The Development and Assessment of an NIH-Funded Research Ethics Training Program

Abstract

In an effort to increase the number of researchers with skills "in identifying and addressing the ethical, legal, and social implications of their research," the National Institutes of Health (NIH) solicited training grant proposals from 1999 to 2004 and subsequently funded approved programs. The authors describe the content, format, and outcomes of one such training program that ran from 2002 to 2006 and share key lessons learned about program formats and assessment methods. Jointly developed by the Saint Louis University Center for Health Care Ethics and the Missouri Institute of Mental Health Continuing Education department, the training program focused on mental health research and adopted a train-the-trainer model. It was offered in on-site and distance-learning formats. Key outcomes of the program included educational products (such as 70 case studies posted on the course Web site, a textbook, and an instructional DVD) and program completion by 40 trainees. Assessment involved pre- and posttesting focused on knowledge of research ethics, ethical problem-solving skills, and levels of confidence in addressing ethical issues in mental health research. The program succeeded in increasing participants' knowledge of ethical issues and their beliefs that they could identify issues, identify problem-solving resources, and solve ethical problems. However, scores on the case-based problem-solving assessment dropped in posttesting, apparently because of diminished confidence about the right course of action in the specific dilemma presented; the implications of this finding for ethics assessment are discussed. Overall satisfaction was high, and dropout rates were low but three times higher for distance-learners than for on-site participants.

Perspective

“…20 However, surveys of trainees and early-and midcourse scientists who have taken such courses have found that although these programs increased the participants' knowledge of ethical issues and their ability to identify them, they were unlikely to affect their future behavior. 3,[21][22][23][24] As simply stated by a participant in one of these studies: "In most cases, I believe a person is ethical or not. I feel that if a person chooses to do something unethical it's not because they never took an ethics class."…”

In search of attributes that support self-regulation in blended learning environments

“…Artino (2009a) and DuBois et al (2008) observed using an experiment that a lack of interaction results in a decrease in engagement and satisfaction and an increase in drop-out risk. In summary, it can be observed that the publications retrieved report positively on the influence of social interaction for increasing cognitive (e.g., Siampou et al 2014), metacognitive (e.g., Kuo et al 2012) and motivational e.g., Lin et al (2012) learner variables.…”

“…We retained 70 publications that appear to centre around interaction (e.g., Alant and Dada 2005;Chen 2014;Clark et al 2015;DuBois et al 2008;Gomez et al 2010;Ho and Dzeng 2010;Liaw et al 2010;Lin et al 2012;Ma 2012;Siampou et al 2014;Ting 2013;Xie et al 2013). These publications describe interaction as the involvement of learners with elements in the learning environment, including content (learning materials, object, etc.…”

Biomedical ethics education may benefit from integrating compliance and analysis approaches

“…In analytical ethics-education programs, ethical issues are not held to be fully defined by the profession 8,9 . Thus, in these programs,…”