Interesting ways to teach ethics in research?

[SeaSquirt]

I have to give a lecture on ethics in research. I plan on discussing the history of ethics and how it evolved, but how can I get the class involved and interested?

Someone online recommended showing the first 10 minutes of Ghostbusters because Dr. Vickmann breaks every ethical code - trying to get a subject into bed, lying, mistreating people... I don't think having students watch 10 whole minutes of a movie is a good idea, though. It becomes less about the content and more about watching a movie.

A movie clip should be 5 minutes long at the most, be rich in examples, and allow for discussion afterwards. The Stanford Prison Experiment is shown in just about every Psychology and Sociology course, as well as Milgram's shock experiment.

Any ideas here? Is there a creative activity I can use to get the class involved that doesn't use a movie clip?

If anyone had a professor do something creative and memorable, please let me know.

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[RileyG]

I had a professor who split the class into small groups and gave each group a short (1/2 - 1 page) description of a study and each group acted as the IRB to weigh the ethical issues of each study and decide whether or not to approve it. Then each group would present their rationale to the class. It was especially cool since he used real studies and after each group gave their decision for the study they were given, he was able to explain what the real IRB decided and why.

 

[SeaSquirt]

Thanks so much - that's a great idea!

 

[myelin]

I second the Milgram and Zimbardo studies. Another good one is Watson's study with "little albert." I like Riley's idea.

 

[psybee]

I second the Milgram and Zimbardo studies. Another good one is Watson's study with "little albert." I like Riley's idea.

although it's not psych, the tuskeegee experiment is a very powerful example the need for ethics-- maybe that followed by something more in the grey area, like zimbardo or milgram.

 

[Ollie123]

I guess it depends what you want to do with the class.

I personally don't find it beneficial to spend much class time going over something as blatant as tuskegee. Obviously its important to know about, but its something people can read on their own. Milgram and Stanford prisoner....I think every Psych 101 professor covers this. Its okay to mention them, but don't dwell on those studies.

Personally, I'd rather spend time on something more borderline, like the sort of thing Riley suggested. Something that would "not quite" or "just barely" make it through an IRB today. Maybe a class activity where they get 3-4 protocols and have to decide what would/would not make it through an IRB, and how they could change it so it would.

 

[WannaBeDrMe]

I agree w/Ollie. Perhaps your first example could be as obvious as the big ones, but to develop their ability to evaluate, I think you need to toss in a bunch of unclear protocols. Like Ollie said, maybe even room for them to create their own alternative fixes to make things straight. So, basically, I just ditto what Ollie said up there. Good luck.

 

[Cosmo75]

I teach research methods so I've had to cover ethics quite a bit. Here are some things I've done:

- Basically what Riley said is a great one to use. There are plenty of questionable studies you can use.

- There are samples of vignettes on the web to use also. Just google "research ethics examples".

- I talked about Milgram but in the context of a recent replication of the study. Here's a link for that: http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/the-milgram-experiment-today/

- The XYY controversy is good to discuss genetics/nature vs. nurture research