Project Overview: Based upon the Ethical Decision Making (EDM) framework used in this course the student will reflect in a critical manner upon their personal ethics, and their EDM skills in both their personal and professional lives. This will include; the assessment of one`s moral awareness, the identification and critical assessment of theories, concepts and principles which are often used to formulate ethically defensible judgments, and lastly students will gain an understanding of the factors which can contribute to the gap between intending to do the right thing and actually doing what is right.
Overall Aim: The primary objective is for students to learn more about their moral compass, identifying their core values and recognizing how these are incorporated into their ethical decision making skills. Thereby allowing students to make better decisions about what is right and wrong and to effectively argue these decisions.
Learning Outcomes (from the CRS):
1. Examine the nature and philosophical origins of ethics and ethical theories in enough detail to provide a conceptual foundation for discussing their applications.
2. Demonstrate the ability to think critically about ethical issues.
3. Communicate and discuss moral philosophy in a critical way especially in a cross-cultural context.
5. Reflect critically about personal beliefs and values.
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Organisation & Methodology:
Using the EDM stages as outlined in the course, the student will reflect on these stages and record elements of this reflection such as, their personal learning, dilemmas, and questions both answered and unanswered as the course progresses. The stages used in the course are introduced in class and guidelines given that correspond with the grading criteria.
The stages are identified as:
Stage 1 Moral Awareness( NEED ONE EXAMPLE DISSCUSED IN CLASS)
Critically assess your moral awareness.
• Identification of factors which block or have the potential to block the recognition of ethical issues in both your personal and professional life.
• What will you do or can you do in the future to help you better recognize these issues?
Stage 2 Alternatives and Judgements (total report= A minimum of 5 issues with at least 2 of these issues being those from the group presentations. in this section a minimum of 4 issues from class and 2 being from group presentations
• Based on the theories studied in the course critically evaluate the usefulness of these theories
in your personal EDM process. i.e. Are there certain theories or concepts which are more applicable to specific types of issues, what principles are not very helpful and why, which principles match best with your own moral philosophy.
Stage 3 Decision and Action (NEED ONE EXMAPLE IN THE GROUP PRESENTATION)
• Recognize possible actions, and the reasoning used to decide which action is best.
• Understand why the best decision is often made however not necessarily acted upon.
Stage 4 Reflection (NEED ONE EXAMPLE DISSCUSSED IN CLASS)
• Identify the value of reflection in the process of developing sound ethical decision making skills.
• Ethical Issues discussed in the course are to be referred to in this report.
1. Group presentations (Surrogacy, Guns right, homosexual rights, dark tourism, legalization of prostitution, legalization of marijuana, refugees, Gay rights, Hunting)
2. Issues discussed in class (Abortion, bribe, animal testing, Death penalty, aids medicine)
3. Theories that studied in the class (egoism, golden rule, utilitarianism, Kant’s moral theory, natural law, human rights, relativism)
4. Better to include the virtue ethic in the report
Format
This reflective report is to be presented in a word document and is to include the following:
• 2,000 words, + or – 10%
• Title page containing project name, title, student name and ID number, class number, course name, instructor name, submission date and number of words.
• The report itself is to contain numbered sections and sub sections; Introduction, Main body with sub sections corresponding with the stages as outlined above and conclusion.
• Appendices to be included as necessary.
• Correct APA in text citations and referencing is to be used.
• Page numbers are to be used in the bottom right hand corner, Arial font size 12 and double spacing.
• Hand in on due date by 15:00 both hard copy to academic reception with correct cover page and soft copy uploaded through Turnitin via Moodle. For late submissions and submissions which are not consistent between hard copy and soft copy a grade of Zero will apply.
Resources Available:
As per CRS; course text and recommended library texts, as well as the websites, and articles used in class and project tutorials and in class debates.
Tasks & Weighting:
This individual assessment is valued at 50% of the overall course grade.
TASKS Weight
% Grade
out of 100
I IINTRODUCTION
Provides a concise overview of the paper, purpose, process, findings and conclusions made.
10%
II MAIN BODY
Stage 1 Moral Awareness – self- assessment of moral awareness in a critical fashion.
• Identification of factors which block or have the potential to block the recognition of ethical issues in both the author`s personal and professional life.
• Recognition of what the author does or can do in the future to improve recognition these issues?
• Reference is made to ethical issues discussed in class or the process of determining the ethical issue for the group project. 15%
Stage 2 Alternatives and Judgements
• Based on the theories studied in the course a critical evaluation of the usefulness of these theories in the author`s EDM process. i.e. Are there certain theories or concepts which are more applicable to specific types of issues, what principles are not very helpful and why, which principles match best with one`s own moral philosophy.
• Reference is made to the ethical issues discussed in class with a minimum of 4 and 2 of the 4 issues being those discussed in the group presentations.
30%
Stage 3 Decisions and Action
• Recognizes possible actions, and the reasoning used to decide which action is best.
• From a personal viewpoint understand why the best decision is often made however not necessarily acted upon.
• Reference is made to the ethical issues discussed in class. 20%
III CONCLUSION
Stage 4 Reflection
• Critically evaluates the value of reflection in the process of developing sound ethical decision making skills.
• Reference is made to ethical issues discussed in class as well as this reflective report. 15%
IV REPORT PRESENTATION overall presentation to include:
? A clear and logical structure
? Coherently expressed
? Transitioning between sections
? Correct in-text citations and referencing and use of Appendix
? Meets specified word count 10%
Total Grade 100%
Note: Ethical Issues discussed in the course are to be referred to in this report. In total a minimum of 5 issues with at least 2 of these issues being those from the group presentations. (These numbers refer to the entire report and only in stage 2 of this assessment is there a minimum requirement for the stage)
Common Skills developed/Assessed:
Underlined common skills are being assessed and those in italics are being developed.
MANAGING AND DEVELOPING SELF 1.Manages own role and responsibilities 2. Manages own time in achieving objectives.
3.Undertakes personal and career development 4. Transfers skills gained to new and changing situations and contexts. 5.Uses a range of thought processes
WORKING WITH AND RELATING TO OTHERS 6.Treats others’ values, beliefs and opinions with respect 7.Relates to and interacts objectively with individuals and groups 8.Works effectively as a member of a team
COMMUNICATING 9.Receives and responds to a variety of information 10.Presents information in a variety of visual forms 11.Communicates in writing 12.Participates in oral and non-verbal communication
MANAGING TASKS AND SOLVING PROBLEMS 13. Uses information sources 14. Deals with a combination of routine and non-routine tasks 15.Identifies and solves routine and non-routine problems
APPLYING NUMERACY
AND TECHNOLOGY 17.Uses a range of technological equipment and systems
Special Instructions:
Please refer to the course SOW for the recommended pace of progression for this project. There will be numerous project workshops held in tandem with the presentation of relevant course material. The project is extremely manageable when weekly targets are met.
DRAFT DOCUMENTS (if you are authorized to use the drafting function)
You are allowed to upload as many drafts as you feel necessary before the final due date, as long as you leave a 24 hour gap between each upload to allow Turnitin to review the report.
It is your responsibility to check your own Originality Report and to ensure that you have removed any possible elements of plagiarism or bad practice (please refer to your APA pocket guide on how to reference correctly).
FINAL DOCUMENTS
• You are required to submit a hard copy of your work to the Academic Office (or other designated location stated on the Project Outline) by the stated deadline. Late work will not be accepted, and you may receive zero for your work.
