Ethical Problem Solving Research Articles

Collaboration and Consultation in Ethical Problem-Solving

Collaboration and Consultation in Ethical Problem-Solving

EduSEL-R – the refined educators’ social-emotional learning questionnaire: expanded scope and improved validity

ABSTRACT Educators’ Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is crucial for fostering positive, supportive, and effective learning environments. This study seeks to improve SEL assessment among educators by addressing limitations of the previous EduSEL questionnaire. Study 1 established convergent validity by comparing EduSEL with a validated SEL questionnaire. Study 2 focused on expanding the scope of the assessment, by adding new items. In Study 3, exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor structure comprising self-management, ethical problem solving, self and social awareness and relationship skills. In Study 4, the five most robust items from each subscale (20 items) were assessed in confirmatory factor analysis, yielding good model fit indices for the four-factor structure, high reliability (α = .92) and adequate convergent validity. To summarise, the EduSEL-R questionnaire exhibits closer alignment with the CASEL framework and encompasses additional SEL competencies. Thus, the current study contributes to the advancement of a comprehensive SEL assessment.

Correction: Crossing the principle–practice gap in AI ethics with ethical problem-solving

Correction: Crossing the principle–practice gap in AI ethics with ethical problem-solving

Crossing the principle–practice gap in AI ethics with ethical problem-solving

AbstractThe past years have presented a surge in (AI) development, fueled by breakthroughs in deep learning, increased computational power, and substantial investments in the field. Given the generative capabilities of more recent AI systems, the era of large-scale AI models has transformed various domains that intersect our daily lives. However, this progress raises concerns about the balance between technological advancement, ethical considerations, safety measures, and financial interests. Moreover, using such systems in sensitive areas amplifies our general ethical awareness, prompting a re-emergence of debates on governance, regulation, and human values. However, amidst this landscape, how to bridge the principle–practice gap separating ethical discourse from the technical side of AI development remains an open problem. In response to this challenge, the present work proposes a framework to help shorten this gap: ethical problem-solving (EPS). EPS is a methodology promoting responsible, human-centric, and value-oriented AI development. The framework’s core resides in translating principles into practical implementations using impact assessment surveys and a differential recommendation methodology. We utilize EPS as a blueprint to propose the implementation of an Ethics as a Service Platform, currently available as a simple demonstration. We released all framework components openly and with a permissive license, hoping the community would adopt and extend our efforts into other contexts. Available in the following URL https://nkluge-correa.github.io/ethical-problem-solving/.

Reconsidering the Meaning of ‘Visual Literacy’ in the Age of AI : Applications to Liberal Arts Education and Possible Extensions

Literacy is an important driving force when it comes to attaining a critical eye for the real world, as well as for analyzing problems in the past and making predictions for the future. Since literacy is evolving in a new paradigm for human lifestyles and abilities, in no small part thanks to the rapid development of AI(Artificial Intelligence) and robot technology, this study begins with a review of the change in the meaning of literacy. Next, we consider the meaning of ‘visual literacy’, in an era when AI reads and analyzes information such as images and texts, as well as visual recognition, voice recognition, and decision-making through algorithms, and creates art in a new way. The ultimate purpose of this study is to argue for the need to change the meaning of ‘visual literacy’ as a driving force for visual communication based on imagination in terms of technological utilization, critical thinking, and ethical social problem solving. Therefore, the content of this study emphasizes both a utopian and dystopian aesthetic vision, as well as critical thinking, in terms of potential and expandability of AI, rethinking the meaning of ‘visual literacy’ at the ethical level with human autonomous judgment and a sense of responsibility. The results of this study demonstrate the need for us to apply ‘visual literacy’ in a way that combines imagination and critical thinking, as well as our need to develop a new way of visual cognition necessary for the acquisition and use of digital technology in terms of the role of liberal arts education in universities. Through this study, I argue that the application of ‘visual literacy’ to foster democratic citizenship qualities can help us expand new possibilities for the role of liberal arts education in the era of AI by giving us the authority to understand and utilize digital media based on imagination for image and text information processing technology and visual communication.

(ECO)Ethical Issues in Organizations Including Healthcare Facilities

Abstract Ethics issues are present in the daily life of every human being. This paper presents an overview of difficult, yet everyday ethics dilemmas, and general rules and tools helping in making ethical choices. These tools are: distinguishing facts from values, reasoning from principles, defining terms and clarifying concepts, comparing cases, thought experiments, logic, and recognizing and avoiding errors in reasoning. But ethical issues also appear on a bigger scale in every social group, including organizations. The paper contains a literature review and an analysis of it applied to the present day. The analysis includes topics of medical ethics, business ethics and ecoethics, and was conducted according to the basic tools used in ethical problem solving. There are also discussions about a key condition for performing ethical analysis, that is, the distinction between ethics and morality. An ethical solution is dictated by logical principles and based on facts, while respecting the tools of ethical reasoning. In contrast, accepted values are also taken into account when interpreting events morally.

Special Report: Ethical Decision-Making in Contemporary Psychiatric Practice—An Evolving Challenge

Special Report: Ethical Decision-Making in Contemporary Psychiatric Practice—An Evolving Challenge

Improving Real-World Innovation and Problem Solving in Clinical Ethics: Insights from the First Clinical Ethics Un-Conference

Despite an abundance of academic conferences, clinical ethicists lacked a forum to share innovative practices with peers and to generate solutions to common challenges. Organizers of the first Clinical Ethics Un-Conference developed a working event centered on active participation and problem solving through peer learning, with the goal of improving real-world practice. Registrants included 95 individuals from 64 institutions. Attendees were surveyed immediately after the Un-Conference, and again eight months later. After eight months, 85 percent (n = 33/39) of the survey respondents reported that they found the event "highly impactful" or "somewhat impactful" to their clinical practice, and 23 attendees reported that they had implemented ideas or projects inspired by the event. Three sets of best practice guidelines and four white papers were published from the event. As the field of clinical ethics continues to advance and evolve, this working event format offers an innovative, disruptive alternative to a traditional conference format and may serve as a model for future efforts aimed at improving real-world clinical ethics practice.

Using the Reflective Judgment Model to Understand and Appraise Effective Reasoning by Social Work Students

ABSTRACT Research suggests that most college and beginning graduate students lack the cognitive complexity required to engage in effective practical and ethical reasoning. Studies on cognitive development support the view that how people approach complex problems varies significantly depending on the underlying epistemic assumptions they use to guide their problem-solving strategies and justify their decisions. We recommend King and Kitchener’s Reflective Judgment Model (RJM), a cognitive-developmental framework based on epistemology, as a model for assessing students’ current approaches to resolving real-world problems and fostering the skills and dispositions necessary to engage in effective decision making. We discuss strategies for using the RJM to assess students’ current epistemic assumptions and to design learning experiences that encourage increased sophistication in ethical problem solving.

The effects of web-based situational learning on nursing students' transfer of learning in clinical practice

BackgroundTransferring what has been learned in the classroom to clinical application is the main goal of nursing education. Our previous intervention study, in which a web-based interactive situational teaching strategy in a nursing ethic course was conducted as an experimental group, and the students in the class who were taught using a traditional teaching strategy was treated as the comparative group. The results, which were evaluated immediately after the class, showed that the web-based interactive situational teaching enhanced the students' competency in ethical reasoning and problem solving compared to traditional teaching. PurposeThis study followed the previous study and aimed to compare the effects of the learning transfer between the two groups in clinical performance as reflected in their internship scores, clinical practice, and self-efficacy assessment. It also explored the factors influencing this transfer. MethodA predictive correlation-based research design was adopted to compare the students' internship scores, clinical judgment abilities, and self-efficacy in clinical internships between two groups. The students' self-efficacy was measured using a self-administered structured questionnaire, while their internship scores and clinical judgment abilities were evaluated by their clinical instructors. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using SPSS 23 software. ResultsThe nursing students who participated in the web-based interactive situational teaching course did not significantly outperform those who received traditional teaching in their clinical judgment and internship scores. The main variable that significantly affected the clinical self-efficacy of nursing students was the degree of support from the internship instructors. ConclusionNursing students' clinical performance is affected by multiple factors and is not solely determined by the curriculum or teaching strategies. The degree of instructor support during the internship process significantly affected the students' self-efficacy in clinical performance.

Clinical Ethics Consultation: current European models and novel approaches in Spain

To date, healthcare ethics committees (HEC) have been the only ethics consultation model in the hospital setting in Spain, though their usefulness for ethical conflict resolution in daily practice has been questioned. Individual clinical ethics consultation (CEC) is a complementary ethics consultation model, which has proved efficacious in real-time ethical problem-solving. Although CEC is widely used in North America, its implementation in Europe is still marginal. In this document we present the general characteristics of CEC services, comparing their potential advantages and risks to those of HECs. We will then share relevant European experiences in CEC, as well as review the few CEC initiatives in Spain. Finally, we will share our recent CEC implementation strategy in a national, medium-sized, teaching hospital. We will summarise the minimum requirements that such a CEC service must meet in order to carry out its consulting activity: organisational flexibility, well-trained professionals, with sufficient clinical experience, economical support, and organisational dependency on HECs.

Foolishness of COVID-19: Applying the Polyhedron Model of Wisdom to Understand Behaviors in a Time of Crisis

ABSTRACT We live in a world and a time full of challenges. Social inequality, discrimination, global political instability, wars, genocides, terrorism, nuclear and biological weapons, climate change, waste disposal, and species extinction, among others, are constant threats. These pressing issues require attention and solution. Wisdom rises as the overarching construct to holistically address complex human phenomena. Using the Polyhedron Model of Wisdom as a framework to analyze crises, the authors address the current COVID-19 pandemic. People’s and leaders’ reactions to the crisis are evaluated using seven Wisdom components: knowledge, intelligence, creativity, self-regulation, openness and tolerance, altruism and moral maturity, and sound judgment. Implications of the implementation and promotion of wisdom for ethical problem-solving are discussed.

FROM GOVERNMENT TO PUBLIC GOVERNANCE: THE TRANSFORMATION FOCUS OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Transformation and deepening the relationship of society and public authorities demanding higher level of competence and professionalism of public servants. This involves understanding the latest theoretical and methodological foundations of public management and administration, a deep understanding of the diverse aspects of public service and local government, understanding of public administration at the national, regional and local levels. However, based on the provisions of the Charter in Ukraine continued reforms based on decentralization. Its main goal is to implement the principle of subsidiarity and optimize management processes in public authorities to improve the level of services provided to citizens. This is a purposeful process that leads to a change in purpose, content, methods and forms of education, the educational process of adaptation to the new requirements in public management and administration. Good governance in the public sector requires the formation of teams capable of responding to challenges and managing change, thinking creatively and innovating. At the forefront are the competencies of public servants, such as: change management, effective communication, adequate ethical problem-solving, learning and development strategies, focus on strategies, decision-making, problem-solving and judgment, sensitivity to quality and diversity, focus on results, personal influence, creativity and innovation, information management, sensitivity to the political environment, financial management, analytical skills, understanding of legal and procedural norms, monitoring, control and reporting. The processes of transformation of the theory of public administration and administration are investigated in the article. The course of public administration and local self-government reform in Ukraine is analyzed, the main challenges and tendencies, their influence on development of public management and administration theory and its educational are determined.

When Rules Are Not Enough: Developing Principles to Guide Ethical Conduct.

Currently, certified behavior analysts are required to adhere to the ethical rules established by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (BACB®) known as the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2014; hereafter referred to as the BACB Code). Applying these rules without context, however, can result in an overly simplified and mechanistic approach to ethical problem solving. Ethical rules that lack guiding principles may also pose dissemination challenges for behavior analysts tasked with communicating the field's ethical ideals to nonbehavioral colleagues and stakeholders. This article describes the process that our applied behavior analysis organization used to develop a set of guiding ethical principles to supplement the BACB Code. These principles guide our members' ethical decision making and assist them in disseminating our organization's ideals. Following a description of the principle development process, we present our organization's ethical principles and discuss how behavior analysts can use them to make clinical and ethical decisions, and address dissemination challenges.

Making ethics teaching more effective with a three step model

In this study, the impacts of two different “methods” for teaching ethics as part of the religious education in the Swedish upper secondary school were compared by means of a non-randomized controlled trial in two parts, involving 542 students. The question was which “method” had the greatest capacity to generate long-term ethical awareness in the students. The intervention condition consisted of students whose teachers were instructed to teach according to the Three Step Model, a teaching method influenced by research concerning how moral autonomy and ethical awareness could be increased by means of instruction and training. The control condition consisted of students whose teachers were instructed to teach basically as usual but with some added guidelines. During the trial, all students were given a pre-test before the ethics section had started and a post-test 10–12 weeks after it was finished. When quantified and summarized, the results showed an advantage of the intervention condition in measure B (development of demonstrable knowledge) but an advantage of the control condition in measure A (self-assessed ethical awareness); however, the advantage of the intervention condition was clearer and stronger. Even though the intervention students did not experience a stronger development, they appeared to have learned significantly more, not least in terms of procedural knowledge in ethical problem solving. The tentative conclusion is therefore that the Three Step Model is a more effective method for increasing ethical awareness, at least if one defines ethical awareness and measures it the way it was done in this study.

Professionalism and Ethics: A Standardized Patient Observed Standardized Clinical Examination to Assess ACGME Pediatric Professionalism Milestones.

The ethical skills fundamental to medical practice encompass a large portion of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) professionalism milestones. Yet many ethical practices are difficult to reduce to milestone frameworks given the variety of traditions of moral reasoning that clinician-trainees and their colleagues might properly employ. We developed an observed standardized clinical examination (OSCE) simulation with standardized patients to assess the ethical skills captured in professionalism milestones in pediatrics. The OSCE included four vignettes based on actual cases that presented problems without a correct answer. Residents discussed ethically challenging issues with standardized patients and were evaluated on specific ethical tenets contained in the professionalism milestones. Our assessment guide for preceptors offered content for debriefing and assessment. We piloted this OSCE with seven preceptors and 17 pediatric residents in two different medical settings. Residents all agreed that the four cases were realistic. All but two residents agreed that OSCEs like this one are an appropriate or objective way of assessing the ACGME professionalism milestones. All preceptors reported that they strongly agreed the assessment improved their ability to assess the professionalism milestones. This OSCE offers a structured method to assess professionalism milestones and a forum to discuss ethical problem solving. It can also be used solely as a training exercise in ethical decision making and having difficult conversations.

The ethics of care and justice in primary nursing of older patients

While the ethic of care has generally been regarded as an appropriate attitude for nurses, it has not received equal attention as a mode of ethical problem solving. The primary nursing model is expected to be aligned with the ethic of care because it emphases the nurse–patient relationship and enables more independent role for nurses in decision-making. The aim of this study was to examine nurses’ ethical decision-making in the context of primary nursing. Participants were seven nurses, and one physiotherapist from a geriatric rehabilitation unit of a public hospital in Finland. Data were collected through focus group interviews and qualitatively analyzed through Lyons’ coding scheme for moral orientations. The results showed that primary nurses employ empathic understanding and particularistic thinking when building relationships with patients and their families, and when assessing their needs for coping at home after discharge. Most ethical conflicts were related to discharge and were solved through balancing the ethics of care and justice considerations. It is concluded that care and justice are integrated in nurses’ everyday ethical decision-making. The ethic of care nurtures good patient–nurse relationships, while the ethic of justice is needed to address the fair delivery of care in the context of an aging population and diminishing public resources. Both ethics should be acknowledged in clinical practices and included in ethics education.

Ethical problems in nursing management \u2013 a cross-sectional survey about solving problems

BackgroundNurse managers encounter a wide range of ethical problems related to patients, staff, the organisation and themselves. However, little is known about the methods they use to try to solve these problems. In this study, our goal is to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the ethical problems encountered by nurse managers, the frequency of use and usefulness of different methods to solve these problems, and the background factors associated with the use of the methods.MethodsA cross-sectional survey study was conducted in November 2014–May 2015 in Finland. The data were collected from nurse managers in strategic, middle and ward management (n = 214) using a questionnaire developed for this study. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: socio-demographic background factors, frequency and difficulty of ethical problems in nursing management, frequency of use and usefulness of the methods in solving ethical problems, and work-related background factors.ResultsDiscussions with nurses was the most frequently used method, used by 94% of the nurse managers either often or always in the case of ethical problems, followed by the use of personal values (74%) and discussions with manager colleagues (70%). However, almost all methods in the different groups – discussion and deliberation, use of outside experts, written instructions and ethical principles, acts and degrees as well as work arrangements – were considered somewhat or very useful by more than half of the respondents. The use of outside experts was the least used and the least useful method.ConclusionsWhen solving ethical problems, nurse managers use most frequently the same methods as a few decades ago. A more diverse range of methods would be helpful in ethical problem-solving. The use of outside experts, ethics literature and codes of ethics should be combined with ethical reasoning and decision-making to get new dimensions and outside knowledge.

Ethical Issues in Early Intervention

Ethical considerations are integral to our professional lives when we are faced with difficult choices regarding services and supports for children and families. Often, the right choice in service delivery for young children with disabilities ages birth to 5 years is unclear due to a myriad of factors potentially creating ethical dilemmas. This article reports the results of a focus group study with 82 early intervention (EI) professionals serving young children ages birth to 5 years designed to determine EI practitioners' ethical concerns in daily practice and how they are resolved. Professionals shared dilemmas they have experienced related to family–professional and interprofessional conflicts as well as those related to policy and programmatic issues. In addition, resolution strategies used by EI practitioners are highlighted. Guidelines for systematic ethical reflection and problem solving are recommended on the basis of professional Codes of Ethics.

Serious storytelling – a first definition and review

In human culture, storytelling is a long-established tradition. The reasons people tell stories are manifold: to entertain, to transfer knowledge between generations, to maintain cultural heritage, or to warn others of dangers. With the emergence of the digitisation of media, many new possibilities to tell stories in serious and non-entertainment contexts emerged. A very simple example is the idea of serious gaming, as in, digital games without the primary purpose of entertainment. In this paper, we introduce the term serious storytelling as a new potential media genre --- defining serious storytelling as storytelling with a purpose beyond entertainment. We also put forward a review of existing potential application areas, and develop a framework for serious storytelling. We foresee several application areas for this fundamental concept, including wellbeing and health, medicine, psychology, education, ethical problem solving, e-leadership and management, qualitative journalism, serious digital games, simulations and virtual training, user experience studies, and online communication.