The figure below provides an EAC Matrix used at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez in the College of Business Administration. It also separates the objectives mentioned just above into primary and secondary areas of focus. Later, in an assessment process to be carried out spring 2007, this module will be assessed and the actual outcomes will be added in a revision of this instructor module.
Pirate code student module matrix
This matrix identifies the learning objectives of the corresponding student module by cross referencing the moral development objectives, with AACSB accreditation criteria and the curricular space the module fills.
Instructional / pedagogical strategies
Which pedagogical or instructional strategies are used or suggested for this module. (For example: Discussion/Debate, Decision-Making Exercise, Presentation, Dramatization or Role Playing, Group Task, Formal or Informal Writing, Readings, among others)
This module employs the following pedagogical strategies:
Informal Writing : Students can prepare for this activity by reading the Pirate Credo and writing out a response to exercise 1.
General Class Discussion : The class can, as a whole, react to and discuss the pirate credo. For more information on how to lead class discussions, consult Computing Cases. (See link above.)
Cooperative Learning : Students form small groups to write codes, statements of values, and to discuss existing practical and professional codes. Groups that write codes debrief on them to the class and react, as groups, to the debriefing of other groups.
Eliciting Knowledge : Instructors can use student reactions to the pirate credo to show students that codes serve different functions, embody values, and send different messages to different constituents. They can also underline general points about the structures of codes as these are characterized in the student codes. In this way, knowledge is elicited from the activities of the students.
Pre-Module Skills : Students need some understanding of ethical theory in order to be able to criticize the Pirate Credo and existing practical and professional codes.
Module Debriefing : An effective way for an instructor to debrief students on this module is to have them look at existing professional codes such as the code of the Puerto Rico State Society of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Material is provided in the student module to facilitate this reflection. By coming to a code of ethics after having discussed the pirate credo and have written their own, student are less likely to take everything on faith.
Practice Critical Thinking : Summaries of criticisms of codes are provided in the module to help encourage students to think critically about codes, most especially their own codes. Having them write codes also clues them into possibilities for revising existing codes.
Assessment / assurance of learning
What assessment or assurance of learning methods are used or suggested for this module? (For example: 1-minute paper, Muddiest Point, Quiz/Test Items, Oral Presentation, Student Feed-back, among others). What did or didn't work?
Module assessment strategies
The figures below provide handouts for assessing this module. Furthermore, this module can be assessed by the quality of the codes prepared by the groups and by the informal writing that introduces this module.
Muddiest point assessment form
The attached word document provides a handout to assess this module in terms of its weakest and strongest points.
Module assessment form
This figure contains an assessment handout, a modification of a form developed by Michael Davis for IIT EAC workshops.
Pedagogical commentary
Any comments or questions regarding this module? (For example: suggestions to authors, suggestions to instructors (how-to), queries or comments directed o EAC community, pitfalls or frustrations, novel ideas/approaches/uses, etc.)
Pedagogical comments
The key to this module is to take the instructor off the stage and put the students in her place by using different strategies of active learning. The primary objection to teaching codes is that they deprive moral agents of moral autonomy. The response is to have students confront codes in the active mode. This module achieves this objective by having students view a bad code and then write their own. Armed with this critical apparatus, then--and only then--do they confront existing practical and professional codes.
The other item of note with this module is the possibility of variations on a theme. This module has already been put to several uses such as classes in ethics, faculty workshops, and humanities classes. The key to understanding and grouping these variations is recognizing that this activity can be moulded around different learning objectives such as developing skills in conflict resolution (in faculty workshops), understanding key components of codes (in ethics classes), and practicing critical thinking (in high school and Humanities classes).
Appendix (annotated)
Additional information or annotations for instructors regarding the Student Module Appendix
