Abstract
As web instruction becomes more and more prevalent at universities across the country, instructors of ethics are being encouraged to develop online courses to meet the needs of a diverse array of students. Web instruction is often viewed as a cost-saving technique, where large numbers of students can be reached by distance education in an effort to conserve classroom and instructor resources. In practice, however, the reverse is often true: online courses require more of faculty time and effort than do many traditional classes. Based on personal experience teaching an online course in health care ethics for students in the Allied Health Professions, it is evident that there are both benefits and challenges in teaching online courses, particularly in ethics. Examples of benefits are (1) the asynchronous nature of web instruction allows students to progress through the course at their own pace and at times that are convenient given their clinical responsibilities; (2) web courses allow for a standardization of content and quality of instruction over a diversity of programs; and (3) examples can be tailored to the differing experiences of students in the course. Some challenges to teaching online ethics courses include (1) the fact that online instruction benefits visual learners and disadvantages those lacking good reading comprehension or strong writing skills; (2) developing meaningful student-student and student-instructor interaction; and (3) teaching ethics involves teaching a process rather than a product. Allowing students to apply their knowledge to real-world cases in their disciplines and encouraging them to share experiences from clinical practice is an effective way to meet several of these challenges. Building an online community is another good way to increase the interaction of students and their engagement with the material.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beffa-Negrini, P.A., Cohen, N.L. and Miller, B. (2002) Strategies to Motivate Students in Online Learning Environments. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 34: 334–40.
Christianson, L.A., Tiene, D., and Luft, P. (2002) Web-Based Teaching in Undergraduate Nursing Programs. Nurse Educator 27/6: 276–82.
Cravener, P.A. (1999) Faculty Experiences With Providing Online Courses: Thorns Among the Roses. Computers in Nursing 17/1: 42–47.
Grimes, E.B. (2002) Student Perceptions of an Online Dental Terminology Course. Journal of Dental Education 66/1: 100–107.
Sekikawa, A., Aaron, D.J., Acosta, B., Sa, E., and LaPorte, R.E. (2001) Does the Perception of Downloading Speed Influence the Evaluation of Web-Based Lectures? Public Health 115:152–56.
Halstead, J.A. (2000) Implementing Web-Based Instruction in a School of Nursing: Implications for Faculty and Students. Journal of Professional Nursing 16/5: 273–81.
Gwele, N.S. (2000) Online Teaching and Learning in a Graduate Course in Nursing Education. Curationis 23/3: 20–25.
Cuellar, N. (2002) The Transition From Classroom to Online Teaching. Nursing Forum 37/3: 5–13.
Morris, N., Buck-Rolland, C. and Gagne, M. (2002) From Bricks to Bytes: Faculty and Student Perspectives of Online Graduate Nursing Courses. Computers, Informatics, Nursing 20/3: 108–14.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schonfeld, T.L. Reflections on teaching health care ethics on the web. SCI ENG ETHICS 11, 481–494 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-005-0018-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-005-0018-z