Abstract
While education in ethics and the responsible conduct of research (RCR) is widely acknowledged as an essential component of graduate education, particularly in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math), little consensus exists on how best to accomplish this goal. Recent years have witnessed a turn toward the use of games in this context. Drawing from two NSF-funded grants (one completed and one on-going), this paper takes a critical look at the use of games in ethics and RCR education. It does so by: (a) setting the development of research and engineering ethics games in wider historical and theoretical contexts, which highlights their promise to solve important pedagogical problems; (b) reporting on some initial results from our own efforts to develop a game; and (c) reflecting on the challenges that arise in using games for ethics education. In our discussion of the challenges, we draw out lessons to improve this nascent approach to ethics education in the STEM disciplines .
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Annas, J. (2002). Moral knowledge as practical knowledge. Social Philosophy and Policy, 18(2), 236–256.
Anscombe, G. E. M. (1958). Modern moral philosophy. Philosophy, 33(124), 1–19.
Bailey, Charles. (2011). Does the defining issues test measure ethical judgment ability or political position? The Journal of Social Psychology, 151(3), 314–330.
Barab, S. A., Scott, B., Siyahhan, S., Goldstone, R., Ingram-Goble, A., Zuiker, S. J., & Warren, S. (2009). Conceptual play as a curricular scaffold: Using videogames to support science education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18, 305–320. doi:10.1007/s10956-009-9171-5.
Barrows, H. S. (1986). A taxonomy of problem based learning methods. Medical Education, 20, 481–486.
Bebeau, M. J., & Thoma, S. J. (2003). Guide for DIT-2 (pp. 18–19). St. Paul, MN: Center for the Study of Ethical Development, University of Minnesota Press.
Beecher, H. (1966). Ethics and clinical research. New England Journal of Medicine, 274, 1354–1360.
Bird, S. J. (1999). Including ethics in graduate education in scientific research. In J. M. Braxton (Ed.), Perspectives on scholarly misconduct in the sciences. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
Bird, S. J., & Briggle, A. (2005). Research ethics: Overview. In Carl Mitcham (Ed.), Encyclopedia of science, technology, and ethics (Vol. 3, pp. 1599–1607). New York: Macmillan.
Bransford, J. D., Brown A. L., Cocking R. R. (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Committee on Developments in Science of Learning and Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
Briggle, A. (2012). The ethics of computer games: A character approach. In J. R. Sageng, T. M. Larsen, & H. Fossheim (Eds.), The philosophy of computer games (pp. 159–174). London: Springer.
Briggle, A, & Holbrook, J. B. (2015). Games. In Holbrook J. B., (Editor in Chief), Carl M. (Associate Editor) (ed.), Ethics, science, technology, and engineering: A global resource, 4 vols. Farmington Hills, MI: MacMillan Reference USA, 2015, vol. 2, pp. 331–32.
Briggle, A., & Mitcham, C. (2012). Ethics and science: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Broad, W. J., & Wade, Nicholas. (1982). Betrayers of the truth: Fraud and deceit in the halls of science. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Commission on Research Integrity (CORI). (1995). Integrity and misconduct in research. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services.
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Commission on Professional Self Regulation in Science. (1998, revised 2013). Proposals for safeguarding good scientific practice, Available at: http://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/dfg_im_profil/reden_stellungnahmen/download/empfehlung_wiss_praxis_1310.pdf.
Emler, N., Tarry, H., & St. James, A. (2007). Principled moral reasoning and reputation. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 76–89.
Federation of American Scientists. (2006). Harnessing the power of video games for learning. Final Report of the Summit on Educational Games. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/gamesummit/Resources/Summit%20on%20Educational%20Games.pdf.
Gee, J. P. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy (Rev ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Holbrook, J. B., & Briggle, A. (2014). Knowledge kills action—why principles should play a limited role in policy-making. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 1(1), 51–66. doi:10.1080/23299460.2014.882554.
Hollander, R. (Ed.). (2009). Ethics education and scientific and engineering research: What’s been learned? What should be done? Summary of a workshop. Washington, DC: Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society. National Academy of Engineering. The National Academies Press.
Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. (2002). Integrity in scientific research: Creating and environment that promotes responsible conduct. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Jones, G., Warren, S. J., & Lin, L. (2011). Usability and play testing: The oft missed assessment. In L. Annetta & S. Bronack (Eds.), Serious educational assessment (pp. 131–146). London: Sense Publishers.
Kalichman, Michael. (2009). Evidence-based research ethics. American Journal of Bioethics, 9(6–7), 85–87. doi:10.1080/15265160902923457.
Kligyte, V., Marcy, R. T., Waples, E. P., Sevier, S. T., Godfrey, E. S., Mumford, M. D., & Hougen, D. F. (2008). Application of a Sensemaking approach to ethics training in the physical sciences and engineering. Science and Engineering Ethics, 14(2), 251–278.
Lenhart, A., Arafeh, S., Smith, A., Macgill, A.R. (2008). Writing, technology, and teens. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from: http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/reports/2008/PIP_Writing_Report_FINAL3.pdf.pdf
McDaniel, R., & Fiore, S. M. (2010). Applied ethics game design: Some practical guidelines. In S. Karen & G. David (Eds.), Ethics and game design: Teaching values through play (pp. 236–254). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, IGI Global.
Mumford, M., Connelly, S., Brown, R. P., Murphy, S. T., Hill, J. H., Antes, A. L., et al. (2008). A Sensemaking approach to ethics training for scientists: Preliminary evidence of training effectiveness. Ethics and Behavior, 18(4), 315–339.
National Institutes of Health (NIH). (1989). Requirement for programs on the responsible conduct of Research in National Research Service Award Institutional Training Programs. NIH guide for grants and contracts. 18(45): 1. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/historical/1989_12_22_Vol_18_No_45.pdf.
National Research Council and National Academy of Engineering (NRC). (2014). Emerging and readily available technologies and national security a framework for addressing ethical, legal, and societal issues. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
National Science Foundation (NSF). (2009). Responsible conduct of research. Federal register 74(160): 42126–42128. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2009-08-20/html/E9-19930.htm
Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw Hill.
Puech, M. (2013). The ethical experience: online/offline. In Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, October 9–11, San Diego, CA. http://www.slideshare.net/mpuech/mp-san-diego-2013-10
Rest, J., Darcia N., Stephen T., Muriel B. (1999). DIT2: Devising and testing a revised instrument of moral judgment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 644-659. Instructions for ordering DIT-2 can be found at: http://ethicaldevelopment.ua.edu/to-purchase-online-dit1dit2/
Rhoades, Lawrence, & Górski, Andrzej. (2000). Scientific misconduct: An international perspective. Science and Engineering Ethics, 6, 5–10.
Sadowski, Jathan, Seager, T., Selinger, E., Spierre, S., & Whyte, K. (2012). An experiential, gametheoretic pedagogy for sustainability ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics,. doi:10.1007/s11948-012-9385-4.
Schienke, E., Tuana, N., Brown, D., Davis, K., Keller, K., Shortle, J., et al. (2009). The role of the NSF broader impacts criterion in enhancing research ethics pedagogy. Social Epistemology, 23, 317–336.
Schienke, E., Baum, S., Tuana, N., Davis, K., & Keller, K. (2010). Intrinsic ethics regarding integrated assessment models for climate management. Science and Engineering Ethics: DOI. doi:10.1007/s11948-010-9209-3.
Steneck, Nicholas H. (2004). Introduction to the responsible conduct of research. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Steneck, Nicholas, & Bulger, Ruth. (2007). The history, purpose, and future of instruction in the responsible conduct of research. Academic Medicine, 82(9), 829–834.
Swazey, J. P., & Bird, S. J. (1997). Teaching and learning research ethics. In E. Deni & E. S. Judy (Eds.), Research ethics: A reader. Dartmouth, NH: University Press of New England.
Toulmin, Stephen. (1982). How medicine saved the life of ethics. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 25, 736–750.
Tuana, Nancy. (2010). Leading with ethics, aiming for policy: New opportunities for philosophy of science. Synthese, 177(3), 471–492.
Turkle, Sherry. (2009). Simulation and its discontents. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. 1252692, “EAGER: Prototyping a Virtue Ethics Game” and Grant No. 1338739 “Graduate Virtue Ethics Education in Science and Engineering.” Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Briggle, A., Holbrook, J.B., Oppong, J. et al. Research Ethics Education in the STEM Disciplines: The Promises and Challenges of a Gaming Approach. Sci Eng Ethics 22, 237–250 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9624-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9624-6