Reflecting on the use and abuse of scientific data facilitates students? ethical and epistemological development

Abstract

Scientists use judgment in deciding what and how much data topresent in publications but science degrees rarely address this issue.Instead, scientific knowledge is presented as certain and studentshave limited opportunities to use their own judgment in the labora-tory. A consequence of this may be that students approach sciencewith a moral absolutist mindset, believing that science is about learn-ing facts and scientists have little need to exercise ethical judgmentsin relation to data. Students may also hold different ethical standardsfor themselves and professional scientists. We draw on data froma first-year science module to show that these views can be chal-lenged by encouraging students to reflect on their own behavior andthat of famous scientists in situations with varying degrees of profes-sional ethical ambiguity. We provide evidence of significant transi-tions in students’ thinking, suggesting that reflection on these issuesmay lead to substantial epistemological and ethical development. Bythe end of the module, many students had moved from an initial posi-tion of certainty to the acceptance of multiple viewpoints or to amore mature understanding of the evidence-based nature of science,as well as gaining the ability to critique decisions and make ethicaljudgments.