Students As Teachers:Students As Teachers:A competition to develop Problem Based Learning units for teaching

research ethics

Carol L. Beck, Thomas Jefferson University

carol.beck@jefferson.edu

George H. Watson, University of Delaware

ghw@udel.edu

Introduction

• At the 2003 Annual Meeting, the RDU Constituency Group announced that it would fund pilot programs for two or more chapters to work together.

• With this in mind, the University of Delaware and Thomas Jefferson University chapters decided to develop a proposal.

Objectives

• Involve members of both chapters without significant time involvement

• Highlight strengths of each institution:– Problem Based Learning expertise (UD)– Experiences with successful Student Research Day

(TJU)– Existing relationships between the two schools

• Highlight topics important to the mission of Sigma Xi

The Idea

Involve students at both institutions to write problem-based learning units on topics involving ethics in scientific research. These would be judged and awards given.

UD has expertise in PBL; they would provide training sessions at TJU to insure that UD students did not have an unfair advantage.

“The principal idea behind PBL is that the starting point for learning should be a problem, a query, or a puzzle that the learner wishes to solve.”Boud (1985)

What is Problem-Based Learning?

PBL is a learning approach thatchallenges students to “learn to learn,”working cooperatively in groups,to seek solutions to real world problems.

What is Problem-Based Learning?

PBL prepares studentsto think critically and analytically,to find and use appropriate learning resources,to communicate effectively, orally and in

writing,to work well as members of a team.

What is Problem-Based Learning?

What are the CommonFeatures of PBL?

Learning is initiated by a problem.

Problems are based on complex, real-world situations.

All information needed to solve problem is not initially given.

Students identify, find, and use appropriate resources.

Students work in permanent groups.

Problem-Based Learning Cycle

Overview/Assessment Problem, Project,

or Assignment

Group Discussion

Research

Group Discussion

Preparation of Group “Product”

Whole Class Discussion

Mini-lecture(only when needed!)

A Typical Day in a PBL Course

Why use PBL to teach about ethics in science?

Ethics can be more effectively taught with case-study approaches that encourage interaction.

By working as a group, students can explore the different opinions and conclusions of their peers in a non-threatening environment.

As in society, complex issues are best considered by the community and not isolated individuals.

Timeline• Dec-Jan: Brainstorm/

draft proposal• Feb: Submit proposal• Spring: Finalize details

for program; Publicize to students at UD; Put info on UD Sigma Xi webpage; Plan summer workshops for TJU

• June: Publicize to TJU students

• July: Workshops at TJU• Aug. 15: Deadline for

submissions• Fall: Judging of

submissions• Aug: Start arrangements

for awards dinner• Sept-Oct: Publicize

awards dinner• Oct. 13: Awards Dinner

Category Awards

Life Sciences: UndergraduatePatent issues: a look at the industrial-academic interface. Liang-I Kang, University of Delaware

Life Sciences: GraduateEthical considerations on the use of vaccines. Lisa Ambrose and Josephine Fox, Thomas Jefferson University

Physical Sciences: GraduateDevelopment of an optimum policy for regulating industrial-environmental interactions. Erik S. Welf, University of Delaware

Things that worked

• We were able to get cost sharing from each university in addition to the Sigma Xi funds.

• We publicized the PBL workshops to both faculty AND students. We had greater attendance from faculty!

• We had help from the TJU Faculty Development office for the workshop arrangements.

• The quality of submissions was high (although small in number).

• A new faculty member in Bioethics at UD agreed to give the talk at the Awards Dinner.

Things that worked (contd.)

• We used our funds for awards and to heavily subsidize the dinner. Officers and award winners were guests. Student tickets were $5; faculty or other tickets were $10.

• The TJU chapter decided to invite new student members as guests. We presented their certificates along with information about Sigma Xi. Several brought their spouses.

• The “Why Sigma Xi” brochures plus give-away calendars and pens from TJU were at each seat.

Plans for future years

• We would like to increase the number of student participants.

• If we had more submissions, we could involve Sigma Xi members in judging, possibly including those from industrial and government chapters in the region.

• With careful use of our funds, we have some funds to use as seed money for future years.

Plans for future years

• The awards dinners will alternate between the University of Delaware and Thomas Jefferson University.

• We would like to identify courses in which the winning PBL exercises could be “field tested”. We had planned to submit winning entries for the PBL database, but most entries in the database have been used in courses prior to submitting to the database.

Questions? Discussion

Carol L. Beck, Thomas Jefferson Universitycarol.beck@jefferson.edu

George H. Watson, University of Delawareghw@udel.edu

The financial support of the RDU constituency group of Sigma Xi is gratefully acknowledged.