Topics and cases for online education in engineering

When considering offering online education for engineering ethics instruction, making choices necessary for the effective development and delivery of an engineering ethics curriculum is an important first step. Selecting the topics and types of cases for the most effective ethics education of engineering students is a vital step in preparing an effective program. Examples are presented for topics which are considered good candidates for online presentation, and the adaptability of these topics for web-based instruction is discussed. Types of cases which are useful in engineering ethics education are presented. Methods of teaching applied ethics, as well as ideas for web-based ethics course design are suggested. The market for web-based instruction is discussed.     

What is Working,What is Not,and What We Need to Know: a Meta-Analytic Review of Business Ethics Instruction

Requirements for business ethics education and organizational ethics trainings mark an important step in encouraging ethical behavior among business students and professionals. However, the lack of specificity in these guidelines as to how, what, and where business ethics should be taught has led to stark differences in approaches and content. The present effort uses meta-analytic procedures to examine the effectiveness of current approaches across organizational ethics trainings and business school courses. to provide practical suggestions for business ethics interventions and research. Thus, the primary questions driving this research are as follows: (1) what course characteristics moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction?, and (2) have ethics education and training efforts improved? Findings suggest that professional, focused, and workshop-based training programs are especially effective for improving business ethics. However, results also reveal considerable problems with many of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of business ethics interventions. Practical suggestions for course design and evaluation in business ethics efforts are discussed along with future research needs.     

CLASSWIDE PEER TUTORING: AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS AND PROMOTE PEER INTERACTIONS AMONG STUDENTS WITH AUTISM AND GENERAL EDUCATION PEERS

A multiple baseline design across subjects with a reversal was used to examine the effects of classwide peer tutoring relative to traditional reading instruction on reading skills and social interaction time for 3 high-functioning students with autism and their typical peers in integrated, general education classrooms. Traditional reading instruction consisted largely of teacher-led instruction with individual student participation and seat work. Classwide peer tutoring consisted of 25 to 30 min of well-specified instruction in which tutor—learner pairs worked together on a classwide basis on reading fluency and comprehension skills. All students participated in 15- to 20-min unstructured free-time activities immediately following reading instruction. Results of reading assessments demonstrated that classwide peer tutoring increased reading fluency and correct responses to reading comprehension questions for students with autism and their peers. The procedure further increased the total duration of free-time social interactions for students with autism and typical peers, with individual variation in performance.     

Are Ethics Training Programs Improving? A Meta-Analytic Review of Past and Present Ethics Instruction in the Sciences

Given the growing public concern and attention placed on cases of research misconduct, government agencies and research institutions have increased their efforts to develop and improve ethics education programs for scientists. The present study sought to assess the impact of these increased efforts by sampling empirical studies published since the year 2000. Studies published prior to 2000 examined in other meta-analytic work were also included to provide a baseline for assessing gains in ethics training effectiveness over time. In total, this quantitative review consisted of 66 empirical studies, 106 ethics courses, 150 effect sizes, and 10,069 training participants. Overall, the findings indicated that ethics instruction resulted in sizable benefits to participants and has improved considerably within the last decade. A number of specific findings also emerged regarding moderators of instructional effectiveness. Recommendations are discussed for improving the development, delivery, and evaluation of ethics instruction in the sciences.     

An Experimental Analysis of Phoneme Blending and Segmenting Skills

In this 2-experiment study, experimental analyses of phoneme blending and segmenting skills were conducted with four-first grade students. Intraindividual analyses were conducted to identify the effects of classroom-based instruction on blending phonemes in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, the effects of an individualized intervention for the student who failed to improve in the first experiment were examined. Stimulus materials were drawn directly from the classroom curriculum, making it possible to monitor students’ response to classroom instruction and intervention over time. Generalization of responding to unique letter combinations was measured. A multiple-probe across tasks designs was used in both studies. Results indicated that all students improved their phoneme blending skills and are discussed in terms of the need for evaluation methods that are sensitive enough to identify individual differences in responding between students and to detect within-student performance increases in critical early literacy skills.     

Reflections on teaching health care ethics on the web

As web instruction becomes more and more prevalent at universities across the country, instructors of ethics are being encouraged to develop online courses to meet the needs of a diverse array of students. Web instruction is often viewed as a cost-saving technique, where large numbers of students can be reached by distance education in an effort to conserve classroom and instructor resources. In practice. however, the reverse is often true: online courses require more of faculty time and effort than do many traditional classes. Based on personal experience teaching an online course in health care ethics for students in the Allied Health Professions, it is evident that there are both benefits and challenges in teaching online courses, particularly in ethics. Examples of benefits are (1) the asynchronous nature of web instruction allows students to progress through the course at their own pace and at times that are convenient given their clinical responsibilities; (2) web courses allow for a standardization of content and quality of instruction over a diversity of programs; and (3) examples can be tailored to the differing experiences of students in the course. Some challenges to teaching online ethics courses include (1) the fact that online instruction benefits visual learners and disadvantages those lacking good reading comprehension or strong writing skills; (2) developing meaningful student-student and student-instructor interaction; and (3) teaching ethics involves teaching a process rather than a product. Allowing students to apply their knowledge to real-world cases in their disciplines and encouraging them to share experiences from clinical practice is an effective way to meet several of these challenges. Building an online community is another good way to increase the interaction of students and their engagement with the material.     

Teaching research ethics: Can web-based instruction satisfy appropriate pedagogical objectives?

Ethical tasks faced by researchers in science and engineering as they engage in research include recognition of moral problems in their practice, finding solutions to those moral problems, judging moral actions and engaging in preventive ethics. Given these issues, appropriate pedagogical objectives for research ethics education include (1) teaching researchers to recognize moral issues in their research, (2) teaching researchers to solve practical moral problems in their research from the perspective of the moral agent, (3) teaching researchers how to make moral judgments about actions, and (4) learning to engage in preventive ethics. If web-based research ethics education is intended to be adequate and sufficient for research ethics education, then it must meet those objectives. However there are reasons to be skeptical that it can.     

Ethics Education: Recommendations for an Evolving Discipline

This article describes results of a national questionnaire completed by counselor education program professors regarding their teaching of ethics. The questionnaire asked professors about 5 aspects of ethics education: materials used, instructional methods used, content taught, methods of evaluation used, and professors' goals for the ethics education of their students. Questionnaire results and demographic data about professors and programs are used to describe perceptions and practices of counselor educators who teach ethics.     

Effects of training in the responsible conduct of research: A survey of graduate students in experimental sciences

In recent years, programs for training in research ethics have become widespread, but very little has been done to assess the effectiveness of this training. Because initial studies have failed to demonstrate a positive impact of research ethics training, this project defined two new outcome variables to be tested in a sample of graduate students at the University of California, San Diego. Trainees were surveyed to assess the role of ethics training in altering their perceptions about their own standards, or their knowledge of options available to them if faced with ethical problems that might arise in conducting and reporting research. In response to a mailing of 505 anonymous questionnaires, 283 replies were received. Similar to previous studies, perceptions of standards were not significantly affected by hours spent in informal discussions about research ethics, in attending courses on research ethics, or in discussions of case studies. However, self-reported knowledge of options for facing research ethics problems was significantly increased in association with increased hours of discussion, class time, or case study discussion. Taken together, this study emphasizes the need for increased attention to the definition and assessment of the goals of research ethics training.     

A Review of Functional Analysis Methods Conducted in Public School Classroom Settings

The use of functional behavior assessments (FBAs) to address problem behavior in classroom settings has increased as a result of education legislation and long-standing evidence supporting function-based interventions. Although functional analysis remains the standard for identifying behavior–environment functional relations, this component is rarely included in FBAs in practice. To address this research-to-practice gap, we searched the FBA literature to identify studies including functional analyses (FAs) conducted in students’ usual classrooms and implemented by school personnel in public school settings. FAs were defined broadly as assessments involving systematic manipulation of one or more antecedent or consequent variable to evaluate environmental influences on student problem behavior. We identified 39 studies including FAs for 88 participants. All studies were coded with regard to FA approaches and procedures as well as student, classroom, and implementer characteristics. In addition, we evaluated the extent to which FA methods in the study sample aligned with previous recommendations to address practical barriers to implementation. Results revealed a range of FA approaches that varied according to student and classroom characteristics, as well as several strategies to address implementation barriers that have been under-utilized in classroom-based FAs to date.     

Dare to Dream: Personal Values,Life Goals,and International Students in New Zealand

It has been well identified and supported in the literature that values and life goals are associated with one’s general well-being. However, there have been few studies on values and life goals among international students in New Zealand. This study addressed this lack of research by focusing on the life goals and personal values among international students in three tertiary institutes in New Zealand. Based on the literature review, the hypothesis of this study is that international students’ intrinsic life goals are positively correlated with their spiritual values. In contrast, extrinsic goals did not have similar effects. The Aspirations Index, which was used to assess life goals, and the Schwartz’ value survey, which measured the students’ personal values, were both distributed to the participants. Follow-up interviews with 24 of the participants were also conducted. Findings revealed that spiritual values were positively correlated with intrinsic goals and that extrinsic goals did not have similar effects. As the research findings showed that spiritual values were positively correlated with intrinsic goals, helping international students to find meaning and purpose in life may promote their well-being, and the learning and growth of international students can be improved by incorporating spiritual values and cultural aspects in college education. The authors also argue that a holistic approach to college education for international students is needed.     

Creating an Interdisciplinary Business Ethics Program

Driven by recent accreditation mandates, a changing legal environment, and multiple high-visibility corporate ethics scandals, many business schools are responding to the growing movement within higher education to integrate ethics into the curricula. The literature suggests that the amount of attention given to ethics varies widely among institutions, and has not been coherently developed. Moreover, institutions have struggled to tie related projects and instruction to the overall concept of assurance of student learning. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for institutions interested in creating an interdisciplinary business ethics program that combines critical success factors, assurance of student learning and continuous quality improvement. Using a nationally recognized business school’s ethics program, we provide an example of how our model can be applied at other institutions based on their own unique vision, mission and goals.     

Design and Development of a Course in Professionalism and Ethics for CDIO Curriculum in China

At Shantou University (STU) in 2008, a stand-alone engineering ethics course was first included within a Conceive–Design–Implement–Operate (CDIO) curriculum to address the scarcity of engineering ethics education in China. The philosophy of the course design is to help students to develop an in-depth understanding of social sustainability and to fulfill the obligations of engineers in the twenty-first century within the context of CDIO engineering practices. To guarantee the necessary cooperation of the relevant parties, we have taken advantage of the top-down support from the STU administration. Three themes corresponding to contemporary issues in China were chosen as the course content: engineers’ social obligations, intellectual property and engineering safety criteria. Some popular pedagogies are used for ethics instruction such as case studies and group discussions through role-playing. To impart the diverse expertise of the practical professional practice, team teaching is adopted by interdisciplinary instructors with strong qualifications and industrial backgrounds. Although the assessment of the effectiveness of the course in enhancing students’ sense of ethics is limited to assignment reports and class discussions, our endeavor is seen as positive and will continue to sustain the CDIO reform initiatives of STU.     

Comparison of accommodations and interventions for youth with ADHD: A randomized controlled trial

School psychologists have a variety of evidence-based interventions from which to choose when recommending classroom-based strategies for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); however, strategies frequently found on individualized education plans are accommodations designed to remove barriers to learning, which have limited empirical evidence. As such, the purpose of the current study was to compare the efficacy of three interventions (i.e., organization training, self-management, note-taking instruction) and three accommodations (i.e., organization support, extended time, copy of teacher notes) to address difficulties with organization and maintaining attention during a science lesson and associated independent practice. The study included 64 middle school students with ADHD randomized to either an intervention or an accommodation condition. The intervention group was further divided into two subgroups, consisting of (a) students who were willing to follow intervention procedures and (b) students who were not willing to follow the procedures (behavioral indicators of social validity). Results indicated that adolescents with ADHD in the intervention group were statistically significantly more likely to organize and maintain binder organization and to take complete and accurate notes than those in the accommodation group. In addition, exploratory analyses indicated that adolescents who demonstrated willingness to follow intervention procedures were more likely to be academically engaged during instruction and independent work and to complete independent work accurately than those who resisted the procedures.     

Survival skills and ethics training for graduate students: A graduate student perspective

Graduate students in the sciences must develop practical skills geared toward scientific survival and success. This is particularly true now, given the paucity of research funds and jobs. Along with more elementary skills, research ethics should be an integral part of students’ scientific training. Survival skills include research skills, communication skills, general efficiency, and preparation for post-graduate work. Ethics training covers guidelines for use of animal and human subjects, data treatment, disclosure, credit issues, conflicts of interest, and response to misconduct. The objective of this paper is to describe, from a graduate student’s perspective, the need for survival and ethics training in graduate programs and to raise both faculty and student awareness of the possibilities for explicit instruction of these skills. Many survival skills and ethical practices will be learned without explicit direction and some are already part of standard training; but, this is not the case for all students or for all skills, so specific instruction is a necessity. Research faculty can use their own experience to help students to develop the proficiencies they will need to succeed.     

Misconceptions and realities about teaching online

This article is intended to guide online course developers and teachers. A brief review of the literature on the misconceptions of beginning online teachers reveals that most accept the notion that putting one’s lecture notes online produces effective learning, or that technology will make education more convenient and cost-effective for all concerned. Effective online learning requires a high level of responsibility for learning on the part of students and a reduction of the teacher-student power differential. This, in turn, has major implications for faculty and course development, student selection criteria, the cost of instruction, and the outcomes of education. Effective online teaching focuses on processes of learning rather than outcomes, and is consistent with modern principles of learning that emphasize focusing on issues of high interest to learners, teaching students to use skills of active and effective learning, providing prompt feedback, and enabling students to establish learning goals and employ alternative paths to achieving those goals. Multiple ways of operationalizing these goals online are presented. Tips are offered concerning selection of students who are capable of benefiting from the online experience, developing curriculum that is user-friendly, using resources that stimulate good writing and critical thinking, and limiting class size to a manageable number.     

Will the new code help researchers to be more ethical?

A code of ethics has 2 largely incompatible objectives: to set forth enforceable minimal standards of conduct and to teach about or invoke ethical conduct. The section of the new American Psychological Association code dealing with research ethics achieves the former to some degree. However, it neither provides needed education in the ethics of research nor states where the reader might turn for such information. The code is particularly deficient in the following areas: privacy and confidentiality; institutional review boards; deception; debriefing; data sharing; and research on marginal populations, on children and adolescents, and in organizational contexts. Suggestions are offered for providing a bibliographic resource, in hard copy and on-line, that would stimulate independent interest, scholarship, education, and research on research ethics.     

Ethics in 15 min per Week

The demand for science trainees to have appropriate responsible conduct of research instruction continues to increase the attention shown by federal agencies and graduate school programs to the development of effective ethics curriculums. However, it is important to consider that the main learning environment for science graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows is within a laboratory setting. Here we discuss an internal laboratory program of weekly 15-minute ethics discussions implemented and used over the last 3 years in addition to the graduate school’s program of scientific integrity training. During this time, the environment and culture within our laboratory has changed to place greater emphasis on the ethical implications of our own research and the research we evaluate. We still struggle with how to accurately assess this behavioral change; although, we present preliminary survey results on the evaluation and impact of this style of curriculum for ethics instruction in our laboratory.     

What makes students feel authentic in an integrated RE classroom?

Abstract

The focus of this article is on 9th grade students’ (N = 9) perceptions on aspects that make them feel authentic in integrated religious education (RE) lessons among students of various faiths. All of the students had previously studied RE in segregated groups. The data was collected in a collaborative teaching experiment in Finland with student interviews. The students included young people between the ages of 15 and 16 from Lutheran RE, Orthodox RE and ethics instruction. The analysis identified five themes the students reported as having contributed to their sense of authenticity in RE: neutral pedagogical approach, approving social climate concerning diverse beliefs, space for different worldviews in instruction, group composition concerning beliefs and the position of the teacher regarding religion and his/her students.