A Case for Transformative Learning in Medical Ethics Education

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Ethics Education
• Higher Education Pedagogy

Background:

• Medical ethics education in higher education predominantly utilizes discussion and case study formats.
• Existing teaching methods face challenges in achieving complex educational objectives, particularly in student assessment and evaluation.
• Current output-oriented evaluation paradigms focusing on quantified student performance are inadequate for capturing the nuances of ethics learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the current state of medical ethics education and its assessment methods.
• To identify shortcomings in existing pedagogical approaches for teaching and assessing ethics.
• To propose a novel approach for evaluating teaching methods and assessing ethics learning, drawing from preparatory activity-focused educational traditions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of current practices in medical ethics education within higher education settings.
• Critique of existing assessment paradigms and their limitations in evaluating ethics learning.
• Development of a new evaluation framework based on preparatory activities.

Main Results:

• Traditional methods like discussion and case studies are insufficient for comprehensive ethics education assessment.
• A significant gap exists in the development and implementation of innovative teaching and assessment strategies.
• The proposed approach offers a more adequate framework for evaluating both teaching methods and student learning in ethics.

Conclusions:

• There is a pressing need for innovative approaches in medical ethics education to improve teaching and assessment.
• Current assessment methods fail to capture the depth of ethics learning, necessitating a shift in evaluation paradigms.
• The study advocates for a new framework that better evaluates the learning of ethics through preparatory activities.