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Hello all:

Earlier this year there was some discussion about the difficulties of developing a good way to measure the development of ethical awareness and learning in MBA or undergrad programs for the purposes of the AACSB Assurance of Learning process.   I thought George Watson made some very good points about this and I have posted his comments below.  Nevertheless, I am wondering if anyone has come up with any new ideas for doing this.  If so, could you please let me know what you are doing.

At Virginia Tech we have been requiring students to analyze a HBS case on Shell Oil in Nigeria in their capstone strategy course without any prompting to consider the ethical issues involved.  Unfortunately, many students don't even mention the ethical issues involved although those who do tend to do a good job of analyzing them.  Obviously we would get greater awareness of the ethical dimensions of the case if we administered this in our ethics course but we want students to consider the ethical dimensions of issues in all of their courses.  We have been experimenting with ways to better integrate ethics instruction into other courses and are continuing to do so despite the numerous logistical and political issues involved with this.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards, Rich Wokutch

Richard E. Wokutch
Pamplin Professor of Management

Department of Management (0233)
2017 Pamplin Hall
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061 

wokutch@vt.edu

ph: (540) 231-5084
fax: (540) 231-3076

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From: sbe-bounces@mailman.depaul.edu [mailto:sbe-bounces@mailman.depaul.edu] On Behalf Of George Watson
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 11:47 AM
To: Dr. Robert M. Krug; SBE
Subject: Re: [Sbe] Pre/post ethics assessment for students

Hmmm.

I don't think you are going to find anything that is especially useful --- some will argue for this inventory/test or that (the DIT-2 for example).  But as we now understand, even if a person is able to conjure up a faint rational vision of what should be done, he or she is still a far way from doing "it" and many other variables will play a part in the ultimate outcome.

So, this has been an interesting question for some years now.  I think one has to begin with an understanding that "ethics" is not a monolithic idea or construct.  It is so multidimensional that the first goal will be to decide what it is you want to measure within the concept as it applies, I assume, to organizational life: cognitive abilities? sensitivity? imagination? decision making? approbation, or perhaps moral intuition? It will sound cynical, but if you are uncertain about these constructs, it is just as well to administer one of the new measures of functional psychopathy and see whether your program has made them "healthier" or "sicker"!  The assumption being that psychopathy underlies, to some extent, the major forms of disregard for human welfare.

Step two is deciding what level of "learning" will satisfy you and your colleagues.  Are you OK with the very bottom of Bloom's taxonomy -- where students merely parrot back, for example,  the difference between rule and act utilitarians.  Or are you interested in something more indicative that you have made a difference -- such as whether the student, without prompting, recognizes the stakeholders and acts to consider their interests and welfare?  Or more comprehensive; whether the student can do the above but also integrate quantitative skills, functional knowledge and moral sense in order to calculate a reasonable probability that a coal mine will (or will not) collapse, allowing the student to make what must be seen as a "assessment" decision.  

Step three is deciding what to do when your students fail to live up to any level of learning above the bottom rung of Bloom's taxonomy.  For better or worse, I believe that involves your entire faculty.  The problem simply stated:  if a student learns, in his/her foundation courses, to optimize operational processes, or to make financial, marketing or management decisions without considering social or moral implications, than your ethics course(s) will become an effort to remediate that set of  "people-ignoring" values.  However, if you have a feedback mechanism that allows "receptive" instructors in the foundation courses to see where students are not living up to your program's goals for ethical reasoning or behavior, then you have a shot at continually advancing a stronger understanding of the issues by students and faculty. 

I know this does you very little practical good. I am sorry for that. If I knew more I would pass it on.  But quite frankly, at my school, not unlike many other schools, there is precious little enthusiasm for this kind of work.  One's better off suggesting matching assessment results to grades; an A = exceeds, B's and C's = meet, the rest are below.  It's unlikely the AACSB will criticize you for that, administrators have their numbers, and you are not at odds with you colleagues' academic freedom to approach their learning objectives they way they "always" have. 

Good sailing -- G Watson

On 03/03/12, "Dr. Robert M. Krug" <rkrug@sjcny.edu> wrote:

A friend asked a question about ethics student assessment.  Would anyone know of such a standard assessment tool.  His question follows.  Thank you.

Bob Krug

St. Joseph's College

Are you aware of a pre/post ethics assessment that is applicable for MBA students. We are desiring to assess the students when they enter the program and then when they leave to see if we are impacting ethical development and applications. We will use this to measure a component of AACSB accreditation and Assurance of Learning.