Presentation materials for:

Eth-Assist: A Tool for Ethics Teaching and Learning Online

Presented as part of the panel on Enhancing the Human Potential: Innovative Tools for Teaching in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Western Consortium for Educational Technology (WCET) 21st Annual Conference

Presenter contact info: Nancy J. Matchett, PhD Director, Institute of Professional Ethics Assistant Professor of Philosophy University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO 80639 nancy.matchett@unco; 970-351-1567

Abstract: EthAssist is an online teaching and learning tool designed to help users (1) identify the ethical dimension of their choices and (2) deliberate more effectively about how to resolve ethical conflicts. It is informed by ethical theory, but rather than teaching the theory didactically the tool engages users in the process of applying theoretical insights to concrete issues. This session is designed to provide participants with a hands-on demonstration and discuss ways the tool can be used to facilitate ethical inquiry about any subject and within any discipline. EthAssist is still under development, but the prototype is the guided deliberation process of the online Center for Ethical Deliberation. The pages below contain screen-shots from the existing guided deliberation process along with notes about how it is being improved and transformed into EthAssist. Please note • The online Center for Ethical Deliberation (CED) is currently hosted at

http://www.mcb.unco.edu/ced/index.cfm, though it is undergoing a design overhaul and will move at some point in the next 6 months.

• The CED is a project of the University of Northern Colorado’s Institute of Professional Ethics. More information about how the CED can be incorporated into ethics teaching and learning can be found here: http://www.unco.edu/ethics/our_activities.html#B

• The “three frameworks” approach to ethical deliberation has also served as the basis for the online Responsible Conduct of Research training modules found here: http://www.democmesite.cme.uab.edu/ORI/Case_Study/default.html and here: http://www.uab.edu/graduate/rcr/index.html

The Institute of Professional Ethics is always looking for collaborators. If you are interested in helping to develop additional content for the CED website, or if you would like more information about how to incorporate the EthAssist tool in your own teaching or professional development work, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

THREE ETHICAL FRAMEWORKS (The central architecture of the Eth-Assist Tool)

CONSEQUENCES DUTIES VIRTUES

Each framework focuses on a central question → which guides deliberation through all three stages

↓

What kind of outcomes should I produce (or try to produce)?

What are my obligations in this situation, and what are the things I should never do?

What kind of person should I be, and what will my actions show about my character?

Perception: specific features to which attention is primarily directed

Directs attention to the future effects of all possible courses of action, for all people who will be directly or indirectly affected by the action.

Always keeps an eye on the duties that exist prior to the current situation and determine peopleʼs obligations within the situation.

Attempts to discern character traits (virtues and vices) that are, or could be, motivating the people involved in the current situation.

Judgment: conception of value used to anchor ethical judgments

Ethical conduct is whatever will likely achieve the best consequences (a consequentialist thinker needs to explain why certain outcomes are especially desirable or important to produce).

Ethical conduct involves acting on established moral principles or rules (a duty thinker needs to explain why certain principles or rules are obligatory).

Ethical conduct is whatever a fully virtuous person would do in the circumstances (a virtue thinker needs to explain why specific character traits are important for human beings to develop).

S T A G E S

O F

E T H I C A L

D E L I B E R A T I ON

Motivation: reasons for living an ethical life

Aim is to produce the most good in the world. Everyone benefits, including the self.

Aim is to live up to oneʼs obligations – obeying constraints on behavior that all people have good reason to accept

Aim is to develop truly excellent character, making the most of oneʼs individual nature in a wider social context.

OverviewoftheEthAssistToolEthAssistwillguideusersthroughfourstagesofethicaldeliberation.Whilenoviceusersareencouragedtogothroughallstagesinorder,anyuserwillhavetheoptiontovisitsinglestagesinisolation.Thetoolcanbeusedtoanalyzeanalreadyexistingresolutiontoatheoreticalorpracticalissue,ortodeliberateaboutissuesuserswishtoresolveontheirown.(Note:ScreenshotsaretakenfromtheexistingGuidedDeliberationProcess,whichservesasaprototypebutwillbecompletelyreplacedbyEthAssist)STAGE1–DescribingtheSituation:usersdescribetheirpresentconcernandaregiventheopportunitytotailorthesiteresourcestotheirspecificinterestsorneeds.

Subsequentstepswithinthere‐designedversionofthisstagewillinclude: Adviceonhowtoselectthemostappropriateframeworkgiventheuser’sstated

interestsandconcerns. Theabilitytoreviewanddrawfromanyexistingsitecontentonaparticulartopic(e.g.

‘Aristotle’or‘whistle‐blowing’or‘integrity’). Theabilitytoselectissue‐specific,discipline‐specific,orprofession‐specificmodulesas

theybecomeavailable(e.g.,“ethicsinPublicRelations).Suchmoduleswillcausesubsequentstagestobefocusedonappropriatesubsetsofsitecontent.

Anytextinsideboxesisaddedbyusers.

Theoptiontoprovidedemographicdatathatmaybeofinteresttoscholarsrelyingondatafromthesite.

STAGE2–HoningPerception:usersarepromptedtoidentifyadditionalfeaturesofthesituationthatareethicallysignificant,butwhichtheusermaynothavenoticed.

Promptsduringthisstagevarydependingontheethicalframeworkand/ormoduleselectedinStage1. TheConsequencesFramework(showninthesampleabove)focusesuserattentiononthe

likelyoutcomesofthevariouscoursesofactionavailableinthesituation. TheDutiesFrameworkfocusesattentionontheobligationsthatarelikelytoexistinthe

situation. TheVirtuesFrameworkfocusesattentiononthecharactertraitsthatarelikelytomotivate

peopleinthesituation.

SubsequentpromptsduringStage(2)giveuserstheopportunitytoreflectonandadddetailtotheirpreviousinputs(seethescreenshotonthenextpageforasample).

N.B.:usertextenteredinboxesherebecomesfixedtextforfurtherreflectioninsub‐sequentstages(seenextpage).Thisoccursthroughout

theprocess.

AdditionalDetailofStage2

Boldfacetextshownherecreatedfromtheuser’sownpreviousinputs.Additionaltextinputherebecomesfixedtextinsubsequentsteps/stages.

Linksenableuserstoseehowothershavecompletedthisstageandaccessothersitecontent.

ClickingtheProceedbuttontakesusertothenextstepwithinthecurrentlyselectedframework.

TheDeliberationMapenablesuserstocustomizetheirownpaththroughthesite(movingbetweenframeworksand/orskippingstagesasappropriate).

Newlinkswillfacilitateinformal,social‐networkingaswellascoachingbydedicatedteacher/trainers.

STAGE3‐ClarifyingJudgment:usersarepromptedtoidentifythespecificvalues,principlesoridealsthatanchortheirfinaljudgments(orgroundtheanalysisfoundinanothertext).

Thisstageencouragesuserstoreviewavarietyofethicalperspectives.Thearchitectureofthesitetreatseachperspectiveisasaspecificwayoflookingthroughoneormoreofthethreeframeworks. Eachperspectivearticulatesanddefendsaspecific(setof)ethicalvalue(s),principle(s)or

ideal(s). Asscholarstoanalyzeexistingworksusethesite,additionalperspectiveswillbecome

availableforotheruserstoreviewandconsider(requireddatabasemodifications). Perspectivesthatsimplycannotbemadetofitwithinanyofthethreeframeworkswillbe

taggedasoutliers(anotherdatabasemodification).Scholarscanaccessthisdatabasetoopenupnewlinesofinquiryintohowtheoreticalconstructsrelatetotheethicallife.

Again,subsequentstepswithinthisstagegiveuserstheopportunitytoreflectfurtheronanycontenttheyinputtothesite.

HyperlinksencourageuserstoreviewcontentelsewhereontheCEDwebsite.(Detailofthe“Perspectives”areaisprovidedonthelastpageofthisattachment.)

STAGE4‐CultivatingMotivation:usersarepromptedtoconsiderwhethertheywillinfactdotheactiontheyhavejudgedtobeethicallyappropriate,andmorebroadly,toreflectonthenatureandscopeofthehumandesiretolifeethically.

Subsequentstepswithinthiswillstageenabletheuserto: Identifythemainobstaclestoethicalmotivation,alongwithstrategiestoovercomethem. Reflectonthequestion,“Whybeethical?” Searchthedatabasefortechniquesandsuggestionsprovidedbyotherusersand/orbased

onspecificscholarlyperspectives.Finally,theoptionto“submitforanalysis”willbecompletelyrevisedtoenableuserstorequestfeedbackfromand/orprovidefeedbacktootherusers. Thesubmissionlinkwillbeseparatedfromthedeliberationmapsinceitislargely

independentofthedeliberativestructurebuiltintothesitearchitecture. Searchfunctionswillenableuserstobrowsethemostrecentsubmissionsortoreview

submissionsbasedonspecificcriteria(framework,module,userdemographic,etc.).

Userresponsedeterminessubsequentprompts.N.B.:hereandelsewhere,textwillberevisedtobemorecompatiblewithscholarlyanalysisaswellasnovicedeliberation.

SampleofadditionalCEDwebsitecontent:EthAssistwillinteractwiththiscontentintwoways1) LinkswithintheEthAssisttoolencourageusers(especiallynovices)toreviewandreflecton

variousresponsestothebroadethicalquestionofhowoneshouldlive.2) Scholarswhousethesitetoanalyzeimportanttextswillbeencouragedtoposttheirresults

additionalperspectives,issueanalyses,etc.

Eachlinkallowstheusertoaccessdeeperlayersofthesitecontent.Pagelayoutsprovideavisualrepresen‐tationofkeyconceptualrelationships.

Sampleofadditionaldetailfoundunderperspectivelinks.

Deepestlinkswillgotoopensourcefulltextscholarlyworks(wheneverpossible).