Application of a Sensemaking Approach to Ethics Training in the Physical Sciences and Engineering

Abstract

Integrity is a critical determinant of the effectiveness of research organizations in terms of producing high quality research and educating the new generation of scientists. A number of responsible conduct of research (RCR) training programs have been developed to address this growing organizational concern. However, in spite of a significant body of research in ethics training, it is still unknown which approach has the highest potential to enhance researchers' integrity. One of the approaches showing some promise in improving researchers' integrity has focused on the development of ethical decision-making skills. The current effort proposes a novel curriculum that focuses on broad metacognitive reasoning strategies researchers use when making sense of day-to-day social and professional practices that have ethical implications for the physical sciences and engineering. This sensemaking training has been implemented in a professional sample of scientists conducting research in electrical engineering, atmospheric and computer sciences at a large multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary, and multi-university research center. A pre-post design was used to assess training effectiveness using scenario-based ethical decision-making measures. The training resulted in enhanced ethical decision-making of researchers in relation to four ethical conduct areas, namely data management, study conduct, professional practices, and business practices. In addition, sensemaking training led to researchers' preference for decisions involving the application of the broad metacognitive reasoning strategies. Individual trainee and training characteristics were used to explain the study findings. Broad implications of the findings for ethics training development, implementation, and evaluation in the sciences are discussed.

A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Business Ethics Instruction

“…Given a lack of standardization for these ''codes,'' we included general frameworks of ethical rules or principles in the present study. Second, evidence from other domains of instruction has shown that educating individuals on problems, and methods to work through or resolve these problems (i.e., strategies), has been effective (Kligyte et al, 2008;Mumford et al, 2008;Scott et al, 2004). Thus, we sought to examine if and how instructional programs built around typical problems in ethical decision-making and general strategies for working through ethical problems would moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction.…”

Mental Models: An Alternative Evaluation of a Sensemaking Approach to Ethics Instruction

“…The original RCR training curriculum was adapted for professionals specializing in the physical sciences and engineering by emphasizing the interactive nature of the intervention through the combination of lecture, discussion, and experiential exercises [45]. The training consisted of ten modules primarily focused on discussing the complexity of ethical decision-making and the limitations of a rulebased approach in highly complex and ambiguous ethical situations; common reasoning errors in decision-making (e.g., personal biases); and metacognitive reasoning strategies that help address typical reasoning errors [45].…”

“…The training consisted of ten modules primarily focused on discussing the complexity of ethical decision-making and the limitations of a rulebased approach in highly complex and ambiguous ethical situations; common reasoning errors in decision-making (e.g., personal biases); and metacognitive reasoning strategies that help address typical reasoning errors [45]. For a more detailed description of the RCR training content see Kligyte et al [45].…”

“…However, the most notable intervention has been the use of ethics education, also known as Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training [8,51,62]. Two frameworks are most widely utilized in the development of ethics education training-those with a focus on moral reasoning development [46,57] and those that focus on cognitive processes (i.e., sensemaking) underlying ethical decisionmaking [45,53]. The present study will evaluate the sensemaking approach to training.…”

“…Researchers suggest that differences in cognition result in the generation and application of different mental models [26,50,68]. To this end, a training program targeted at enhancing ethical decision-making through engagement in sensemaking, and metacognitive reasoning strategies in particular, was developed and tested across the sciences [45,53]. The assessment (i.e., learning gains) of this sensemaking ethics training program with regards to immediate knowledge acquisition and retention has been fruitful in terms of providing validation evidence for the program [45,53].…”