Moral Reasoning of Education Students: The Effects of Direct Instruction in Moral Development Theory and Participation in Moral Dilemma Discussion (original) (raw)
Moral reasoning development and graduate education
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1983
The Defining issues Test (DIT) of moral reasoning development was administered to 20 advanced and 20 first-year groduate students, plus 40 college graduates matched to the graduate groups on sex, age, and verbal ability. A two-way ANOVA design was used to infer whether groduate education, selection, maturation, or a combination of these effects is (are) associated with group differences on the DIT. Results suggest thot differences found between the graduate students and college graduotes can be accounted for by a combination of moturational and selection effects, contrary to the hypothesized effects of formal education.
Developing and Assessing Undergraduate Students’ Moral Reasoning Skills
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2007
What does deep ethical understanding look like and how can we measure the progression of this aptitude?" Qualitative and quantitative data collected from students in Contemporary Moral Problems courses over two successive semesters revealed that the development of moral reasoning skills is a slow process. The progression of moral reasoning does not occur in a linear fashion nor is there a point at which a person will have satisfied all of the necessary and sufficient conditions for good moral reasoning. Student artifacts collected present moral reasoning skills as more of an ebb and flow, a type of coherence model with ongoing adjustment of one's beliefs, moral principles, values, and factual information.
Moral Education Through the Fostering of Reasoning Skills
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice
The development of reasoning skills is often regarded as a central goal of ethics and philosophy classes in school education. In light of recent studies from the field of moral psychology, however, it could be objected that the promotion of such skills might fail to meet another important objective, namely the moral education of students. In this paper, I will argue against such pessimism by suggesting that the fostering of reasoning skills can still contribute to the aims of moral education. To do so, I will engage with the concept of moral education, point out different ways in which reasoning skills play an essential role in it, and support these considerations by appealing to further empirical studies. My conclusion will be that the promotion of ethical reasoning skills fulfils two important aims of moral education: First, it enables students to critically reflect on their ethical beliefs. Second, it allows them to explore ethical questions in a joint conversation with others. L...
Moral Reasoning Among Croatian Students of Different Academic Orientations
European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2017
Previous studies demonstrated that different academic contexts could have different effects on moral development, i.e. in most cases formal education enhances moral reasoning, but sometime erodes it (for example for medical students). The aim of this study was to examine differences in moral reasoning among students of different academic disciplines (health care, law, social sciences and humanities). In research participated 386 students (Mage=23,12): 154 law students, 55 nursing students, 123 other social sciences students, a 53 humanities students. Participants took Test of Moral Reasoning (TMR) (Proroković, 2016) which measures index of moral reasoning (in range from 0 to 1), and idealistic orientations (humanistic and conservative). The results showed that there was no difference in the moral reasoning index among students of different academic orientations. Furthermore, students of different academic disciplines differed in the humanistic orientation in a way that students of social studies were more humanistically oriented than law students. Some of the possible explanations for the lack of differences with regard to academic orientations is that overall stimulating environment that college provides is perhaps more important for moral reasoning development than specific academic contexts. Findings of this study are consistent with the findings of some of the previous studies.
INNOVATIONS in pharmacy
Research indicates that appropriately designed educational interventions may impact positively on moral reasoning competencies development (MRCD) as measured by a psychometric measure known as the Defining Issues Test (DIT). However, findings include that educational interventions intended to impact on MRCD do not consistently promote measurable pre-post development. This paper reviews the theoretical background to the use of educational interventions to impact on MRCD, and spotlights how underpinning Neo-Kohlbergian theory might inform the design of an intervention in order to optimise impact on MRCD. Findings indicate that peer debate - regarding ethical concepts in profession-specific dilemma scenarios, what action(s) might be taken and how ‘less than ideal’ action options might be justified - is essential. Five examples of an adapted format of ‘Neo-Kohlbergian’ profession-specific ‘intermediate concept measures’ (ICMs) are included and were integrated into a 16 week blended lear...
ARECLS e-journal, 2021
The study was conducted as part of the Doctorate of Education programme at Newcastle University in 2018 and forms the first phase of a cycle within Design Based Research. The author conducts a small study to test a hypothesis based on literature in the field of moral decision-making with a view to refining the process within larger cycles of empirical investigation. Beginning with the two competing theories of moral decision-making (Greene, 2013; Haidt, 2012) the author develops an intervention to test one of the emotional and cognitive processes involved. The results indicate the author's hypothesis is incorrect. While the author initially believed that the 'head' could inform and override the 'heart' in moral decision-making, the results and consequent discussion highlights the need for further research as the role of emotion seems more complex than originally anticipated.
Research in Higher Education, 2014
The purpose of this paper was to examine differences between undergraduate students who had multiple exposures to an assessment of moral reasoning development (DIT-2) and students of the same cohort who had fewer exposures to the same assessment. Controlling for a host of individual covariates, the analysis determined that students who took the DIT-2 three times scored significantly higher than those who took this measure only twice. Effects were similar for two additional cohorts of students. Implications are discussed. Keywords Quantitative Á Moral reasoning Á Undergraduate students Á Measurement With recent indictments levied against colleges and universities concerning their economic value (e.g., Bennett and Wilezol 2013), it has become important for researchers to examine college and its impact on student learning. Part of this examination process involves scrutinizing the learning purported to take place on college campuses and the mechanisms researchers use for its assessment. In this increasingly hostile era of accountability, college impact researchers are challenging assessment norms, including how learning is measured empirically and the extent to which measurements themselves may influence the learning process. With criticisms ranging from student self-reports of learning gains (
Moral Judgement Development in Higher Education: Insights from the Defining Issues Test
Journal of Moral Education, 2002
This article reviews 172 studies that used the De ning Issues Test to investigate the moral development of undergraduate college students and provides an organisational framework for analysing educational contexts in higher education. These studies addressed collegiate outcomes related to character or civic outcomes, selected aspects of students' collegiate experiences related to moral judgement development and changes in moral reasoning during the college years as they related to changes in other domains of development. Findings suggest that dramatic gains in moral judgement are associated with collegiate participation, even after controlling for age and entering level of moral judgement. Although many studies used gross indicators of collegiate context (e.g. institutional type or academic discipline), studies that examine speci c collegiate characteristics and educational experiences are better suited to identifying factors that contribute directly or indirectly to changes in moral judgement during the college years. Implications for student development practice and future research are discussed.