Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Ethics Across the Curriculum—Pedagogical Perspectives pp 11–37Cite as

The Evolution of Ethics Education 1980–2015

Abstract

Ethics education became an integral part of most U.S. institutions of higher education between 1980 and 2015. Growth can be seen in institutional messaging, number of courses in ethics offered throughout the graduate and undergraduate curricula, national recognition of degrees and certificates granted in ethics by the federal National Center for Educational Statistics, creation of campus-wide ethics centers and co-curricular initiatives, and an explosion of peer-reviewed journals in the intersection of disciplinary areas and ethics. Yet, much research is yet to be done. Connections between ethics education and students’ civic and moral development remain unclear. The impact of ethics education remains unknown. There is no consensus on what counts as effective ethics education. Student voices are largely absent from discussions on the topic. And conversations relating to curricular and co-curricular ethics education continue to be divorced from analysis of the ethical implications of institutional choices.

Keywords

  • Ethics
  • Morality
  • Values
  • Ethics education
  • Moral education
  • Higher education
  • Moral development
  • Institutional ethics
  • Education ethics
  • Student ethics

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Along with multiple presentations at academic conferences, in 1980, the team published a book of collected essays, Ethics Teaching in Higher Education (Daniel Callahan and Sissela Bok, editors), and nine monographs on the teaching of ethics, The Teaching of Ethics in Higher Education (by The Hastings Center), Legal Ethics and Legal Education (by Michael J. Kelly), Teaching Ethics in Journalism Education (by Clifford G. Christians and Catherine L. Covert), Teaching Bioethics: Strategies, Problems, and Resources (by K. Danner Clouser), Ethics in the Education of Business Managers (by Charles W. Powers and David Vogel), The Teaching of Ethics and the Social Sciences (by Donald P. Warwick), Ethics and Engineering Curricula (by Robert J. Baum), Ethical Dilemmas and the Education of Policymakers (by Joel L. Fleishman and Bruce L. Payne) and Ethics in the Undergraduate Curriculum (by Bernard Rosen and Arthur L. Caplan).

  2. 2.

    The Hastings Center study included a systematic survey of literature on the teaching of ethics in American higher education, review of 2000 college catalogs, consultations with more than 1000 teachers of ethics, a summer workshop for 150 participants, using a grounded theory approach to identify common practices and patterns along with problems and issues in ethics education.

  3. 3.

    See Eliot (1869) and Stearns (1908).

  4. 4.

    Keywords used to search descriptors for journals and articles include “higher education” combined with “ethics” or “ethical” or “moral” in the journal or article title, subject word, or description. Initial search results were then manually culled to include only academic articles (not book reviews, for example) that addressed topics related to ethics education in higher education.

  5. 5.

    See Sloan (1980), for a summary of literature in ethics education prior to 1980.

  6. 6.

    Artifacts that could have reasonably been coded in more than one category were placed in a primary category based on title, abstract or other determination early in the article of major focus. Two researchers independently categorized journals and articles in our study, with disagreements discussed and consensus achieved.

  7. 7.

    See, for example, Besvinick (1983), Thornton and Jaeger (2008) and Wilshire (1987).

  8. 8.

    See Steneck (1994).

  9. 9.

    See Scriven (1982).

  10. 10.

    See Thompson (2006).

  11. 11.

    See Camenisch (1986).

  12. 12.

    See Tsei (2002).

  13. 13.

    See Rhoads (1997).

  14. 14.

    See Meyhew (2012).

  15. 15.

    See Magolda and Abowitz (1997).

  16. 16.

    See Lee and Taylor (2013).

  17. 17.

    See Camenisch (1986), Stark et al. (1986) and Rivage-Seul (1987).

  18. 18.

    While we believe that we captured most of the journals that publish articles in practical ethics, moral education or moral development, no one database seems to have captured all peer-reviewed journals that belong in our study. InCites Journal Citation Reports (JCR) was chosen as a recognized source analyzing citation references within 11,000 + indexed journals including “nearly” 250 disciplines. Ulrichs Web is recognized among librarians as the premier periodical indexing system with more than 300,000 periodicals.

  19. 19.

    See especially Keenan (2015).

  20. 20.

    Schools that developed a campus-wide QEP based on ethics include Barry University, Campbellsville University, Carson-Newman College, Eastern Kentucky University, Georgia Military College, Hardin-Simmons University, James Madison University, Marymount University, Oakwood University, St. Philip’s College, Texas Tech University, The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute, Webber International University, William Peace University.

  21. 21.

    See for example, The University of Montana, which introduced the general education requirement, Ethics and Human Values in 1975 and continues through the time of this writing. Thirty courses are listed as providing general education credits in this area including the intriguingly-named literature course, “Placebos: The Power of Words”.

  22. 22.

    See for example Arizona State University (multiple campuses), Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Epic Bible College, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Kennesaw State University, Loma Linda University, New England College of Business and Finance, Northwestern University, Oral Roberts University, Smith College, Utah Valley University, University of Maryland (multiple campuses), Western Michigan University, and Yeshiva University.

  23. 23.

    In some of the 1980 Hastings Center publications, the term used here is “reduce” rather than “resist”.

  24. 24.

    See, for example, the AACU LEAP VALUE rubric for Ethical Reasoning.

  25. 25.

    The study found at 15% of the centers examined were established in the 1970s, 14% in the 1980s, 32% in the 1990s and 39% between 2001 and 2010.

  26. 26.

    See, for example, King and Mayhew (2002) and Coleman et al. (2015).

  27. 27.

    The annual national survey of student engagements (NSSE) examines student self-reports on “items that represent outcomes that characterize interpersonally effective, ethically grounded, socially responsible, and civic minded individuals” (Kuh 2003).

  28. 28.

    See Keenan (2015).

  29. 29.

    See, for example, Englehardt et al. (2010) and Cahn (1992).

References

  • Altman, A. (1993). Liberalism and campus hate speech: A philosophical examination. Ethics, 302.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. (2007). Fair opportunity in education for citizenship. Ethics, 595–622.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. (2017, July 12). Retrieved from Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, http://appe-ethics.org/about/.

  • Association of American Colleges & Universities. (2010, June). Ethical reasoning VALUE Rubric. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from Association of American Colleges & Universities: https://www.aacu.org/ethical-reasoning-value-rubric.

  • Association of American Colleges & Universities. (n.d.). Core commitments: Guiding philosophy. Retrieved November 22, 2016, from https://www.aacu.org/core_commitments.

  • Besvinick, S. L. (1983). Integrity and the future of the university. The Journal of Higher Education, 54(5), 566–573. 10.2307/1981629 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1981629.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Biggs, D. A., & Colesante, R. J. (2015). The moral competence test: An examination of validity for samples in the United States. Journal of Moral Education, 44(4), 498–516.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bok, D. (1976). Can ethics be taught? Change, 8(9), 26–30.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Borrego, A. M. (2004). Ethics bowls exercise students’ moral muscles. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cahn, S. (1992). Morality, responsibility, and the university. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, D. (1980). Goals in the teaching of ethics. In D. Callahan & S. Bok (Eds.), Ethics teaching in higher education (pp. 61–80). New York: Plenum Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, D. (1982). Should there be an academic code of ethics? The Journal of Higher Educaiton, 335–344.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, D., & Bok, S. (1980). Ethics teaching in higher education. New York: Plenum Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Camenisch, P. F. (1986). Goals of applied ethics courses. The Journal of Higher Education, 57(5), 493–509.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, A. L. (1980). Evaluation and the teaching of ethics. In D. Callahan & S. Bok (Eds.), Ethics teaching in higher education (pp. 133–150). New York: Plenum Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Colby, A., Ehrlich, T., Beaumont, E., & Stephens, J. (2003). Educating citizens, preparing America’s undergraduates for lives of moral and civic responsibility. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, P. D., Atkinson, J. K., & Waduge, S. (2015). Should college education play a significant role in teaching students about ethics? Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 12(4), 24–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, P. (2009). History of the Ethics Bowl. In P. Connolly (Ed), Ethics in Action (pp. 505–509). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, T. (2017). Learning from ethicists, Part 2: How ethics is taught at leading institutions in the pacific region. Teaching Ethics, 17(1), 23–91.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Counelis, J. S. (1993). Toward empirical studies on university ethics: A new role for institutional research. The Journal of Higher Education, 64(1), 74–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dartmouth College. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from Institute for the Study of Applied and Professional Ethics: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ethics/about/history.html.

  • Davis, M. (1990). Who can teach workplace ethics. Teaching Philosophy, 13(1), 21–38.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. (1999). Ethics and the University. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, K. L., & Beggs, J. M. (2006). University professors and teaching ethics: Conceptualizations and expectations. Journal of Management Ethics, 30(1), 15–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dey, E., & Associates. (2009, September 30). Civic Responsibility: What is the Campus Climate for Learning? Retrieved from Association of American Colleges & Universities: http://www.aacu.org/publications-research/publications/civic-responsibility-what-campus-climatelearning.

  • Dey, Eric L., & Associates. (2010). Developing a moral compass: What is the campus climate for ethics and academic integrity? Retrieved July 28, 2017, from Association of American Colleges & Universities: https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/core_commitments/moralcompassreport.pdf.

  • Dey, E. L., Antonaros, M., Ott, M. C., Barnhardt, C. L., & Holsapple, M. A. (2009). Developing a moral compass: What is the campus climate for ethics and academic integrity. Association of American Colleges and Universities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dougherty, T. (2015). Yes means yes: Consent as communication. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 43(3), 224–253.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • DuBois, J. M., & Burkemper, J. (2002). Ethics education in U.S. medican schools: A study of syllabi. 77(5), 432–437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebels-Duggan, K. (2015). Autonomy as intellectual virtue. In H. Brighouse & M. McPherson (Eds.), The aims of higher education, problems of morality and justice (pp. 74–90). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Eliot, C. (1869). Inaugural address as the President of Harvard college. Educational reform: Essays and addresses. New York: The Century Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D. (2007). Ethics in the first person: A guide to teaching and learning practical ethics. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Englehardt, E., Pritchard, M., Romesburg, K., & Schrag, B. (2010). The ethical challenges of academic administration. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gert, B. (2005). Morality, it’s nature and justification. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodpaster, K. E. (1982, February). Is teaching ethics ‘making’ or ‘doing’? pp. 37–39.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Harvard University. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2017, from Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics: https://ethics.harvard.edu/.

  • InCites Journal Citation Report. (2017, July 12). Retrieved from Thomson Reuters: https://jcr-incites-thomsonreuters-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/JCRJournalHomeAction.action?SID = A2-Kp3O2cfPLILCHcwAz1zlBX1ZBesgaJM8-18x2dMkPmblR3wFca4tn0JGiq6Ax3Dx3DLU63EqzfAm6YtXtbZIKYfwx3Dx3D-iyiHxxh55B2RtQWBj2LEuawx3Dx3D-1iOubBm4x2FSwJjjKtx2F7lAaQx3Dx3D&Src.

  • James Madison University. (2017). The madison collaborative: Ethical reasoning in action. Retrieved 2017, from http://www.jmu.edu/mc/index.shtml.

  • Keenan, J. F. (2015). University ethics: How colleges can build and benefit from a culture of ethics. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keohane, N. O. (2006). Higher ground: Ethics and leadership in the Modern University. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • King, P., & Mayhew, M. J. (2002). Moral judgment development in higher education: Insights from the defining issues test. Journal of Moral Education, 31(3), 247–270.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. (1981). The philosophy of moral development. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, G. D. (2003). Conceptual framework and overview of psychometric properties. NSSE: Indiana University, NSSE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladenson, R. F. (2001). The educational significance of the ethics bowl. Teaching Ethics, 1(1), 63–78.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, M., & Schaupp, D. (1989). Ethics in education: A comparative study. Journal of Business Ethics, 943–949.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C.-M., & Taylor, M. (2013). Moral education trends over 40 years: A content analysis of the Journal of Moral Education (1971–2011). Journal of Moral Education, 42(4), 399–429.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C.-T., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Nelson, L. J. (2015). A person-centered approach to moral motivations during emerging adulthood: Are all forms of other-orientation adaptive? Journal of Moral Education, 44(1), 51–63.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • London, L., & McCarthy, G. (1998). Teaching medical students on the ethical dimensions of human rights. Journal of Medical Ethics, 257.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Magolda, P., & Abowitz, K. (1997). Communities and tribes in residential living. Teachers College Record, 99(2), 266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matchett, N. (2008). Ethics across the curriculum. New Directions for Higher Education, 25–38.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, M. J., & King, P. (2008). How curricular content and pedagogical strategies affect moral reasoning development in college students. Journal of Moral Education, 37(1), 17–40.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Merrick, A., Green, R. C., & Hester, D. M. (2016). Introducing the medical ethics bowl. Bioethics Education, 141–149.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, T. (2012). The intercollegiate ethics bowl: An active learning experience. Marketing Education Review, 215–224.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Meyhew, M. J. (2012). A multilevel examination of the influence of institutional type on the moral reasoning development of first year students. The Journal of Higher Education, 83(3), 367–388.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mill, J. S. (1863/1991). Utilitarianism. In J. Grey (Ed.), John Stuart Mill, On liberty and other essays. New York City: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, P. (2014). Teaching applied ethics to the righteous mind. Journal of Moral Education, 43(4), 413–428.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Educational Statistics. (2017). Classification of instructional programs (CIP). Retrieved August 23, 2017, from Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/browse.aspx?y=55.

  • Ozar, D. T. (1977). Teaching philosophy and teaching values. Teaching Philosophy, 2(3–4), 237–245.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhoads, R. (1997). In the service of citizenship: A study of student involvement in community service. The Journal of Higher Education, 68(6), 277–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivage-Seul, M. K. (1987). Peace education: Imagination and pedagogy of the oppressed. Harvard Educational Review, 57(2), 153–169.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, P. (1999). A dilemma for critical educators? Journal of Moral Education, 28(1), 19–30.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Safatly, L., Itani, H., El-Jajj, A., & Salem, D. (2017). Ethics centers’ activities and role in promoting ethics in universities. Ethics and Education, 12(2), 153–169.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, C. D., McAdams, C. R., & Foster, V. (2009). Promoting the moral reasoning of undergraduate business students through a deliberate psychological education-based classroom intervention. Journal of Moral Education, 38(3), 315–334.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Scriven, M. (1982). Professorial ethics. The Journal of Higher Education, 307–317.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, G. (1999). Diversity. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 28(2), 85–104.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sloan, D. (1980). The teaching of ethics in the American undergraduate curriculum 1876-1976. In D. Callahan & S. Bok (Eds.), Ethics teaching in higher education (pp. 1–57). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Society for Ethics across the Curriculm. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2017, from Society for Ethics across the Curriculum, http://www.rit.edu/~w-ethics/seac/.

  • Springer Publication. (2017). International Journal of Ethics Education. Retrieved from Springer International Publishing, http://www.springer.com/philosophy/ethics+and+moral+philosophy/journal/40889.

  • Stark, J. S., Lowther, M., Hagerty, B. M., & Orezyk, C. (1986). A conceptual framework for the study of preservice professional programs in colleges and universities. The Journal of Higher Education, 57(3), 00001.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, W. N. (1908). Moral and religious training in the universities and colleges in the United States. Religious Education, 2(6), 201–210.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Steneck, N. H. (1994). Research universities and scientific misconduct. The Journal of Higher Education, 65(3), 310–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Hastings Center. (1980). The teaching of ethics in higher education. Hastings-on Hudson, NY: Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoma, S. J., Bebeau, M. J., & Narvaez, D. (2016). How not to evaluate a psychological measure: Rebuttal to criticism of the defining issues test of moral judgment development by Curzer and colleagues. Theory and Research in Education, 4(2), 241–249.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C. (2006). Unintended lessons: Plagiarism and the University. Teachers College Record, 108(12), 2439–2449.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, C. H., & Jaeger, A. J. (2008). The role of culture in institutional and individual approaches to civic responsibility at research institutions. Journal of Higher Education, 79(2), 160–182.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Tsei, L. (2002). Fostering critical thinking through effective pedagogy. The Journal of Higher Education, 2, 740.

    Google Scholar 

  • UlrichsWeb. (2017, July 12). UlrichsWeb. Retrieved from http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu

  • Utah Valley University. (n.d.). Ethics across the curriculum. Retrieved July 30, 2017, from Center for the Study of Ethics: https://www.uvu.edu/ethics/emphasis/eac/index.html.

  • Whitbeck, C. (1995). Teaching ethics to scientists and engineers: Moral agents and moral problems. Science and Engineering Ethics Journal, 1(3), 299–308.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wilshire, B. (1987). Can the university defend the values upon which it stands? Journal of Higher Education, 58(3), 249–260.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, R. P. (1994). The myth of the neutral university. In R. L. Simon (Ed.), Neutrality and the academic ethic (pp. 103–109). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

By Deni Elliott and Karlana June with thanks for research assistance and feedback from National Ethics Project co-investigators Jess Miner and Anne Newman. This chapter was produced in part from research funded by the Spencer Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Deni Elliott & Karlana June

Authors
  1. Deni Elliott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karlana June
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deni Elliott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Utah Valley University, Provo, Utah, USA

    Elaine E. Englehardt

  2. Western Michigan University (Emeritus), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

    Michael S. Pritchard

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Elliott, D., June, K. (2018). The Evolution of Ethics Education 1980–2015. In: Englehardt, E., Pritchard, M. (eds) Ethics Across the Curriculum—Pedagogical Perspectives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78939-2_2

Download citation

search

Navigation