Topics of Professional Responsibility
Kenneth Diller
Biomedical Engineering
The project to be performed in AY 2004-2005 is a continuation of the Ethics Module Development Project initiated in fall 2003. Under the current project (AY 2003-2004), a cross disciplinary team of bioengineers and learning scientists has demonstrated a synergistic efficacy for developing novel and effective learning materials in engineering ethics. Two instructional modules featuring ethics issues in Biomedical Engineering will be delivered under the current project and incorporated into the VaNTH (Vanderbilt-Northwestern-Texas-Harvard/MIT) Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Bioengineering Educational Technologies. In 1999, the National Science Foundation funded the VaNTH ERC with a vision to transform bioengineering education to produce adaptive experts by developing, implementing, and assessing educational processes, materials, and technologies that are readily accessible and widely disseminated. The UT Department of Biomedical Engineering has been a VaNTH ERC member since the inception of the Center. All ethics modules developed with Chair of Free Enterprise funds are also available through the UT College of Engineering Faculty Innovation Center (FIC).
The first ethics module completed under the current project is titled Stem Cell Ethics Module and already is in distribution within VaNTH ERC and the FIC. The second module titled Ethics for Human Subjects Research will be delivered in summer 2004. Teaching modules developed for the VaNTH ERC utilize the How People Learn (HPL) model of learning that focuses on the implementation of Adaptive Expertise (AE). AE refers to the ability to expand beyond routine expertise by considering multiple perspectives and expanding upon content knowledge for effective problem resolution. The development of AE is a critical educational objective for Bioengineers as the regulations and knowledge base in many areas of Biotechnology will evolve and expand dramatically over the course of current Bioengineer careers.
The HPL model incorporates the Star Legacy Learning Cycle that includes six sequential steps:
1. Challenge - Challenge to students to solve a specific and defined problem
2. Generate Ideas - Students generate initial ideas through peer group discussions
3. Multiple Perspectives - Perspectives of subject matter experts are studied
4. Research and Revise - Students conduct independent research to supplement
perspectives
5. Test Your Mettle - Acquire formative feedback allowing for assessment of
progress
6. Go Public - Present solution to challenge
Conclusions from implementation of the Stem Cell Ethics Module showed that both the HPL and standard lecture methods of instruction increased student’s factual understanding of stem cell issues, but the HPL method led to a higher level of adaptive expertise in making ethical decisions in a Biomedical Engineering context. Post-test results showed that HPL students by a two-to-one margin over standard lecture students exhibit adaptive expertise capabilities in making decisions associated with professional ethics. The website deliverable for the Stem Cell Ethics Module is available at:
http://www.engr.utexas.edu/ethics/stemCell/index.cfm
Under the AY 2004-2005 project, the team will create additional modules for distribution within the VaNTH ERC and the FIC that address professional ethics and other topics of professional responsibility including conduct and work performance. The materials prepared and presented under the project using the HPL model will provide the environment for students to actively participate in realistic problem solving exercises and to acquire effective problem solving skills. Application of the HPL learning techniques will also plant the seeds for leadership and professional development.
Benefits from the project will be two fold. First, HPL course material based
upon the Star Legacy Learning Cycle model will be prepared, presented, and distributed
to learning scientists, assessment and domain experts, and learning technologists
in the VaNTH ERC. The association of current project participants with VaNTH
ERC provides for accelerated national distribution of the course materials.
The HPL course material will also be available through the College of Engineering
FIC. Second, students receiving classroom instruction based upon the HPL model
will experience realistic workplace case studies and will acquire ethical, technical,
personnel, and logistics problem solving skills to serve them in the continuation
of their academic, as well as post academic, careers.