53-56).
Furthermore, with the use of technology in today’s education, academic
honesty and moral behavior are at risk. In fact, there are some researches that show
students cheat both in face-to-face and online classes. Another disadvantage is that
e-learning provides more possibilities for the academic fraud as Nagi (2006) states
that it is easier to cheat online than face to face.
Fass (1990), in a study for the American Council on Education, described
early patterns of inappropriate behavior in e-learning. He identified the following
categories of academic fraud in the e-learning environment: inappropriate
assistance on examinations, misuse of sources on papers and projects, writing
assistance and other inappropriate tutoring, misrepresentation in the collection and
reporting of data, improper use of academic resources, disrespecting the work of
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others, lack of protection for human subjects in research, breaches of computer
ethics, lack of adherence to copyright and copy-protection, providing inappropriate
assistance to others and lack of adherence to academic regulations.
B. Concerns
From the issues raised above, the concerns of this paper are as follow:
a. With the education set online, what are some ethical practices that the
students are practicing?
b. Is there any misconduct happening in the new normal education? What
are those?
c. How to have ethics and moral behavior in online classes?
C. Strategies
To determine if the IT students of Minsu-Calapan is practicing and observing
their ethics and moral behavior in online classes, a self-made survey was
conducted through Google Form. Sixty-five respondents answered 10 questions
about their academic practices that influence their ethics and moral behaviror in
online class. This was done by rating them as Always, Sometimes, or Never.
D. Analysis
Questions
Always
Sometimes
Never
1. Are you browsing your notes or the
3.1 %
66.2%
30.8%
internet during the examination?
2. Have you cited research papers or
(2)
3.1 %
(43)
(20)
63.1%
33.8
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homework improperly? / Are you lacking
in
adherence
to
copyright
(2)
(41)
(22)
1.5%
12.3%
86.2%
(1)
(8)
(56)
58.5%
41.5%
and
copy-protection?
3. Are you asking someone to take your
exams?
4. Have you been practicing the academic
0%
honesty during your online class?
5. Do you respect your teachers and
(38)
(27)
95.4%
4.6%
0%
classmates during your online class?
(62)
(3)
6. Do you attend classes on time?
80%
20%
(52)
(13)
61.5%
38.5%
(40)
(25)
81.5%
16.9%
1.5%
(53)
(11)
(1)
4.6%
6.2%
89.2%
(3)
(4)
(58)
0%
7. Do you do your tasks/ assignments/
0%
projects on time?
8. Are you using the appropriate language
when conversing to your teachers and
classmates?
9. Are you offering paid services to do
someone's task at school?
10. Are you paying someone to do your
3.1%
96.9
0%
tasks?
(2)
(63)
For responding students, 66.2% admitted that they sometimes browsed their
notes or the internet when taking the examination, indicating that most of the
students committed cheating in an online class at some point in their higher
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education coursework. It is also the higest rate of dishonesty answered from the
given survey. Following is plagiarism with 63.1% where respondents cited
research papers or homework without proper citation. When asked about their
academic honesty during online class, the group of students was almost cut in half.
Fifty-eight percent answered ‘always’, while 41.5% admitted that they are
dishonest sometimes.
However, the rest of the questions mirrored the ethical and moral behavior of
the respondents in the new normal. The highest rate which is 96.9% goes to the
indicator that students never pay someone to do their tasks at school. When it
comes to the relationship to the teachers and among learners, most of them (95.4%)
showed that they always respect everyone; while 81.5% of the respondents
disclosed that they always use appropriate language when conversing with one
another. Moreover, the result uncovered that most of them are punctual when it
comes to attending online classes.
On the other hand, focusing on the respondents’ attitudes towards academic
tasks, 61.5% submitted their assignments or projects on time and 89.2% do not
offer paid services to do someone’s work.
This result shows that while some students adhere to ethics and moral
behavior particularly their relationship building and academic honesty, some also
committed to cheating and plagiarism.
IV. Conclusion
The Covid-19 pandemic had made education adopt the new normal set-up like
modular, online, and blended learning. Challenges arise as schools implemented
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the flexible learning like lack of resources, financial issues, mental health,
academic dishonesty, and behavior of the students towards new normal.
A study was conducted to determine the ethical and moral behavior of the IT
students in MinSU- Calapan during online class.
From the findings of this study, it may be concluded that 60% of the survey
result mirrors the ethical and moral behavior of the students like attending classes
and doing tasks on time, using appropriate language in communication, respecting
their teachers and co-learners, not paying someone to do their assignments and
projects, and not offering paid services to do someone’s task in school.
Students' ethical and moral behavior was also tested on plagiarism, cheating
on examinations, and academic dishonesty, which covers the 40% of the survey
result.
Although some students are maintaining their ethical and moral behavior in an
online class, teachers and the institution must secure academic honesty since some
of them resorted to cheating and plagiarism.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to adoption of online education on a large
scale around the world for the first time. The lessons we learn about online
education during this pandemic will be useful during future exigencies (Chatterjee
& Chakraborty, 2020; Skulmowski & Rey, 2020).
V. Recommendations
Following are some recommendations for the institutions conducting online
classes based on the findings of the study.
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tools and supervised learning environment for
students where exams should be conducted. Likewise, an online checking tool for
plagiarism must also be used by the teachers to ensure that students will adhere to
copy-right protection.
polices and guidelines for students and teachers involved
in flexible learning particularly in the online class. These policies should be
properly implemented and monitored as well.
Another recommendation to fight the academic fraud is to improve the
teacher-student communication in online programs.
values in the students.
mechanism for the university students.
Lastly, the study strongly recommends and highlights the need of a model for
future work that may help the educators to equip the individuals with moral values
and life skills.
VI. LITERATURE CITED
L. Fulgencio, K. Baldado, C. Enriquez, A. M. Delos Santos, and R. M. F. Plaza,
“Amidst the Online Learning in the Philippines: The Self-Efficacy and Academic
Motivation of the Senior High School Students from Private Schools”,
Article in International Journal Of Advance Research And Innovative Ideas In
Education, Vol-7 Issue-1 2021.
15
A. H. Muhammad, M. D. Ghalib, F. Ahmad, Q. N. Naveed, and A. Shah, “A Study
to Investigate State of Ethical Development in E-Learning”, (IJACSA)
International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 7, No.
4, 2016.
W. George, and J. Sottile. "Cheating in the Digital Age: Do Students Cheat More
in Online Courses?", Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 13.1
(2010): n. pag. Web.
G. Rigopoulos and N. Karadimas, “Increasing Ethical Awareness of IT Students
through Online Learning”, Proceedings of the 6th WSEAS International
Conference on Applied Informatics and Communications, Elounda, Greece,
p.265-269, 2006.
A. Bušíková and Z. Melicheríková, “Ethics In E-Learning”, IADIS International
Conference e-Learning, 2013.
J. Bautista, “Distance learning program gives rise to online cheating”, Inquirer,
2021 retrieved from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1489984/distance-learning-program-gives-rise-to-onli
ne-cheating
R. de Leon, “Talamak na ‘academic commission services’, dapat bang ikabahala
ng mga guro, DepEd?”, Balita, 2022 retrieved from
16
https://balita.net.ph/2022/01/29/talamak-na-academic-commission-services-dapatbang-ikabahala-ng-mga-guro-deped/?fbclid=IwAR0EHf2FndTsrYTBFA10bakI_m
SzXbnGMLSkboWBCQGa3G8lbt9tYz0Tmn0
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VII. APPENDICES
18
19
20
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL DATA
Name: Rheya Amira N. Maminta
Address: Bonifacio, Melgar A, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro
Telephone: (043) 748 3846
Mobile: 09126413212
Email 1: rheyamaminta24@gmail.com
Status: Single
Date of Birth: September 20, 1995
Gender: Female
Nationality: Filipino
Languages and Fluency Level: Filipino and English
EDUCATION:
Graduate Study
Mindoro State University - Main Campus
Master of Arts in Education Major in English Language Teaching
2020- Present
Tertiary
Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology - Calapan City Campus
Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English
2013-2017
Secondary
Melgar National High School
2008-2012
Elementary
F. Melgar Memorial Elementary School
2001-2008
WORK HISTORY:
Substitute Teacher
Melgar National High School
January 12, 2022- present
Part-time Instructor
Mindoro State University- Calapan City Campus
October 25, 2021 - present
Core Skill Mentor
21
Philippine Business For Education
April 8, 2021- September 13, 2021
Substitute Teacher
Naujan Municipal High School
September 30, 2019 - January 12, 2020
Private Teacher
Agustin Gutierrez Memorial Academy
June 5, 2017 - April 4, 2019
TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Webinar: S4Ses Talaserye 2: Teacher Emotional Agency And The Covid-19
Crisis
October 6, 2021
The Technology - Enabled Future Of Interactive Learning
April 27, 2020
Division Mass Training On Child Protection For Untrained Teaching And
Non-Teaching Personnel
Gaisano Mall, Calapan City
October 23, 2019- October 25, 2019
In-Service Training For Teachers
Naujan Municipal High School
October 21, 2019- Octber 23, 2019
Standard-Based School Improvement Plan (SSIP)
Agustin Gutierrez Memorial School
October29, 2018- October 30, 2018
In-Service Training For Senior High School Teachers In Private Schools
Faith, Batangas City
May 28, 2018- May 30, 2018
In-Service Training For Junior High School Teachers In Private Schools
Faith, Batangas City
April 8, 2017- April 10, 2017
“I hereby declare that the above particulars of facts and information stated are
true, correct and complete to the best of my belief and knowledge.”
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Signature
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