Ethics Competencies for Instructors in Professional Disciplines
such as Engineering, Architecture,
Accounting, Statistics, Business, Management,
Marketing, Finance, Insurance & Risk
Management, Statistics, the Social Sciences
and others.
What ethics competencies can my students learn by using Noggin’s Brain Processes Map,
and its Introduction to Speaking Ethics Fluently,
a 3 to 5 hour set of online videos and exercises?
Pardon our progress!
Some of the content that exists on this page is still in development.
By using Noggin, students should be able to:
Speak an ethics language based on a research derived brain processes map
Why it is important and how to confidently speak an easily learned and remembered ethics language with concepts and terminology based on Noggin’s brain processes map, and use the language in classroom discussions and assignments
Define what ethics is
Understand and employ the idea that a central function of ethics is to guide behavior so that people can live together in complex societies and pursue their individual and common purposes
Recognize that Ethics Is a Dynamic Process that Allows for Disagreement
Ethics processes and criteria can include different specific content which yields different and even conflicting ethics judgments, as individuals and cultures determine how best to live together. Dialogue and Empathy Are Essential
Identify Ethics Issues and Explain Why an issue is an Ethics Issue
Identify ethics issues in the subject matter they work with, the activities of research and publication, and the staffing and management of the lab or classroom. And understand and be able to explain to others why these issues are ethics issues, and by which processes and criteria they can be resolved. Identify ethics issues by using the Viral News test, gut judgment pattern/emotion triggers, the list of ethics tests, and the advice or examples from crowd engagement as guides when scanning for issues as well as for criteria for resolving them.
Understand Ethics Processes & Criteria
Understand not just what actions are ethical, but also how—the processes, and why—the criteria, for making ethics judgments
Understand and Practice Skills for more effective Ethics Judgment Processes
Trust my Gut
Process—quick/automatic, preconscious
Criteria—pattern/emotion triggers
Skills—recognize I made one, identify pattern/emotion trigger, verify (widen or switch pattern or emotion)
Use my Head
Process—slow/deliberate, conscious
Criteria—ethics tests
Skills— when to use, name test, show why valid, apply, compare, recognize strengths/weaknesses
Apply Viral News test, Religion tests—Christian & Buddhist
Use my Head continued
Apply Everybody test, Choices test, Best Outcomes test
Use my Head continued
Apply Rights test, Justice test, Character/Virtue test, Common Good test
Engage the Crowd
Process—imitate, either preconscious or conscious, or discuss
Criteria—crowd characteristics
Skills—recognize, when to use, distinguish crowd I choose from crowd around me
Be aware of Reaction
Process—quick/automatic preconscious, when criticized or threatened
Criteria—whatever works
Skills—recognize, i.d. trigger, verify justifications, don’t trigger in others
Promote Inclusivity by Resolving Disagreements
Understand and practice resolving ethics disagreements by listening, to identify how and why I and others made conflicting judgments and decided how to act
Be Motivated by Understanding the Ethical Basis for Ethics Code Provisions
Use ethics criteria of pattern/emotion triggers, ethics tests, and the Crowd’s advice & example to be motivated by the ethical basis for the profession’s Ethics Code provisions in addition to compliance reasons
Check Extraneous Influences and Strengths & Weaknesses of Each Judgment Process
Checking for extraneous influences on my judgment and consider each judgment process’s strengths and weaknesses
Decide how to act and Overcome Barriers to Acting Ethically
Understand and practice the processes of Checking my Narrative and Choosing Tactics when deciding to Act ethically
Confirm or Revise Ethics Processes and Criteria
Understand and practice Looking Back at results after acting, to confirm or adjust my processes and criteria for acting ethically in similar future situations
Identify most useful ethics processes and criteria for my Profession
Identify the pattern/emotion triggers, the ethics tests, and the virtues of my crowd and the processes for applying them that are most helpful in the STEM activities of my work or profession to have them ready to use
TO HELP MY STUDENTS AND LAB STAFF TO DEVELOP OR IMPROVE THESE ETHICS COMPETENCIES, NOGGIN OFFERS THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS THAT CAN BE CUSTOMIZED FOR MY SITUATION:
Brief video and text modules that certify individuals as ethics proficient
Training for lab directors and instructors to introduce them to Noggin's features
Annual continuing education on concepts and cases to maintain certification
Web-based/print checklist of terminology, processes, skills, and judgement and action criteria for handy reference
Poster and Power Point of My Brain on Ethics Processes Map
Speaker available for department, college, or university level introduction to Noggin