This study examines variation in moral judgment level as measured by the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2; J. R. Rest & D. Narvaez, 1998), based on individual demographic information and educational contexts. Individual DIT-2 scores and demographic information were obtained from the archived data sets housed at the Center for the Study of Ethical Development. The information on educational contexts was obtained by surveying the researchers who initially gathered the data. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze DIT-2 data from 7,642 individuals and 65 institutions. Findings indicate that average DIT-2 scores vary significantly among institutions. Further, the authors found that the strength of the relation of DIT-2 scores to gender and English language status is significant and consistent across contexts, whereas the strength of the relation to educational level and political identity varies across contexts. These findings indicate that information about the individuals' educational context as well as the broader regional contexts should be taken into account to understand variation in individual levels of moral judgment. The findings can also be used as an interpretive guide for DIT-2 users.

Objective. To investigate whether a profession-specific educational intervention affected the development of moral reasoning competencies in community pharmacists, as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT2). Methods. This research used a repeated measures pre-post educational intervention design as a quasirandomized, controlled, crossover study to evaluate changes in the moral reasoning scores of 27 volunteer community pharmacists in Ireland. Results. Changes in pharmacists' moral reasoning competencies development, as reported by P-Scores and N2-Scores, were found to be significant. In addition, interaction effects were observed between developmental scores on the DIT2 and whether participants were determined to be consolidated in their reasoning pre-and post-engagement with the educational intervention. Conclusion. Short profession-specific educational interventions have the potential to positively affect the development of moral reasoning competencies of community pharmacists.

Workshop analysis of scenarios or vignettes has traditionally been used to develop and demonstrate the moral reasoning underpinning professional decisions. However, in order to facilitate sufficiently individualized interaction to accommodate the assessment of student competencies related to decision-making through scenarios, such workshops are traditionally used with small groups. There are associated resource implications for the scheduling of sessions and implications for tutor time where large cohorts of students are targeted. In addition, the requirement that students be face-to-face is problematic when students are in practice placements that are geographically removed. This paper demonstrates how technology and an assessment tool, known as an-intermediate concept measure‖ (ICM), might help address these limitations. It introduces the background to ICMs and presents the ICM as a tool that has potential to support professional education. It also shares learning experienced by one pharmacist using ICMs in pharmacy education, provides an example of how a profession-specific ICM might be formatted, suggests how the methodology might be used in undergraduate and postgraduate education and provides samples of measurables that may be incorporated into evaluation and assessment systems; both for educational interventions delivered face-to-face or partly or entirely online. The limitations of the methodologies and suggestions for further research are included.

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