Unforeseen Circumstances. An "Unethical" Adventure
A web-based SBL Interactive (was PBL Interactive) scenario. It is freely available for use by other New Zealand Tertiary Institutions either as is, or amended.
The following SBL Interactive (was PBL Interactive) ethics scenario, produced from an AKO funding grant, is now available as a teaching resource to all New Zealand tertiary institutions. This "click-through" scenario is designed to be embedded into a training course on ethics for academic researchers, although it could be adapted for use in an ethics course to students. As every ethics course is different it will require some external scaffolding, but could be used in a number of ways.
The scenario follows the fortunes of research student, Grant Gossman as he first formulates, then executes, a piece of research without due regard for its ethical dimensions. The result is a disaster! During the scenario, the viewer is asked to reflect on the ethical dimensions of Grant's activities with a full ethics analysis provided at the conclusion of the exercise.
Figure 1: A dispairing Grant Gossman after everything has turned to custard!
This scenario can be run directly in a browser from http://sblinteractive.massey.ac.nz, after logging in with the username “ethicsguest” and password “ethics1@”. Alternatively, the source file can be downloaded here (Note: some browsers may rename this file as a zip file. Please rename it as a .scenario file), and can be customised then used with either the client-based SBLi Player or your own Server Edition of SBLi.
Also see Home Improvement: A Distance Course Assessment scenario.
What is PBL-interactive (now SBL Interactive)?
PBL Interactive, the software used to develop the scenario and host it on the web, was made available to all public tertiary institutions in late 2006 as part of the outputs of a TEC sponsored E-learning Collaborative Development Grant (eCDF). Copies are in the main libraries of each institution. Note that since this project was completed, the software has been re-named SBL Interactive (SBLi). More on the eCDF project and where to get SBLi updates can be found at http://pbl.massey.ac.nz.
Unforeseen Circumstances (An "Unethical" Adventure) by Terry Stewart is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License. As the scenario refers to the Massey University Human Ethics Website, it is expected other users will adapt the source file, so it pertains to their own ethics guidelines. This is permitted providing the original credits are included, and a new section is included in the credits giving details of the modification and the modification author under the heading "Adapted by...". The scenario, or adaptations of the scenario must be used for non-commercial purposes only.