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

Activity 7:Using Ethical Considerations to AnalyzeCarl’s CaseEstimated Time: 15 minutes1Procedure1. Tell students that they will now consider how these four ethicalconsiderations apply to Carl’s case. Pose the following questionsfor reflection. Ask students to simply listen and not answer at thispoint. The questions will help them think about Carl’s case.2Respect for Persons• Should society respect a person’s choice to use an enhancementtechnology even when doing so will negatively affect theperson’s health?Harms and Benefits• Are enhancements harmful or beneficial to individuals whouse them?• Are enhancements harmful or beneficial to society whenindividuals use them?Fairness• Is it fair for an individual to use an enhancement?• Does fairness require that everyone in society have equal access toenhancements?Authenticity• Does using enhancements in sports performance violate whatpeople most value about sports?34See Teacher Support MaterialsThese Activity 7 ethical-consideration questions for Carl’scase are available online and can be displayed on atransparency: http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/bioethics/teacher.2. Assign each group of four students one of the ethicalconsiderations, and tell them to circle the name of thatconsideration on their large piece of paper.3. Ask each group to think about arguments either for or againstCarl taking the steroids, based on the ethical consideration theywere assigned. Ask each group to have one person record theseideas in the appropriate quadrant on their large sheet of paper.Give students three to four minutes to discuss their ideas. Possibleresponses include the following:Module 1 1-2956