PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #21: Education.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall
16
How (not) to be an Evil Scientist: Case studies for research ethics education in ecology.
Dudycha, Jeffry1, Geedey, C. Kevin2, 1 2
ABSTRACT- Increasing public scrutiny of scientists has sparked a growing emphasis on training scientists in research ethics. Despite widespread agreement on the importance of research ethics education, formal research ethics education is often viewed as burdensome or distracting from training in core discipline skills. In part, this may stem from a belief that ethics are self-evident, can be learned osmotically or that suitable tools for teaching ethics are unavailable. Research ethicists have developed many fictional case studies highlighting ethical dilemmas that researchers may face. However, most of these tools are set in physical science or biomedical contexts. We developed six cases that focus directly on ecological science because students and educators find it easier, more relevant and more enjoyable to dissect ethical issues concretely related to their own work. We begin with an explanation of the pedagogical concept behind cases, and methods for using them to teach research ethics. Some of our cases focus on broad, fundamental issues (e.g., fraud, responsibility of authorship, student-mentor relations, science in society) in an ecological context. Others emphasize issues largely unique to ecology (e.g., environmental manipulation, environmental activism). Along with the cases, we present commentaries detailing the issues raised by the cases, suggestions on how to use them in a discussion group or class forum, and resources for further exploration of research ethics education as applied to ecology.
KEY WORDS: research ethics, case studies