Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach

With the rise of biomedicine and biotechnology, there has been a corresponding growth in the need for better understanding of consequent ethical questions. Increasingly, biologists are being asked not only to offer technical clarifications but also to venture ethical opinions, for which most feel po...

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Autores principales:	Kathleen S. Jagger, Jack Furlong
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2014
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8e42033085dd40b09dd68993a49b245f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8e42033085dd40b09dd68993a49b245f2021-11-15T15:15:36ZInfusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach10.1128/jmbe.v15i2.7831935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/8e42033085dd40b09dd68993a49b245f2014-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v15i2.783https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885With the rise of biomedicine and biotechnology, there has been a corresponding growth in the need for better understanding of consequent ethical questions. Increasingly, biologists are being asked not only to offer technical clarifications but also to venture ethical opinions, for which most feel poorly equipped. This expectation puts pressure on biology instructors at the university level to provide biology majors the skills and experience to discuss with some confidence and competence bioethical issues which may arise in either the workplace or through public discourse in everyday contexts. Many fine curricular resources about bioethics are available for varied pedagogical purposes, but few target undergraduate biology or microbiology student audiences. When it occurs in the context of a course, bioethics instruction often is taught by non-biologists outside standard biology curricula. We propose that biologists should strive to “infuse” bioethical thinking into their courses and major curricula but not in such a way as merely to point at ethical problems, treating them at a surface level. We suggest what we call “vertical infusion”: taking one bioethical issue per course and integrating this issue within the context of a relevant biological topic, challenging students to push their thinking beyond their initial intuitions toward underlying scientific and ethical principles. While the vertical approach lacks widespread coverage of ethical issues throughout a single course, it has the advantage of taking the bioethical dimension seriously and in intimate relation to contemporary discoveries in biology and to the biological principles, processes, or procedures that occasioned the ethical quandaries in the first place.Kathleen S. JaggerJack FurlongAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 15, Iss 2, Pp 213-217 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Kathleen S. Jagger Jack Furlong Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach
description	With the rise of biomedicine and biotechnology, there has been a corresponding growth in the need for better understanding of consequent ethical questions. Increasingly, biologists are being asked not only to offer technical clarifications but also to venture ethical opinions, for which most feel poorly equipped. This expectation puts pressure on biology instructors at the university level to provide biology majors the skills and experience to discuss with some confidence and competence bioethical issues which may arise in either the workplace or through public discourse in everyday contexts. Many fine curricular resources about bioethics are available for varied pedagogical purposes, but few target undergraduate biology or microbiology student audiences. When it occurs in the context of a course, bioethics instruction often is taught by non-biologists outside standard biology curricula. We propose that biologists should strive to “infuse” bioethical thinking into their courses and major curricula but not in such a way as merely to point at ethical problems, treating them at a surface level. We suggest what we call “vertical infusion”: taking one bioethical issue per course and integrating this issue within the context of a relevant biological topic, challenging students to push their thinking beyond their initial intuitions toward underlying scientific and ethical principles. While the vertical approach lacks widespread coverage of ethical issues throughout a single course, it has the advantage of taking the bioethical dimension seriously and in intimate relation to contemporary discoveries in biology and to the biological principles, processes, or procedures that occasioned the ethical quandaries in the first place.
format	article
author	Kathleen S. Jagger Jack Furlong
author_facet	Kathleen S. Jagger Jack Furlong
author_sort	Kathleen S. Jagger
title	Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach
title_short	Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach
title_full	Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach
title_fullStr	Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach
title_full_unstemmed	Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach
title_sort	infusing bioethics into biology and microbiology courses and curricula: a vertical approach
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/8e42033085dd40b09dd68993a49b245f
work_keys_str_mv	AT kathleensjagger infusingbioethicsintobiologyandmicrobiologycoursesandcurriculaaverticalapproach AT jackfurlong infusingbioethicsintobiologyandmicrobiologycoursesandcurriculaaverticalapproach
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Infusing Bioethics into Biology and Microbiology Courses and Curricula: A Vertical Approach

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