Collaborative Research: Values and Policy in Interdisciplinary Environmental Science: A Dialogue-based Framework for Ethics Education

来自密歇根州立大学和爱达荷州大学的一个合作研究小组正在与跨学科环境科学项目（IESP）的教师和学生合作，在跨学科环境科学的背景下对伦理概念进行系统的批判性分析。为应对紧迫的环境问题，中学后和研究生课程中的IESP成倍增加。伦理考虑在解决环境问题时非常重要，因为它们往往涉及价值判断，所涉及的伦理问题是复杂的，多方面的，高风险的。然而，研究生IESP课程的道德教育材料没有跟上步伐。该教育和研究项目正在开发一种IESP研究生伦理教育方法，可以更好地培养下一代环境科学家解决复杂问题。教材的编写遵循两项教学承诺：（a）承认学习的社会和协作性质的建构主义范式;（B）致力于问题驱动的教育模式。正在建立一个结构化但灵活的框架，以便能够开发随后可用于课堂对话的课程模块，建立在以前由国家科学基金会资助的工作成果（国家科学基金会第0823058号奖）的基础上。该框架由教师和学生的材料组成，帮助他们确定IESP中可能发生价值判断所产生的道德困境的背景。该框架有两个维度，分别对应于“内容”和“方法”。“内容”涉及价值判断，涉及（a）跨学科科学研究的开展，和（B）跨学科环境科学对社会需求和政策的影响。该“方法”使学生，作为团队或团体，在批判性的，概念性的分析价值和政策方面的自己的做法，作为科学家和工程师。使用这些模块的课程的学生将积极参与确定和评估与价值观相关的挑战，这些挑战处于多种环境观点的交叉点，并处于科学与政策的交叉点。除了制定这一框架外，项目小组正在对其有效性进行严格评估，以促进在IESP课程中更好地考虑伦理问题。通过演讲和出版物广泛传播该框架将加强跨学科的本科生和研究生教育，还将为研究生研究助理提供专业发展机会、道德培训和指导。

A collaborative team of investigators from Michigan State University and the University of Idaho is working with instructors and students in interdisciplinary environmental science programs (IESPs) to conduct systematic, critical analysis of ethical concepts in the context of interdisciplinary environmental science. IESPs have multiplied in post-secondary and graduate curricula in response to pressing environmental problems. Ethical considerations are of immense importance in addressing environmental topics, because they often involve value judgments and the ethical issues involved are complex, multi-faceted, and high-stakes. Yet, ethics education materials for graduate IESP courses have not kept pace. This education and research project is developing an approach to graduate ethics education in IESPs that can better prepare the next generation of environmental scientists to solve complex problems. Materials development is being guided by two pedagogical commitments: (a) a constructivist paradigm that recognizes the social and collaborative nature of learning; and (b) a commitment to problem-driven models of education. A structured, yet flexible, framework is being created to enable development of course modules that can subsequently be adopted for use in classroom dialogue, building on results of work previously funded by NSF (the Toolbox Project - NSF award #0823058). The framework consists of materials for instructors and students that help them identify contexts in their IESP where ethical dilemmas generated by value judgments are likely to occur. The framework has two dimensions, corresponding to "content" and "method". The "content" concerns value judgments that relate to (a) the conduct of interdisciplinary scientific research, and (b) the impact of interdisciplinary environmental science on societal needs and policies. The "method" engages students, as teams or groups, in critical, conceptual analysis of value and policy aspects of their own practice as scientists and engineers. Students in courses using these modules will participate actively in identifying and assessing values-related challenges that are at the intersection of multiple environmental perspectives and at the intersection of science with policy. In addition to developing this framework, the project team is conducting a rigorous evaluation of its effectiveness for facilitating better consideration of ethical issues in IESP courses. Dissemination of the framework broadly through presentations and publications will strengthen interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate education and will also provide professional development opportunities, ethics training, and mentoring for graduate research assistants.