Team-Based Learning Instruction for Responsible Conduct of Research Positively Impacts Ethical Decision-Making

Abstract

Common practices for responsible conduct of research (RCR) instruction have recently been shown to have no positive impact on and possibly to undermine ethical decision-making (EDM). We show that a team-based learning (TBL) RCR curriculum results in some gains in decision ethicality, the use of more helpful metacognitive reasoning strategies in decision-making, and elimination of most negative effects of other forms of RCR instruction on social–behavioral responses. TBL supports the reasoning strategies and social mechanisms that underlie EDM and ethics instruction, and may provide a more effective method for RCR instruction than lectures and small group discussion.

Keywords:

• ethical decision-making
• responsible conduct of research
• team-based learning

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Alison Antes, Zhanna Bagdasarov, and Michael Mumford for sharing the EDM measures, scoring keys, and helpful discussions, and Margaret Wallace for critical review of the manuscript. This work was supported in part by the NIH/NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Award to the University of Florida UL1 TR000064.