Ethics Education Workshop Presentation - Wendy Williams

Presentation Summary

Needs and Issues for Ethics Education in Scientific and Engineering Research

Designing Postdoc RCR Training Programs that Emphasize Knowledge Application Rather than Knowledge Acquisition The America COMPETES Act HR2722 requires institutions and investigators requesting funding from the National Science Foundation to provide a description of mentoring activities and a plan for ethics instruction. This act affords us the opportunity to reconsider the effectiveness of RCR training on actual decision-making in crisis situations.

Traditional RCR “training” (which includes mentoring as recommended by NIH) alone is not enough. Current RCR training approaches provide instruction and introduce postdocs to RCR topics but may not be designed to impact the ability of a trainee to make an ethically sound decision or judgment down the road when faced with a dilemma. I suggest that designing RCR courses with greater emphasis on knowledge application or putting new knowledge into practice in the scientific environment may be a more effective approach. Integrating knowledge application in RCR instruction can be achieved using the following strategies:

• Include faculty and institutional RCR champions in the delivery of training.
• Structure the course to promote and encourage relationship and communitybuilding between postdocs and faculty mentors. Allow time for networking and socializing.
• Establish a positive, nonjudgmental learning environment that conveys the message that this is a “safe place” to share.
• Reduce the amount of lecture and include activities that promote interactivity and open and honest dialogue.
• Encourage attendees to maintain relationships beyond the formal training experience, even identifying ethical partners or “buddies” with peers and/or faculty.
• Avoid the “information dump” as a content delivery method. Instead, present institutional contacts and resources (internal and external).
• Tailor RCR topics to foster professional development (i.e. communication and difficult conversations as recommended by the National Postdoctoral Association).

Redirecting RCR instruction away from knowledge acquisition solely and towards knowledge application through relationship-building and “comfortable” communication should improve an individual’s ability to manage the decision-making process during crisis points. It may even encourage a trainee to seek the counsel of a peer or mentor who participated in the course or use established RCR relationships to vet potentially damaging situations. The goal of RCR education should be to help postdocs navigate the gray areas often associated with the conduct of research. Adoption of a more organic approach to RCR training and education should accomplish this goal and may even
induce a paradigm shift in the research culture; a shift from a closed, insular, isolated culture to an open, candid, informed one.