The Effectiveness of Ethics Education: A Quasi-Experimental Field Study

Ethical conduct is the hallmark of excellence in engineering and scientific research, design, and practice. While undergraduate and graduate programs in these areas routinely emphasize ethical conduct, few receive formal ethics training as part of their curricula. The first purpose of this research study was to assess the relative effectiveness of ethics education in enhancing individuals’ general knowledge of the responsible conduct of research practices and their level of moral reasoning. Secondly, we examined the effects of ethics education on the positive psychological outcomes of perspective-taking, moral efficacy, moral courage, and moral meaningfulness. To examine our research hypotheses, we utilized a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design consisting of three ethics education groups (control, embedded modules, and stand-alone courses). Findings revealed that both embedded and stand alone courses were effective in enhancing participants’ perspective-taking, moral efficacy, and moral courage. Moral meaningfulness was marginally enhanced for the embedded module condition. Moral judgment and knowledge of responsible conduct of research practices were not influenced by either ethics education condition. Contrary to expectations, stand alone courses were not superior to embedded modules in influencing the positive psychological outcomes investigated. Implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.     

Nurturing and Enhancing Creativity of Nursing Students in Taiwan: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Creativity and innovation are considered important measures of core competence in Taiwan for students of all levels, including nursing students. Integrating creativity with interdisciplinary teaching modules could increase creativity for nursing students; however, this has not been empirically determined. The purpose of this study was to determine if incorporating interdisciplinary teaching into a teaching for creativity module (TCM) could enhance creative thinking and creative abilities of nursing students. Students enrolled in a capstone nursing course for the development of healthcare-related products were divided into 2 groups. Both groups participated in the 18-week course; however, one group received creativity training with interdisciplinary teaching during the course, which was taught by nursing faculty who completed a TCM workshop. Students who received the interdisciplinary TCM intervention scored significantly higher than controls on measures of creative thinking. Our findings suggest a TCM program, which incorporates interdisciplinary teaching, and instruction in techniques for creativity, such as brainstorming, attribute listing, assessment matrix, and paired comparison, can stimulate divergent thinking abilities of nursing students.     

Developing Moral Decision-Making Competence: A Quasi-Experimental Intervention Study in the Swiss Armed Forces

Moral development has become an integral part in military training and the importance of moral judgment and behavior in military operations can hardly be overestimated. Many armed forces have integrated military ethics and moral decision-making interventions in their training programs. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of a 1-week training program in moral decision making in the Swiss Armed Forces. The program was based on a strategy-based interactional moral dilemma approach. Results of this quasi-experimental intervention study showed significant improvements in content-related (moral and instrumental awareness, quality of moral information processing, development of compensatory actions) as well as process-related (situational analysis, development and evaluation of alternative solutions, justification of decision) aspects in moral decision making. Results of a follow-up test indicated positive long-term effects with regard to moral and instrumental awareness and process-related aspects. Findings are discussed, and consequences for leadership development programs and further research are explored.     

Eve and the Serpent: A Rational Choice to Err

In dealing with inexplicable disaster, like the untimely death of a child in a hospital, we increasingly turn to the justice system for accountability and retribution. While seemingly sensible, criminalizing human error has a range of negative consequences. But it does offer “good” narratives of failure as the result of human fault—even at the cost of guilt. Such narratives allow us to pinpoint a cause: people made a rational choice to err and should be punished. This allows us to imagine ourselves in control over random, meaningless events. This paper traces Judeo–Christian roots of such regulative ideals in Western moral thinking, by examining the Genesis account of Eve and the Serpent, and St. Augustine’s interpretation of it. Sidney Dekker (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 1996) is currently Professor of human factors and system safety at Lund University in Sweden, and specializes in human error and reactions to failure.     

Handling Doubt in Teaching Religion: A Turkish Case Study

Abstract. This study ventures to sketch the dimensions of stress in religious thinking among young Muslims studying theology in Turkish universities and the ways in which these tensions are handled in educational institutions. As a result of a review of related literature, together with the use of a questionnaire with 382 respondents and interviews with 15 participants, the extent of experienced intense religious stress, the source, the content, the ways of resolution, the duration, and the period of religious stress were identified. Finally, the cognitive, educational, theological, and socio‐cultural challenges to which young Muslims were exposed were delineated and possible ways to overcome these problems were outlined, with some suggestions for educational settings. (The questionnaire mentioned in this essay can be found on the Wabash Center Web site < http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/journal/ok.html >.)     

The Impact of Facilitation by Museum Educators on Family Learning at Interactive Math Exhibits: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Although discussions of museums often revolve around exhibits, educators in these spaces have the potential to create in-depth, social learning experiences beyond what is possible at exhibits alone. There is still little empirical research, however, to inform how we understand, approach, and improve museum facilitation practices. In this study, we sought to address this gap by quantifying the impact of facilitation by trained educators working with visitors at interactive museum exhibits and comparing this to visitor engagement and learning outcomes for families without educator support. Using a quasi-experimental design, we measured the impact of staff facilitation on visitor engagement time, mathematical reasoning, math awareness, satisfaction, and intergenerational communication across three different exhibits, four trained educators, and two experimental conditions. Multivariate regression modeling showed that staff facilitation had a positive impact on engagement time, mathematical reasoning, and satisfaction, a negative impact on intergenerational communication, and no impact on math awareness.     

The Way of the Serpent

This article describes my journey in learning to negotiate the shamanic realm, also referred to as the psychoid, the imaginal, or as subtle energies. Although The Red Book records Jung's work in this realm where healing occurs, analytic training too often does not emphasize the development of these spiritual tools. As a result of a series of unusual experiences, I had to seek an unconventional spiritual teacher to complete my own initiation as an analyst and then find my own way. The substance of the shamanic realm is discussed as well as placement of psyche.     

Revisiting the Energy-Happiness Paradox: A Quasi-Experimental Evidence of Electricity Access in Indonesia

Journal of Happiness Studies - This study revisits the energy-happiness paradox hypothesis using the context of a developing nation. We used Indonesia as a case study, a unique archipelagic country...     

Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs in Visitor Studies: A Critical Reflection on Three Projects

Identifying causal relationships is an important aspect of research and evaluation in visitor studies, such as making claims about the learning outcomes of a program or exhibit. Experimental and quasi-experimental approaches are powerful tools for addressing these causal questions. However, these designs are arguably underused in visitor studies. In this article, we offer examples of the use of experimental and quasi-experimental designs in science museums to aide investigators interested in expanding their methods toolkit and increasing their ability to make strong causal claims about programmatic experiences or relationships among variables. Using three designs from recent research (fully randomized experiment, posttest only quasi-experimental design with comparison condition, and posttest with independent pretest design), we discuss challenges and tradeoffs related to feasibility, participant experience, alignment with research questions, and internal and external validity. We end the article with broader reflections on the role of experimental and quasi-experimental designs in visitor studies.     

改变“低挫折容忍度”的心理干预及效果评估 —— 一位奥运银牌运动员的个案研究

研究目的是描述对一名奥运选手L在奥运会前一年中进行的心理干预,以改变其“低挫折容忍度”的过程,以及评价这一理性情绪行为疗法与心理技能训练相结合的心理干预的效果。在不同的时间点采用各种评估方法对干预效果进行评估,主要的评估方法包括采用目标获得评价表进行的运动员L自我评估和教练员评估,运动员L、教练员、及搭档的“阶段性总结”评价,以及对L比赛行为的录像资料分析。通过各种评估方法所获得的结果的一致性证明了该干预方法在改变运动员的问题行为方面是有效的。通过对运动员L的问题行为的改变,提升了他在比赛中的运动表现,该运动员与其搭档在2004年雅典奥运会乒乓球男子双打项目上获得了银牌     

Yielding to Deviant Temptation: A Quasi-Experimental Examination of the Inhibiting Power of Intrinsic Religious Motivation

ABSTRACT

The deviance-inhibiting power of religion is among the oldest criminological inquiries. To date, the extant empirical literature contains mixed and oftentimes contradictory evidence. Social scientists have argued that the ambiguous body of religion-deviance evidence is attributable, in some part, to known methodological weaknesses. This study responds to the criticisms of prior research by utilizing a validated measure of religiosity, employing a quasi-experimental design, and observing actual deviant behavior. The results of this study find that religion is indeed a powerful predictor of deviant behavior.     

Wrestling the Serpent: Gandhi,Amritsar and the British Empire

Throughout the period of the non‐co‐operation movement in India in the early 1920s, Gandhi surprised and sometimes bewildered the British in India with his incessant labelling of the Government as ‘satanic’. It is argued in this paper that Gandhi deliberately employed the word ‘satanic’ with a keen awareness of its power on both his opponents and supporters. He used it to give religious justification to the non‐co‐operation movement. He used it to apportion guilt and spread disaffection with the British Government. He used it to exhort his followers to greater self‐purification, especially against the ‘weaknesses’ of violence and untouchability.     

Writing about Islam for Youth: A Study of Two Authors and Two World Views

This is a study of two authors who wrote about Islam for youth: Florence Mary Fitch and Reza Aslan. Fitch's book, Allah, the God of Islam: Moslem Life and Worship (1950), and Aslan's No God but God: The Origins, Evolution of Islam (2011b) offer both historical and current views of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad. Although they wrote some 61 years apart, a review of their works reveals similar views, especially concerning the need for reform in Islam. This study reveals two different worldviews about the development of Islam. Fitch's views, although generally supportive of Islam, reflect Western society's view of Islam and Mohammad over half a century ago, while Aslan, a Muslim-reformist, emphasizes current democratic and humanitarian aspects of Islam that are well-suited for the modern world. Subjects discussed include Mohammad's revelations from Allah, the conquering of Mecca by Mohammad and the ending of idolatry, the beginning of Islam as a dominant religion, the role of women in Islam, the hijab and its origins and use, the jihad and its various meanings and applications, the Quran and its conflicting interpretations, the development and decline of the Caliphate, and the decentralization of Islam. The discussion ends with this quote from Aslan: “The Islamic Reformation is already here.”     

A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of the Association Between Family Income and Offspring Conduct Problems

The study presents a quasi-experimental analysis of data on 9,194 offspring (ages 4–11 years old) of women from a nationally representative U.S. sample of households to test the causal hypotheses about the association between family income and childhood conduct problems (CPs). Comparison of unrelated individuals in the sample indicated a robust inverse association, with the relation being larger at higher levels of income and for male offspring, even when statistical covariates were included to account for measured confounds that distinguish different families. Offspring also were compared to their siblings and cousins who were exposed to different levels of family income in childhood to rule out unmeasured environmental and genetic factors confounded with family income as explanations for the association. In these within-family analyses, boys exposed to lower family income still exhibited significantly higher levels of CPs. When considered in the context of previous studies using different designs, these results support the inference that family income influences CPs, particularly in males, through causal environmental processes specifically related to earnings within the nuclear family. This research was supported by grant R01-MH070025 to Benjamin B. Lahey. The research was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Indiana University. Resubmitted to the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology on April 21, 2008 and October 20, 2008.     

大学生科学家人格特征内隐观的研究

1　引言　　科学观是人对科学的观点和看法。它影响科学发展。科学观有两种表现形式 :(1)科学哲学 ,它以科学知识为研究对象 ,主要研究科学的本质和结构、科学发展和科学方法论。(2 )科学的内隐观 ,它是人们对科学的非正式看法 ,如如何看待科学 ?怎样对待科学和科学家 ?科学家有怎样的人格特征 ?等等。 1981年 ,Sternberg对智力内隐观的研究揭示了公众对智力的看法 ,显示了内隐观研究的重要性。 2 0 0 1年 ,杨治良等对大学生创造性内隐观的研究揭示了创造性内隐观的因素结构。但是 ,对科学的内隐观还很少有研究。科学内隐观将揭示公众对科…