The Status of Ethics Teaching and Learning in U.S. Dental Schools

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153779/1/jddj0022033720117510tb05174x.pd

An Evidence-Based Guide for Ethics Instruction

<p>Drawing from multiple sources of evidence, this paper updates previous descriptions (IOM, 2002) of measurement strategies and teaching techniques to promote four theoretically derived abilities thought to be necessary conditions for the responsible conduct of research. Data from three samples (exemplary professionals, professionals disciplined by a licensing board, and graduates who completed an ethics program designed to promote the four interrelated abilities) suggest that development of a <em>moral identity </em>that is consistent with the norms and values of a profession is the driving force that gives rise to <em>ethical sensitivity, ethical reasoning, </em>and<em> ethical implementation</em>. Evidence from the cited studies supports the usefulness of the theoretical model to (a) deconstruct summary judgments about character and see them as abilities that can be assessed and developed; (b) guide the design assessments that are sensitive to the effects of interventions; and (c) augment previous IOM recommendations for the development of meaningful learning activities.<strong> </strong><strong></strong></p

Educational Programs for Professional Identity Formation: The Role of Social Science Research

This Article on the use of social science research to design, implement, and assess educational programs for the development of professional identity has its origins in the opening presentation made at the 17th Annual Georgia Symposium on Professionalism and Legal Ethics, held on October 7, 2016 at Mercer Law School on the topic Educational Interventions to Cultivate Professional Identity in Law Students. The Mercer Symposium invited speakers from a variety of disciplines to address a series of questions regarding the feasibility and worth of establishing an educational intervention and assessment program to facilitate professional identity formation. This Article begins with a brief summary of initiatives in the legal profession and legal education that laid the foundation for the 2016 Mercer Law Review Symposium. Next, we review social science research illuminating the relationship between education, moral development, and professional identity formation, and explain how that research has been used to design ethics education for professionals that is guided by theory and grounded in evidence. In particular we explain the historical background and decades-long development of the Four Component Model of Morality (FCM) for understanding and measuring how four independent capacities-sensitivity, reasoning, motivation and implementation-interact in the accomplishment of professionally appropriate conduct. Extensive research shows a strong relationship between professional identity formation and moral motivation as well as evidence that a wellformed identity leads to enhanced competence in the other three capacities measured by the Four Component Model. Finally, this Article puts FCM-based theory and research in the context of the other contributions on professional identity formation in this Symposium issue. The FCM will be shown to provide a theoretical scaffold for putting together pedagogical approaches to identity formation the other symposium authors describe in the context of medical, seminary, and law school education. Further the FCM supports empirically validated measurement tools to determine a baseline for entering students, support formative assessment, and measure outcomes at both the student and institutional level

Educational Programs for Professional Identity Formation: The Role of Social Science Research

This Article on the use of social science research to design, implement, and assess educational programs for the development of professional identity has its origins in the opening presentation made at the 17th Annual Georgia Symposium on Professionalism and Legal Ethics, held on October 7, 2016 at Mercer Law School on the topic Educational Interventions to Cultivate Professional Identity in Law Students. The Mercer Symposium invited speakers from a variety of disciplines to address a series of questions regarding the feasibility and worth of establishing an educational intervention and assessment program to facilitate professional identity formation. This Article begins with a brief summary of initiatives in the legal profession and legal education that laid the foundation for the 2016 Mercer Law Review Symposium. Next, we review social science research illuminating the relationship between education, moral development, and professional identity formation, and explain how that research has been used to design ethics education for professionals that is guided by theory and grounded in evidence. In particular we explain the historical background and decades-long development of the Four Component Model of Morality (FCM) for understanding and measuring how four independent capacities-sensitivity, reasoning, motivation and implementation-interact in the accomplishment of professionally appropriate conduct. Extensive research shows a strong relationship between professional identity formation and moral motivation as well as evidence that a wellformed identity leads to enhanced competence in the other three capacities measured by the Four Component Model. Finally, this Article puts FCM-based theory and research in the context of the other contributions on professional identity formation in this Symposium issue. The FCM will be shown to provide a theoretical scaffold for putting together pedagogical approaches to identity formation the other symposium authors describe in the context of medical, seminary, and law school education. Further the FCM supports empirically validated measurement tools to determine a baseline for entering students, support formative assessment, and measure outcomes at both the student and institutional level

Professional Identity Formation: Can It Be Developed? Is It Sustained Over Time?

This study reports a 20-year follow-up on 90 of 386 dental graduates who completed a well-validated measure of professional identity formation as entering dental students, at graduation, and as a follow-up survey 18-22 years following graduation from a large Midwest Dental School. Respondents also completed a career satisfaction questionnaire. Archival pre and posttest data were available on measures of Rest’s Four Component Model of Morality: ethical sensitivity, moral judgment, and moral implementation. Based on the results, professional identity formation was enhanced by an educational intervention, but only the authority dimension was sustained. Professional identity formation correlated positively with participants’ current career satisfaction, and with moral judgment summary scores