3.1 Eac toolkit - instructor module for theory building activities  (Page 2/3)

Learning objectives

• Ethical Reasoning : Practicing and improving ethical reasoning.
• Ethical Evaluation : Evaluating decision alternatives in terms of their ethics.
• Ethical Awareness : Becoming aware of how ethical theory and ethical issues are embedded in everyday discourse.
• Reasonableness : Practicing the virtue of reasonableness in the context of reasonable disagreement
• Learning how to recognize the ethical theory embedded in everyday reasoning.

The following table documents the objectives for the student module.

Instructional / pedagogical strategies

Which pedagogical or instructional strategies are used or suggested for this module. (For example: Discussion/Debate, Decision-Making Exercise, Presentation, Dramatization or Role Playing, Group Task, Formal or Informal Writing, Readings, among others)

This module employs the following pedagogical strategies:

• Informal Writing : Students prepare for the activity by reading the scenario and writing out their reponse.
• General Class Discussion : Students discuss the scenario as a class. No attempt is made to reach agreement or closure.
• Cooperative Learning : Students are divided into groups of three to five. Each student reads his or her written response to the other group members. Then the group is charged with reaching an agreement within a time frame or outlining the terms of their disagreement
• Eliciting Knowledge : The instructor provides a formal debriefing outlining the ways in which students have used ethical reasoning, the structures in terms of which they raised and resolved disagreements, and how they made use of different ethical theories in formulating their justifications and arguments. If time permits, the instructor can add a more formal introduction to different kinds of ethical theory that draws the theory from the arguments the students have made during their discussions.
• This module is used to introduce two new modules, the Ethics of Team Work and Moral Exemplars. (The latter explores issues in ethical leadership.)

For those new to teaching cases and teaching by discussion, the Computing Cases website has information and links that will be of great help. Address: http://computingcases.org/general_tools/teaching_with_cases/teaching_w_cases_intro.html

Assessment / assurance of learning

What assessment or assurance of learning methods are used or suggested for this module? (For example: 1-minute paper, Muddiest Point, Quiz/Test Items, Oral Presentation, Student Feed-back, among others). What did or didn't work?

Modes of assessment

• Informal Writing : A baseline for assessment can be established by examining the students' initial written responses to the scenario. For example, student responses can be assessed in terms of where the responses provided by the students fit on Kohlberg's scale of moral development. In this particular version, students are assessed in terms of the moral schemas that are triggered by the dilemma situation. (See Rest et al below.)
• Muddiest Point Exercise : The student module can also be assessed by using a simple Muddiest Point exercise that asks the students to indicate the strongest and weakest (=muddiest) parts. (See figure just below for handout.)
• EAC Module Assessment Form : A form modified from one developed and used by Michael Davis of IIT helps provide a more detailed assessment of this and other modules. See figure below.