This patient education program explains clinical trials and answers some frequently asked questions. This is a MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine, designed and developed by the Patient Education Institute.
This module reports on a faculty workshop in research ethics held for the NSF grant, Graduate Education in Research Ethics for Scientists and Engineers. The workshop, held January 30, 2009, assessed the project's framework and its components for a program in research ethics for graduate students. It also raised the issue of whether and how research ethics oculd be institutionalized at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. This module is also being developed as a part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation, "Collaborative Development of Ethics Across the Curriculum Resources and Sharing of Best Practices," NSF-SES-0551779.
Upon entering UPRM, graduate students will participate in an awareness workshop that introduces basic ethical issues and concepts pertinent to research activities. A Pre-Test involving discussion of scenarios in research ethics will be followed by a lecture that defines key concepts and situates the fundamental problems of research ethics in its "Three Capital Sins," i.e., fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. Integrated into this part of the workshop is a demonstration of the intrinsic connection between science and ethics. This workshop closes with a Post-Test designed to measure and assess any changes in student awareness.
Graduate students will participate in a follow up workshop during their second semester of study that will be designed to add skills of ethical evaluation to those of ethical awareness. This workshop will advance on the first workshop (Graduate Awareness Workshop) through presentations of a taxonomy of ethical issues in research called the "Double Axiological Axis" and through a framework that integrates teleology and deontology to enable students to introduce ethical theory and principle into moral deliberation. Students will practice the skills presupposed by these presented materials by deliberating on a case in research ethics that has been chosen because it presents a conflict between moral considerations. Students will be guided through the process of identifying the conflicting moral elements and designing ethically acceptable courses of action. This workshop will target the skill of ethical evaluation and be assessed in terms of the success of the participants in resolving the conflict posed by the case over which they deliberate.
This course develops skills in research design for policy analysis and planning. The emphasis is on the logic of the research process and its constituent elements. The course relies on a seminar format so students are expected to read all of the assigned materials and come to class prepared to discuss key themes, ideas, and controversies. Since the materials draw broadly on the social sciences, and since students have diverse interests and methodological preferences, ongoing themes in our discussions will be linking concepts to planning scholarship in general and considering how different epistemological orientations and methodological techniques map on to planning specializations.
Scientists throughout the world are increasingly interested in the relationship between science and society. Part of their concern is with the social responsibilities scientists have in relation to broader public interests. That raises important issues to do with the ethical and social dimension of scientists' work and how scientists explain – and perhaps justify – their work to the wider public.
This video explores the basic scientific and ethical questions surrounding the use of stem cells in medical research.
