Ethical Issues in Graduate Research

Graduate Education in Research Ethics for Scientists and Engineers" is a project funded by the National Science Foundation (SES 0629377) to design a pilot program in research ethics for graduate students in science and engineering. This project is built around three workshops: (1) a Graduate Awareness Workshop introduces students to fundamental ethical issues in research, (2) a Moral Deliberation Workshop acquaints students with the skills of moral deliberation, (3) a Case Analysis Workshop uses realistic scenarios to allow students to practice decision-making an problem-solving in research ethics, and (4) students present their decision-making and problem-solving skills in a capstone activity, an Ethics Banquet, that consists of poster presentations on cases in research ethics. This module is a derived copy of the first workshop, the Graduate Awareness Workshop, written for business administration students or students in the professional and occupational areas who will be doing research in a market-driven environment. It links to the Open Seminar project, also funded by the NSF, which provides exercises, modules, activities, and resources pertinent to the study and teaching of research ethics. It also works closely with the Belmont Report, a wonderfully concise document that offers principles and practical applications designed to undercut the paralyzing theoretical and ideological debates that often accompany an area like research ethics. This module has been developed through Connexions as a part of the EAC Toolkit project, NSF SES 0551779. It includes a pre and post test, a series of case studies to be discussed, and a series of two presentations discussing different variations of the Graduate Ethics Workshop that are currently being developed. This module is in the process of being developed by faculty at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaquez and their colleagues at other universities.