Designing and Testing a Measure of Intermediate Level Ethical Concepts.

Abstract

This study describes the steps taken to measure the integrity of an intermediate concept measure and test the assessment strategy of a well-validated dental ethics curriculum. Because this curriculum, which had been in place for 15 years, had consistently been shown to influence moral judgment, it was posited that a cross-sectional comparison between senior dental students and entering freshmen would show the educational effects of the ethics curriculum on intermediate concepts and make it possible to examine whether the acquisition of more general philosophical ideals enhances a student's ability to select appropriate actions and justifications in unfamiliar situations. Using a five-step process, the study presented five cases to 12 dental residents and four faculty, and their action choices and justifications were ranked. These ranked responses were then submitted to a second group consisting of two faculty and three advanced residents. In a final step, 18 teachers of dental ethics were asked to respond to the cases. The findings supported the hypothesis that courses that present intermediate ethical concepts enhance the ability to resolve familiar problems, but transfer to unfamiliar problems depends on whether students understand more advanced conceptual frameworks. Four tables present case data; one sample case is appended. (Contains 28 references.) (CH) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ********************************************************************************

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