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The Ethics of Evaluating Instructional Computing
Marvin J. Croy
- Introduction
- 1. Moor’s Analysis
- 2. Overall’s Analysis
- 3. Considerations of these Analyses
- 3.1 Equal Educational Opportunity
- 3.2 Optimum Instruction
- 3.3 Informed Consent and Student Obligation
- 4. Minimizing the Risks to Students
- 5. Summation
- End Notes
- References
Overall and Moor have each raised relevant questions and made valuable suggestions concerning the ethical problems involved in evaluating educational innovations. The conclusions drawn here, while differing from their suggestions at various points, have the benefit of their analyses. Perhaps the primary conclusion to be drawn is that controlled evaluations of educational innovations are not ruled out by appeals to student rights or the instructor’s responsibility for providing optimum instruction. The choice between controlled studies and the pre/post comparisons suggested by Overall should be made according to the reliability of the evidence required. This in turn should be determined by the extent of educational change introduced. Moor is correct in asserting that there are some cases in which controlled evaluations are appropriate. When these evaluations are carried out, however, students should be asked for their consent. Overall’s insistence on the value of informed consent is justified, and it is important that the request for informed consent be genuine. Students not wishing to participate in such studies should be allowed to remain in the course without jeopardizing either their grade or learning. In addition, Moor’s proposal to compensate for any loss of grade or learning should be adopted. Students are not obligated to serve as subjects in these controlled evaluations, but this claim is best founded upon the aims of education rather than consumer rights or the fact that current students will not directly benefit. Ways of reducing the risks to students involved in instructional research should be actively pursued and implemented wherever feasible even if that reduction is slight.
Professional educators have a responsibility to ensure that
their techniques of instruction are effective and to continually strive
to improve their efforts. Neither of these responsibilities necessitate
the execution of controlled experiments or the introduction of revolutionary
innovations. Most educators fulfill their responsibilities in these respects
through more mundane yet admirable efforts. However, more radical endeavors
are not ethically precluded and can be implemented and evaluated in ways
that respect the concerns of both teachers and students and the purposes
for which they have come together. Computers certainly have the potential
for radically transforming the educational process. In whatever forms
that potential is actualized, the empirical consequences and ethical value
of that transformation should be carefully assessed.(22)
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
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