This award is made under Ethics Education in Science and Engineering Program (NSF06-524). "EESE: Role-Play Scenarios for Teaching Responsible Conduct of Research". The project will develop and assess role-play scenarios to teach central topics in the responsible conduct of research to graduate students in science and engineering. Together the scenarios will cover plagiarism, authorship, conflict of interest, interpersonal conflicts in mentoring, and concerns about compliance with research regulations on human participants in research, animal subjects, or hazardous substances. Two scenarios will present potential whistle blowing situations. Few previous studies have carefully assessed the effectiveness of role-play in teaching ethics. The project will conduct a rigorous, systematic assessment of role-play, using multiple methods, with a diverse group of graduate students. It will examine whether role-play helps students identify moral issues in research, understand multiple perspectives in ethical disputes, and negotiate practical solutions to moral problems.
