Real World

Ethics
Conversation-
Related

started the unit on ethics by presenting students with several scenarios called The Trolley Car Dilemma (above). After reading the
rst dilemma, students answered the questions using a think, pair, share activity. Students had one minute to think about their answer
efore discussing with a peer, then sharing whole class. Many students stated that they think it is better to do option one, killing one
ut saving five. Two students disagreed with the majority of the class. One student stated that pushing the button is murder, it is not
our fault the brakes do not work, but it is your fault if you push the button, this made another student change their answer from
ption one to option two. Students debated on this dilemma for several minutes, debating what they think the right thing to do is.
After, I gave students the second scenario, in this case many students said they would not push the man over the railing, they would
ave one, while letting five die because pushing the man off the bridge is murder, you cannot push someone to their death as one
tudent stated. When I asked students why is it okay to allow five to die in this scenario and not the other, several students explained
hat this scenario is different because you are just pushing a button in the first scenario and pushing the actual man in the second.
ach time a student shared their answer I encourage them to share their reasoning behind why they thought that way. Most students
nswers were based on what they thought was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do.
E
t After the trolley car dilemma, I
introduced students to an article
h that explained the importance of
i ethics. While reading this article my
students became aware of what
c ethics is and what character traits
are connected to ethical behavior. It
s was important for my students to
make the link between ethics and
the character traits listed in the
T article because they have had
exposer to the characteristics before
r and have a better understanding of
a how these traits can fit into their
lives. This article helped students
i get their mind around what it means
to be ethical. After reading the
t article, the students came up with a
s list of traits (right) that describe
someone who is ethical. One
student defined someone who is
ethical as being a good person.
 This student work is from the case-study students completed in pairs
after learning what it meant to be ethical. The questions had students
E share their opinion of the case study, along with having students think
about what they would do if they were in a similar situation. Many
t students shared that they would keep the secret for their friend, even if
h that meant they would get in trouble. The two student responses below
did not agree with the rest of the class, they stated that they would tell
i an the teacher so they would not get in trouble.

c
s

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c
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E Next students were split into small groups and given
t various scenarios. Together they needed to determine
what they would do and what the ethical decision would
h be. To the left are the scenarios along with my notes
from walking around the room and recording students
i conversations. I found that many students were being
c honest, they said what they would do in that situation
even if it was not the ethical thing to do. For example, in
s the scenario at Walmart when the cashier forgot to
charge them for the CD, many students said they would
take the CD because it was not their fault they did not
S pay for the CD, it was the cashiers fault. Even in this
c scenario, just like the others most of groups were able
to identify what the ethical decisions was in each
e scenario.
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P Students were given an online pre-survey before the lesson started
r assessing their knowledge on ethics. When the ethics unit was
e over, students took the same two question survey. Below are the
pre and post survey answers from three students. In the pre-
a survey you can see that the students did not know what being
n ethical meant and could not give a correct example of an ethical
d situation. Compared to the post-survey responses where you can
see students have a better understanding of what being ethical
mean and could give an example of a time someone was ethical.
P
o
s
t Question Pre- Survey Post- Survey
What does Student 1: treat others how you want to be Student 1: Being a good person to others
S being ethical treated Student 2: Knowing the difference between right and
u mean? Student 2: You understand what is being wrong
r said the first time Student 3: Being respectful
v Student 3: Being athletic
e
y Give an Student 1: When DeAndre was being mean Student 1: Helping someone pick something up after
example when Student 2: You dont have to ask questions they dropped something
someone was Student 3: Eating healthy and jogging in Student 2: Telling the teacher when someone does
being ethical. the morning something wrong
Student 3: Following directions the first time they are
given