Moral Reasoning Skills Research Articles

Integrating the Teaching and Assessment of Moral Reasoning into Undergraduate Medical Education to Advance Health Equity.

Moral reasoning skills among medical students have regressed despite the implementation of ethics teachings in medical education curricula. This inability to retain moral reasoning capability is attributed to difficulty transitioning to the principled thinking stage of moral reasoning as well as worsening of ethical decision-making skills during clerkship education due to the "hidden curriculum." Prior studies have examined the efficacy of individual strategies for moral education, but there is insufficient analysis comparing multiple educational interventions and moral reasoning assessment tools. The role and impact of these instruments in medical curricula for the advancement of health equity is reviewed.

Empowering Language Learners: Unveiling the Transformative Potential of Value-Based Pedagogy in ESL Education

This desk research examines how, in an ESL classroom, when combined with standard academic content, value-based pedagogy becomes a comprehensive and transformative approach to education that strongly emphasises instilling essential values and principles in students. Value-based pedagogy strongly emphasises developing students' critical thinking and moral reasoning skills. Moreover, one could not place a division between language and values as one could not explore either in isolation. In value-based pedagogy, students get the ability to make ethically sound decisions and traverse the intricacies of the real world by participating in classroom discussions and ethical issues. This study's methodology is based on a textual analysis of the existing lesson materials designed for undergraduate students and an in-depth reading of published materials in the above-mentioned research area. The study is based on the theoretical works of scholars such as Arjuna Parakrama, Bill Johnston and Paulo Freire. Finally, the findings and the conclusion of this study emphasise the need for value-based pedagogy in an ESL classroom which empowers students to navigate challenges in life. Similarly, this approach urges educators to act as role models and questions established paradigms. The importance of value-based pedagogy in education is highlighted by its capacity to bring about profound transformation in learners, teachers, and society at large.

Fostering public health ethics awareness among medical students through interactive web-based values exchange learning: A cross-sectional study.

Medical ethics have traditionally encountered resistance in medical education, with doubts regarding their necessity during preclinical years. Concerns include the practical application of theoretical ethics and favoring the learning of ethics through observation and imitation. Furthermore, ethics courses often focus on codes and regulations and neglect the promotion of moral reasoning and decision-making skills. Therefore, enhancing ethical researcher-training modules is essential for advancing instructional methods and promoting a unified and interactive learning atmosphere. A 3-week course was conducted using the values exchange (VX) online platform to assess the effectiveness of the VX system in involving students and its impact on their perceptions of the importance of research ethics. Accordingly, a blended course was provided as an optional course to the students, and a qualitative course evaluation survey was administered at the end of the course. Sixty-one medical students participated in a pilot-blended research ethics program and the majority (93%) reported a positive learning experience. The course was preferred over traditional classroom-based courses by 80% of the respondents, with 77% reporting increased interest and motivation to study Research Ethics. Over half of the students (57%) reported that the course stimulated their thinking and changed their perspectives on handling medical research issues. Some students (20%) reported improvements in their social and information technology skills. The VX platform was able to meet the expectations of both faculty and students, and fulfilled all dimensions of the Health Professions Learning Environment Conceptual Framework. The VX platform provides an interactive and effective simulated learning environment that promotes ethical research aligned with the Health Professions Learning Environment Framework and fosters core competencies, such as ethical reasoning, decision-making, and cultural respect. Medical schools are encouraged to implement VX to enhance the teaching of research ethics.

Evaluation of Moral Reasoning Skills among Dental Students in the Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia.

One of the main roles of healthcare educators is to prepare students to make the right ethical decisions. This study evaluated the moral reasoning levels of dental students according to Kohlberg's six-stage moral development system. This cross-sectional study was conducted in three dental schools in the Makkah region. Senior-year students completed the self-administered Socio-moral Reflection Objective Measure (SROM), which consists of hypothetical moral dilemmas and options that mirror individual reasoning possibilities. SROM results were matched to Kohlberg's six-stage moral development system and associations with demographic variables and perceptions of educational context variables assessed. One hundred and eighty-eight senior students (mean age 23 ± 1.1 years) completed the SROM. Only 34.6% (n = 44) students reached stage four (morality of law and duty to the social order), while most students (63.8%; n = 81) were at stage three (morality of mutual interpersonal expectations); 1.6% (n = 2) were at stage two (the instrumental relativist orientation). No subject achieved stage 5. Attainment of moral reasoning was not associated with demographic or perception of educational context variables. Students demonstrated a relatively low level of moral reasoning. Healthcare educators must review curricula to provide focused training for students to cultivate their moral reasoning skills. Further studies are also needed to confirm and explain this low moral reasoning level in dental students.

A True Friend Stabs You in the Front: Astell’s Admonisher Conception of a Friend

My goal in what follows is to argue that Astell endorses what I call the admonisher conception of a friend. For I will argue that, according to Astell, a sufficient condition for whether someone is our friend is that they admonish us in her technical sense. So anyone who admonishes us in this sense—be they Mother Teresa, the sinner sitting in confession, or our professional rival—is a friend to us. Put simply, an Astellian friend is an admonisher. The paper is divided into four sections. Having motivated my reading in section one, section two develops and defends my thesis that admonishment is a sufficient condition for someone to be our Astellian friend. With Astell’s admonisher conception on the table, the balance of the paper shows how Astell might have persuaded us to accept her severe-sounding view by sketching the goods that she thinks flow from having an admonisher as a friend. Section three thus contends that, on Astell’s view, there is a class of deep truths about who we are that only our admonishing friends can reliably access; section four sketches how admonishment enhances our moral reasoning skills on Astell’s picture.

Ahlak Okuryazarlığı Ölçeğinin Geliştirilmesi: Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması

Son yıllarda eğitim sistemleri ve öğretim programlarının genel amaçlarında birtakım değişimler ortaya çıkmış, bu kapsamda beceri temelli yeni yaklaşımlar benimsenmiştir. Bu bağlamda öğretim programlarında anadili, fen ve matematik okuryazarlığı, kültürlerarası okuryazarlık gibi beceri alanlarına yönelik öğretim çıktıları dikkat çekmektedir. Bunun yanında vatandaşlık eğitiminin vazgeçilmez bir parçasını oluşturan ahlak eğitiminde ahlak okuryazarlığı kavramı önde gelen tartışma konularından birisini oluşturmaktadır. 
 Ahlak okuryazarlığı, kendi ahlaki değerleri üzerinde düşünme, çeşitli seçeneklerin olası sonuçlarını ve bunların etkilerini belirleme, hangi seçeneğin kişinin değerleriyle uyumlu olduğu konusunda mantıklı kararlar verme, değerleriyle tutarlı hareket etme, kendi eylemlerinin sorumluluğunu almayı kapsayan temel bir beceriyi ifade eder. Nancy Tuana tarafından kavramsallaştırılan ahlak okuryazarlığı, ahlaki ahlaki duyarlılık, ahlaki muhakeme becerileri ve ahlaki imgelem olmak üzere üç temel öğeden ve bunların altında yer alan üç alt beceriden oluşur. Söz konusu beceriler genel itibariyle ahlaki karar verme sürecini yöneten düşünsel becerileri kapsar. 
 Bu çalışma Tuana’nın teorisinden hareketle geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçme aracı geliştirmeyi hedeflemiştir. Keşfedici sıralı desene uygun olarak tasarlanan araştırma kapsamında ilgili literatür taranarak ahlak okuryazarlığına yönelik olarak gerçekleştirilen çalışmalar nitel veri analizi ile incelenmiştir. Teorik yapının netleştirilmesiyle birlikte ölçek geliştirme işlemine başlanmıştır. Ahlak okuryazarlığı ölçeği geliştirme çalışmasında şu aşamalar izlenmiştir: i. Madde havuzunun oluşturulması, ii. Kapsam geçerliliğinin yapılması, iii. Taslak formun gözden geçirilerek son halinin verilmesi, iv. Ölçeğin uygulanması, v. Madde analizleri, yapı geçerliliği ve güvenilirlik analizlerinin yapılması, vi. Alt ölçekler arasındaki korelasyon ve toplam puanın incelenmesi, vii. Ölçeğe son halinin verilerek raporlanması.
 Birinci aşamada 27 maddeden oluşan taslak form için, beş alan uzmanı ve bir dil uzmanından görüş alınmış, alan uzmanlarının önerileri doğrultusunda 1 madde teorik yapıyla uyumlu olmaması nedeniyle ölçekten çıkarılmış ve bunun yerine kapsama uygun olacağı düşünülen 1 madde daha eklenmiştir. Değişikliklerle nihai hali verilen taslak form, 2018-2019 eğitim yılı güz döneminde Eskişehir Osmangazi ve Anadolu Üniversitesi’nde öğrenim gören 653 üniversite öğrencisine uygulanmıştır. Verilerin bilgisayara girilmesi aşamasında özenli işaretlenmediği görülen ve güvenilir bulunmayan 88 veri analiz dışında bırakılmıştır. Ölçeğin madde analizlerinde korelasyon katsayıları 0.35’ten düşük olması nedeniyle 3 madde kapsam dışında bırakılmış ve yapı geçerliğine geçilmiştir. 
 Açımlayıcı faktör analizinde de .40’tan düşük değer alan ve binişiklik gösteren 7 madde daha analizden çıkarılmıştır. Bu işlemden sonra yapılan faktör analizi sonucunda 5 faktör ve 20 maddeden oluşan bir yapı elde edilmiştir. Güvenilirlik analizi sonucunda ölçeğin tamamının yüksek güvenilirliğe sahipken alt boyutların orta ve düşük güvenilirlik düzeylerine sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Açımlayıcı faktör analizi ile elde edilen yapının doğrulayıcı faktör analizi ile test edilmesi sonucunda doğrulandığı da tespit edilmiştir. Doğrulayıcı faktör analizine göre ise ortaya çıkan yapının iyi uyum gösterdiği görülmüştür. Ölçeğin alt boyutları arasındaki ilişki incelendiğinde, alt boyutlar arasında orta düzeyde anlamlı pozitif bir ilişki bulunduğu ve ölçeğin ahlak okuryazarlığı becerisine yönelik tutumlar için toplam puan elde edilebileceği ifade edilebilir. Sonuç olarak gerçekleştirilen bu işlemler neticesinde elde edilen ölçeğin, üniversite öğrencilerinin ahlak okuryazarlığı becerisine ilişkin tutumlarını güvenilir ve geçerli bir şekilde ölçebileceği söylenebilir.

Implementing and evaluating a course in professional ethics for an undergraduate pharmacy curriculum: A feasibility study

BackgroundPharmacy practice today mandates “patient-centered care”, thereby assigning higher levels of professional responsibility for pharmacists leading to ethical challenges. These challenges often involve ethical principles, institutional, personal, or other constraints that can pull practitioners in incompatible opposite directions, creating “ethical dilemmas” in many circumstances. Pharmacists are expected to handle challenges competently and in the best interest of patients. Literature underlines the positive impact of educational interventions focusing on ethical awareness and competence, and that “gaps” existed in pharmacy training/curricula for Jordanian pharmacists. The objective of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate the utility of a tailored ethics education component in the pharmacy curriculum for students enrolled at a well-ranked Jordanian university. Educational activity and settingFifth-year pharmacy students attending summer school at a university in Jordan from July to September 2020 were invited to participate in an educational intervention (suite of didactic online lectures and skills-based workshops). This study was delivered in four parts, with a pretest administered immediately before and a posttest survey immediately after the educational intervention, the educational intervention (three phases), and focus-group discussions to elicit students' feedback. FindingsFindings indicated enhanced levels of confidence in students' decision-making. The development of students' moral reasoning and decision-making skills were also observed to be improved. SummaryThis study highlighted the importance of the implementation of an ethics course in pharmacy undergraduate curricula. It emphasized the positive impact this course made on the students' learning experiences and provided a strong environment for discussion and group learning.

Exploring and evaluating Vertically Integrated Teaching in Ethical Decision-Making (VIT-EDM) in pharmacy

Background: With increased patient-centred care, pharmacists are often faced with ethical dilemmas and expected to provide solutions for practice dilemmas, relying on ethical judgment, principles of professional ethics, standards of practice, and moral reasoning capabilities. Pharmacists need to be competent in ethical decision-making which will enable them to act in a morally preferable and justifiable manner with patients. Literature has shown that moral reasoning skills are teachable and measurable competencies in healthcare. Objective: To evaluate the impact of implementing a vertically integrated teaching approach in ethical decision-making (VIT-EDM), on moral reasoning capabilities of pharmacy students as they progressed from year-one (pre-exposure to teaching intervention) to final year (post-intervention) of pharmacy studies, using the Professional Ethics in Pharmacy test (PEP) as a surrogate measure of moral reasoning capabilities. Methods: Cross-sectional, parallel cohort, comparison study, using PEP. A de-identified electronic survey link was emailed to enrolled students in each targeted cohort. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted using SPSS. Results: Fourth-year students’ confidence measures were significantly higher in decision-making. Furthermore, students’ decision-making and moral reasoning measures were higher in fourth-year students. They generally demonstrated moral reasoning capabilities belonging to stage four of moral reasoning levels, which is related to benefitting patients while respecting authorities and legal requirements. However, the difference in the P-scores (fourth-year and first-year) was not found statistically significant. Conclusion: Findings of this study underlined the positive impact of the (VIT-EDM) approach, a relatively novel mixed-method pedagogy in teaching pharmacy ethics. It highlighted the enhanced confidence of students in ethical decision-making when facing an ethical dilemma.

Are Two Heads Better Than One? Interpreting Students’ Moral Reasoning Skills

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) is an internationally used instrument that measures an individual’s moral reasoning skills—that is, how an individual explains right and just action. DIT scores are correlated with age and education, and they are also correlated with clinical performance when administered to professional practitioners. Practicing signed language interpreters’ scores, however, were not reflective of their age and education in one study, being much lower than those of practitioners from other professions. Providing communication access for individuals who do not share the same language as their service providers is grounded in social justice and equity, yet practicing interpreters’ DIT scores did not reflect higher-order justice skills. The current study investigates American Sign Language interpreting students’ DIT performance. Over the course of 3 years, different classes of third-year interpreting students in an undergraduate program in the United States took the DIT. Each year, the students’ average scores were significantly higher than those of working interpreters (n = 80). This result raises the question of whether, how, and why years of interpreting experience curtail ethical development. A follow-up study with one student class (n = 32) also found that taking the DIT as a collective, meaning that answers were negotiated among group members, resulted in higher scores than the group members’ individual median scores. This additional finding adds credence to educational approaches that focus on ethical discussion and deliberation of interpreting practice.

The Spillover of Socio-Moral Climate in Organizations Onto Employees’ Socially Responsible Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Impact

Due to the pressing environmental and social issues facing the global economic system, the role of organizations in promoting socially responsible behavior among employees warrants attention in research and practice. It has been suggested that the concept of socio-moral climate (SMC) might be particularly useful for understanding how participative organizational structures and processes shape employees’ prosocial behaviors. While SMC has been shown to be positively related to employees’ prosocial behaviors within the work context, little is known about the potential spillover effects of SMC (i.e., associations between SMC and employees’ prosocial behaviors outside the work context). The present study aims to address this gap by investigating how and why SMC is related to employees’ socially responsible purchase intention. Drawing on the relational job design framework, we argue that employees’ perceptions of their social impact may explain why SMC is positively related to responsible purchase intentions. We collected data from 492 employees working in various industries at two measurement points with a time lag of 12 months. Hypotheses were tested using path analysis, in which we controlled for the temporal stability of the study variables. The results showed that SMC was positively related to perceived social impact and socially responsible purchase intention and that perceived social impact was positively related to socially responsible purchase intention. In addition, we found a significant indirect relationship between SMC and socially responsible purchase intention through perceived social impact. The findings provide initial support for the spillover of employees’ work-related experiences onto their responsible purchase intentions within the nonwork domain. This study contributes to the literature by extending the traditional focus of SMC research on the development of moral reasoning skills to suggest that perceived social impact is an important mechanism underlying the relationship between SMC and prosocial behaviors. In terms of practical implications, this study suggests that organizational interventions designed to increase SMC may enhance employees’ perceptions of their social impact.

Effectiveness of ethics case based on blended learning approaches on medical students' learning: A quasi-experimental study.

BACKGROUND:The use of active teaching methods in ethics education, instead of being merely teacher centred, can lead students to problem-solving in a practical way. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of comprehensive medical ethics education based on educational approaches and the effect of this approach on students’ learning and moral reasoning skills.MATERIALS AND METHODS:This quasi-experimental intervention study was performed on seventy physiopathology medical students who had taken the medical ethics course. The students’ educational program included teaching theoretical concept of medical ethics, discussing ethical cases and clinical reasoning in class, and then discussing in forum environment and individual assignments in the learning management system (LMS) system and completing the portfolio. Student evaluation was associated students’ knowledge, attitu de, and moral reasoning skills and learning. A comprehensive program including forum participation, individual assignments in LMS, theory and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) tests, and portfolio completion was used to evaluation of students. The students’ learning was compared to students of the previous year, which was conducted through a traditional teacher-centered method. Data analysis was conducted using IBM® SPSS® Statistics 21 at two levels of descriptive statistics and analytic statistics.RESULTS:The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean learning of students compared with traditional class (P < 0.05). Furthermore, comparison of students’ practical scores through the OSCE test showed its impact on changing students’ knowledge, attitude, and performance in moral reasoning.CONCLUSION:According to research findings, it seems that the mentioned model is one of the important and new issues as a suitable method of teaching medical ethics. Furthermore, it can be suitable model in other medical courses. The more research in multicentral may be need to assess other effects on students’ learning indicators.

Moral Dilemma in Evidence Based History Teaching: Action Research

Geçmişte yaşanmış birtakım olayları ve olguları ele alan tarih dersi muhteviyatında insanlığa ait farklı değer ve yargıları da barındırmaktadır. Bu tecrübelerin bir bütünü olan tarih dersinin öğrencilerdeki değer ve yargı çeşitliliğini arttırması beklenmektedir. Tarih derslerindeki muhtelif değer ve yargıların varlığı Kohlberg’in ahlaki ikilemi ile bazı benzerlikler göstermektedir. Dolayısıyla Kohlberg’in ahlak gelişimi ile benzer özellikler taşıyan tarih derslerinin öğrencilerin ahlaki muhakeme becerilerini nasıl etkilediği, incelemenin esas konusu olmuştur. Çalışma nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden eylem araştırmasından faydalanılarak yapılmıştır. Bu bağlamda lise son sınıf ve üniversite hazırlık öğrencilerinden 10 kişiyle kanıt temelli tarih dersi işlenmiştir. Kardeş katli, Varlık vergisi ve Haçlı seferleri konuları esas alınarak toplamda 3 tane tarih dersi yapılmıştır. Bu derslerde öğrencilerin bahsedilen konularla ilişkili tarihsel olaylara dair yorumlarını şeffaf bir ortamda ifade edebilmelerine olanak tanınmıştır. Böylelikle etkileşimli ve demokratik bir ortam oluşturulmaya çalışılmıştır. Yapılan kanıt temelli tarih derslerinde öğrencilerin yorumları, hal ve tavırları kayıt altına alınmıştır. Elde edilen veriler gözlem ve doküman analizi kullanılarak yorumlanmıştır. Verilerin değerlendirilmesi sonucunda tarih derslerinin öğrencilerdeki ahlaki muhakeme becerilerini geliştirebileceğine yönelik olumlu sonuçlar elde edilmiştir.

Developing Engineering Students’ Moral Reasoning Skills Using Problem-Based Learning

Problem-Based Learning has become an increasingly popular instructional method for a variety of disciplines at all levels. Many studies and meta-analyses of these studies have shown the efficacy of this method for developing knowledge and skills. I adopted this method for teaching Engineering Ethics at Carnegie Mellon University, which has as its main course objectives the development of moral reasoning skills, as well as collaboration and communication skills, with special attention given to ethical dilemmas that may arise in the normal course of an engineer’s professional career. In the most recent iteration of the course, I used the Engineering and Science Issues Test as a pretest and posttest to test the development of my students’ moral reasoning skills over the course of the semester. Based on the results of these tests, I argue that the students in my Engineering Ethics course did in fact significantly develop their moral reasoning skills.

Exploring the Russian Leadership Mystique: A Plea for Change

In this article I examine the cultural historical context that affects the Russian national character. I refer to the Russian climate, the centuries of social unrest that have troubled the country’s history, the multi-ethnic composition of its citizens, the role of the Orthodox church, the mir, the dramatic fall of Communism and rise of materialism, the insidious “bureaupathology,” and the persistence of “Oblomovism.” I also discuss decision-making practices and power dynamics within Russian organizations, highlighting the difference between authoritarian and authoritative leadership practices and exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the Russian leadership style. I consider Russia’s history of despotic rulers — and its preference for a “managed democracy” — and how the rise of materialism brought many dysfunctionalities, including increased corruption, and (for many citizens) the loss of a moral compass. In the last part of the article I present an agenda for change, making a plea for a new, more innovative, educational paradigm for the younger generation of Russians that focuses on character development (social and emotional learning, moral reasoning, and other important life skills). I make a number of suggestions about the role management education, different organizational designs, and new leadership practices can play in inducing changes in Russian society and make a case for the need for responsible entrepreneurship.

Gratitude, Social Cognition, and Well-Being in Emerging Adolescents

The authors explored Canadian emerging adolescents' social and moral reasoning skills (empathy, theory of mind), and their perceptions of gratitude, self-competencies, and well-being (spiritual, emotional). As part of a larger five-year longitudinal study, the authors describe results of Year 2 (2016–2017) data from 46 ninth-grade students (33 girls; Mage = 13.5 years, SD = 5.436 years) from eight schools (Ontario, Canada). Students’ perceptions of gratitude, spirituality, self-compassion, competencies, and well-being were measured by self-report questionnaires. Significant positive correlations were found among adolescents’ perceptions of gratitude, self-competencies, and emotional and spiritual well-being. Differently valenced patterns of associations were found among students’ perceptions of gratitude (appreciation for others and sense of abundance), self-compassion, and existential well-being, and spiritual comfort, and omnipresence. Simple appreciation was the only aspect of gratitude to show significant positive relations with religious well-being. Significant positive correlations were found between gratitude (sense of abundance) and self-compassion, whereas significant negative correlations were found between self-compassion and empathy, theory of mind, existential well-being, and religious well-being. Implications for theory and educational applications are discussed.

Students views of an online ethical decision-support tool

Background and purposeEthical reasoning is a key skill that must be developed during the undergraduate pharmacy course to prepare students for ethical decision-making in future practice as pharmacy professionals. In this initial study, we sought and documented the views of pharmacy students at a United Kingdom (UK) university on the use of Values Exchange™ (Vx), an online ethical decision-support tool. Educational activity and settingStudents deliberated on up to three ethical case scenarios every academic year using the tool. A preliminary study using a qualitative methodology was conducted with students nearing the end of their third-year of study to explore their views of the tool. Two focus groups were used to collect the data. Discussions were digitally recorded, anonymised and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed using the five-stage framework approach. FindingsFour main themes emerged from the data: students felt that Values Exchange™ enabled them to gain a wider perspective on ethical issues; it promoted reflection; it helped to prepare them for future practice; students liked the online environment. DiscussionVx prompted students to deliberate on many facets of a case, enabled them to consider and challenge the views of their peers, facilitated reflection and promoted greater honesty in responses and inclusivity, all supporting the development of moral reasoning skills. SummaryVx supports the process of ethical decision-making, encouraging a deep approach to learning within a safe virtual environment. Students believed Vx to be an effective tool for developing ethical reasoning skills in preparation for practice.

Why does moral reasoning not improve in medical students?

'The informal curriculum of the clinical environment, with its cynicism, dark humor and sometime unethical behaviour...[is] arresting development of moral reasoning skills'.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING DISPOSITION

IntroductionSocial Emotional LearningSocial emotional learning not only increases individuals? academic performance but also provides individuals with adapting to changes in today?s globalization, and enables them to gain lifelong learning skills (Lindsay, 2013). Social emotional learning is described as having a capacity to define and regulate one?s own emotions accurately, improving problem solving skills, and a skill to establishing good relationships with the people around. At the same time, these skills refer to competence that all students should have (Zins & Elias, 2007). Social emotional learning improves attitudes, skills, and behaviors that are necessary for students to establish healthy relationships with their peers and teachers, and to work together efficiently. These are empathy, respect, cooperation, regulating emotions, self-control, goal setting, critical thinking and problem solving skills (Varela, Kelcey, Reyes, Gould, & Sklar, 2013). According to Elias et al. (1997), social emotional learning is an integration process of thinking, feeling, and behaving in order to be aware of oneself and the people around, to manage one?s and others? behaviors, and to take responsibility of one?s own decisions (Brackett & Rivers, 2014).Social emotional learning has five dimensions (CASEL, 2003): Self-Awareness: knowing one?s own feeling, evaluating one?s own competence realistically and developing self-reliance. Social Awareness: understanding other people?s emotions, comprehending their points of view by respecting different opinions, and interacting with them positively. Self-Management: managing emotions to do something easily, being persistent with accomplishing a goal, not losing ambition when confronted with troubles, and continuing to work. Relationship Skills: using emotions to communicate effectively, maintaining this communication healthfully and in cooperation, being resistant to negative social pressure, trying to resolve conflicts, and asking for help when needed. Responsible Decision Making: considering all possible factors when making a decision, reaching appropriate conclusion by taking into consideration different points of view, and taking responsibility for decisions.Social emotional learning competencies that are composed of five dimensions also help students develop lifelong learning competencies, which include higher order thinking skills such as problem solving and critical thinking, academic and professional skills such as organization and team work, and life skills such as citizen consciousness and following social events. Today, those competencies are defined by education specialists and employers as important skills that bring success after graduation and at a work place (Dymnicki, Sambolt, & Kidron, 2013). As Manning (1993) stated, social emotional learning is important especially for young adults. Recently, a need has arisen for individuals' hypothetical, reflective, critical thinking, moral and ethical reasoning skills to improve. In this process, social emotional learning makes a contribution to the development of these skills (Taylor & Larson, 1999).In the social emotional learning approach, alternative thinking strategies also exist. Alternative thinking strategies are derived from a dynamic model that comprises a successful operation of affective, behavioral, and cognitive systems in cooperation. These systems include social competencies as well. Alternative thinking strategies are used in order to develop individuals' social emotional competencies, prevent behavioral problems, develop critical thinking skills and enrich the classroom environment (Brackett & Rivers, 2014). Social emotional learning skills are also called life skills. Life skills are defined as critical thinking, coping with stress, emotion regulation, effective communication and self-awareness in order to cope with social problems, prevention of social differentiation and injustice, expression of oneself, decrease of prejudice against different viewpoints and thoughts, and increase of understanding (UNICEF, 2015). …

Novice to expert? Teaching and development of moral reasoning skills

NO matter how many years of experience you have as a veterinarian, your first consultation remains etched on your mind. Whether you were stood in front of a mother and...

A preliminary investigation into the moral reasoning abilities of UK veterinarians

Veterinary medicine is an ethically challenging profession, but the ethical reasoning abilities of practising veterinarians in the UK have never been formally assessed. This study investigated moral reasoning ability in...