Exploring Bioethics - NIH Office of Science Education - National ...

Prompts to encourage students to reflect on theirreasons for a position• “Why do you think that?”• “What if we change one element of this scenario—would your thinking remain the same? Why?Why not?”• “Are there any exceptions to the belief you havejust expressed? What would make an exceptionjustifiable in your mind?”Table 2 is meant to help guide you through potentiallydifficult situations in classroom discussions of bioethics.Specific suggestions for what you might say in a particularsituation are aligned horizontally. It is very importantto remember that you are helping students articulatetheir reasons, not seeking to build consensus in the classroomor to necessarily change students’ minds.You are helping students articulate their reasons,not seeking to build consensus or to necessarilychange students’ minds.Table 2. Tips for Conducting Ethics DiscussionsTable 2a. Some students are dominating the discussion.How You Might RespondRemind the class that all students need to have theirvoices heard. If you and your students established normsfor classroom discussion earlier, revisit those norms.• If hand raising is important to you, explain why.• Remind students that you won’t necessarily call on thefirst person to raise his or her hand so that you canbalance contributions from different students.Give each student a certain number of plastic chips; eachchip represents one chance to say something in a full-classdiscussion.Set up a comment box so that students have a way tocontribute without always saying their comments aloud infront of the whole class. The next day, post the commentson the wall or start the class period by reading a few aloud.Examples of What You Might Say“Our discussions will be more powerful if all voices areheard. I’d like to pause and ask for contributions frompeople who haven’t yet had a chance to participate.”“I ask you to raise your hand so that there are pauses duringwhich all students can formulate responses. Sometimes,you’ll find that you have a response right away, andother times, you’ll appreciate a few moments to stop andthink. If people are calling out responses, it’s too difficultfor others to thoughtfully consider a question or topic ontheir own.”“You have three chips in front of you. Each time youadd something to the full-class discussion, place one chipaside. Use this as a guide so that no one dominates theclass discussion.”“If you have a very important fourth comment, add it, butknow that you need to carefully monitor how often youspeak so that everyone gets a chance to participate. Usethis box to add your additional good ideas. I’ll post themfor everyone to see.”16 Exploring Bioethics