Methods to assess the teaching of bioethics

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Methods to assess the teaching of bioethics

• Fumi Maekawa Darryl Macer

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Some questions of bioethics education

• Does education actually work?
• What impact does education have on the minds of
  the receivers, and providers?
• When is the best time?
• "What is the preferable way to teach bioethics?

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Method

• In order to examine these questions, long-term
  analysis of the homework and comments that
  students gave in all the bioethics classes, since
  1990, in the University of Tsukuba has been
  conducted.

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Classes include

• 1) Required classes among third year biology
  students of thirty lectures, once every week.
  Usually three times a term, students are asked to
  write a report on some topic in genetics,
  bioethics and biology. This class started in
  1990, and at periods it was among second year
  students.
• 2) Optional classes open mainly to undergraduate
  students, of ten lectures. One is called
  Bioethics, and the second, Bioethics and Genes.
  About half the students in the biology program
  take these courses. Every year there are a few
  non-biology students who choose to take this
  lecture.
• 3) Graduate courses in environmental ethics and
  bioethics, of 10 lectures, each lecture being 3
  hours. Environmental Science students mainly
  take this course, but it is open to others.

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Development of analytical methods

• Sort the photocopies of all homework.
• The coding for each report is year, class, and
  report number. For example, 00BG2 will be a
  Bioethics and Genes class, second report in the
  year 2000.
• Compare common ideas and thoughts expressed in
  student reports
• Personal moral development
• Thematic comparisons
• Compare reports with the teaching materials and
  method used.

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Results

• Total number of undergraduate reports
• Scientific English 2055
• Bioethics 584
• Bioethics and Genes 463

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Coding system

• The following evaluation criteria allow primary
  analysis of each report.
• BV Both sides of view
• PO Personal vs. other persons view
• SF Scientific facts mentioned or not
• EB Environment biocentric ideas
• UV Utilitarian views
• R Rights
• PK Specific bioethics principles and keywords
• NI Number of different ideas in one report

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Example comments

• "Animals are life as we are. I think all life
  should be allowed to live. So I think that they
  have a right to live. " (R)
• " I thought my knowing was worth dissecting
  without consciousness. " (UV)
• " We have legal rights which shield us from
  unjust things. Instead of it, we have to fulfill
  duties. " (PK)

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Example comments

• " I dont agree to give animals legal rights.
  But I think that we should not kill animals
  uselessly (BV) and it is important we protect the
  environment. " (EB)
• " All cells of transgenic animals have injected
  genes. Injected genes can be expressed in
  specific tissues with proper promoters. " (SF)
• " If I were used in such an experiment with no
  pain, how would I feel? " (PO)

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Example of one report

• "We can make an animal that feels no pain, and we
  use it for experiments. We can suffer pain as
  the same of all animals. Because of knowing
  self-pain, we can understand how much animals
  feel pain. (MI1) And we are uncomfortable seeing
  animals that feel pain.
• Is it right that we use animals that feel no
  pain? I think painless animals are the same as
  dead animals. When we make animals painless, we
  kill the animals. (MI2) Animals that feel no pain
  are not living things. I think of the mistake
  that we may use this animal or experiment when
  animals dont feel pain.
• How much does it matter when I dont feel pain?
  I would not understand suffering disease. I
  would not understand injury. I would not
  understand death. I hate that we think we may
  use this animal if this animal feels no pain.
  (MI3) I consider that we must recognize the use
  of killed animals when we use animals that feel
  no pain. I think hypocrites use animals that
  feel no pain. "

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Bioethical Maturity

• A person, or a society that can balance the
  benefits and risks of alternative options, and
  make well-considered decisions.

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Individual analysis results example
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Thematic comparisons

• Reports with similar themes are analyzed to
  investigate opinion changes through time, and
  with teaching materials and methods.

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Common themes over the decade

• GM foods
• When is it ethical to do prenatal diagnosis?
• Personal views on predictive genetic testing
• Animal rights and experiments
• Gene therapy
• Surrogacy and assisted reproduction
• Scientific responsibility
• AIDS
• Organ transplants and brain death
• Patenting of biotechnology

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Topic No. Rep BV PO SF EB UV R PK NI
97B1 11 6 3 6 4 6 3 4 6.5
97B2 11 6 7 0 0 8 3 4 6.5
97B3 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 9.7
97BG1 8 7 4 3 8 4 1 0 7.4
97BG2 9 7 6 3 1 6 3 5 6.8
97BG3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 6
98E1 12 8 8 3 1 12 1 3 6.6
98E2 9 3 2 4 1 4 1 0 5.1
98E3 12 12 9 2 6 11 3 3 6.7
98E4 8 7 5 0 0 7 1 2 7.1
98E5 11 2 5 2 5 3 0 1 5.9
98E6 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 8
98E7 5 4 3 3 1 3 1 0 6.8
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Animal rights and experiments Report titles

• 01E4 My attitude to animal rights (N27)
• 01B1 My views on animal rights (N11)
• 00E4 We should do animal experiments. Yes or No
  (N25)
• 00B1 What is our responsibility to a 20 year old
  chimpanzee raised in captivity? (N22)
• 99E1 What are the similarities and differences
  between humans and Chimpanzees? (N32)
• 99E3 Should we use pigs and other animals as
  organ donors? (N27)
• 98E4 Should we research on live higher primates
  if they have a risk to die? (N38)

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Animal rights and experiments Report
titles(continued)

• 95E7 What are the ethical concerns about doing
  an experiment on a cat that feels no
  pain? (N29)
• 93B3 Animal rights (N4)
• 92E9 Ethical scores for animal experiments
  (N10)
• 92B1 Is it OK to breed and farm a fast growing
  pig made by genetic engineering? (N20)
• 91E5 How do you feel about growing animals as
  bioreactors? (N20)
• 91Q4 Do you think science should be able to
  freely examine anything, and use any living
  organism as an experimental material? (N10)

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Both sides of view expressed (BV)

• 1991 13/20 (65)
• 1995 23/29 (79)
• 2000 21/25 (84)
• 2001 26/27 (96)

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Rights mentioned (R)

• 1991 3/20 (15)
• 1995 10/29 (34)
• 2000 9/25 (36)
• 2001 24/27 (89)

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Average number of ideas (NI)

• 1991 4.95 range 3-7
• 1995 4.21 range 3-6
• 2000 5.20range 2-10
• 2001 5.96 range 4-9

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Possible reasons for the trends

• Title of report
• Wording of the title seems to shift students
  reasoning and expression
• Handout and content of classes
• Still needs investigation, though expected to
  influence students more than the report title as
  a direct source of information. (search for
  similar ideas and wordings)

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Conclusions

• Qualitative analysis of keywords and ideas is
  more informative of human moral development than
  mere statistics
• Multiple factors affect the students expression
  which may not be isolated and evaluated
  dogmatically