Abstract:

Introduction:
The level, course, and results of the teaching process are strongly influenced by the personality and teaching style of teachers, which are an important part of the professional ethics code. Teachers' pedagogical tact towards students can be positively reflected in educational results, create an optimal atmosphere for mental work, motivate and thus bring positive effect.
The behaviour of teachers in the educational process varies. The source of this variability is the reflection of individual differences in relation to basic psychological factors (knowledge, needs, and interpersonal relations).
Methodology:
In order to identify the current situation in the application of ethical principles and teaching tact, we realized in acad. year 2022/2023 the pedagogical survey which was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine Comenius University in Bratislava. The 58 respondents (30 Slovak and 28 foreign students), students of 1st year of medical study, assessed the level of application of ethical principles and teaching tact in the teaching process and the quality of the teacher - student mutual communication.
In this contribution, we analyse the results of this survey and compare them with our similar research conducted in previous acad. the years beginning from 2009/2010. An electronic questionnaire was created, sent to respondents and collected answers in the platform Microsoft Forms. Three questions were focused on ethical issues in university studies. Respondents rated their attitudes on a scale of 1 (low level) to 5 (high level).

Results:
Respondents rated the following three statements:
1. Your opinion on the level of ethical principles in the relationship teacher - student / student - teacher applied at the university:
Weighted arithmetic mean (Slovak / foreign students, respectively):
a) Teacher - student relatioship – 4,3 / 3,6,
b) Student - teacher relationship – 4,3 / 3,6.

2. The level of tactful and tactless behaviour of the teacher applied in the university (practical teaching / lectures):
Weighted arithmetic mean (Slovak / foreign students, respectively):
a) Practical teaching – 4,3 / 3,6,
b) Lectures – 3,8 / 3,1.

3. Evaluation of the quality of mutual communication between teachers and students in the university:
Weighted arithmetic mean (Slovak / foreign students, respectively): 3,8 / 3,3.

Conclusions:
The results of our survey showed a slightly positive response from Slovak students to all three questions. Opinions of foreign students were ranked lower, but on the positive side of the scale.
We found an increasing trend in the application of ethical principles to university studies, satisfying the teaching tact and a higher quality of communication between teachers and students compared to previous research. This fact could have a positive impact on the results of the study.
We believe that university ethics also affects the ethical behaviour of medical graduates towards patients in the future.

Acknowledgement:
Contribution was supported by GP KEGA Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic № 023UK–4/2021.

Keywords:

Ethical principles in education, pedagogical tact, teacher–student communication.