Learning and Teaching Conference 2016, Buxton

1. The Ethics Challenge
A social learning experience to develop critical thinking and self-reflection
Matthew Bromley, Academic Manager, Professional Executive Education
David Robertshaw, Academic Lead for Nursing, Health and Social Care
M.Bromley@Derby.ac.uk / @mattybrom
D.Robertshaw@Derby.ac.uk / @d_robertshaw

2. Overview
• What is Values Exchange?
• Pedagogic context
• Ethics and values – why?
• Introduce you to Values Exchange and the Ethics Challenge
• How could you use Values Exchange in your teaching?
• How could you use The Ethics Challenge?

3. Values Exchange
• Online communication tool which helps different
professions understand each other
• The Values Exchange is instant, educational,
inclusive, open and detailed
• It involves professionals respectfully and
effectively, helps shared decision making and
builds trust and openness
• Using a series of colourful, interactive screens,
individuals or groups of professionals are able to
think through any issue in depth
• The scenarios can be developed for any focus
and it could be used uni-professionally or
interprofessionally

5. Why ethics and values?
• “Principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what
is important in life”
• “Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the
conducting of an activity.”
• Values-based practice (for example, CSR)
• Values-based recruitment
• Graduate requirements for ethical and values-based students
• Personal leadership

6. Overcoming barriers to learning
• Professional audience
• Students can lack motivation and low self-efficacy
• Often have a sense of isolation, lack of feeling or emotional interaction
• Well documented that teaching online needs a different pedagogical approach
and academic skills (Fetherston, 2001; Anderson, 2008; Salmon, 2013; Beetham
and Sharpe, 2013)
• Luke (2003) described how traditional teaching styles of the industrial era stress
the learning of facts, subject-oriented material, and knowledge over any other
learning process
• These types of interactions subscribe to low-level thinking, limit real world
application, and inhibit problem solving (Boling et al, 2012)
• Values Exchange is a tool to combat these and develop critical thinking skills in
conjunction with attitude and knowledge.

7. Pedagogy
Theory Strategy Course Activities
Experiential Learning (Kolb, 1984),
Situated cognition (Brown, Collins and
Duguid, 1989)
Authentic activities, application to
work/life.
Discussion activities and peer review.
Intrinsic motivation (Ryan and Deci,
2000)
Andragogy (Knowles, 1984)
Flow (Czikzentmihayli, 1990)
Professional learning, embedded in
students occupation or role.
Discussion activities and peer review.
Iterative improvement A series a development challenges Discussion activities and peer review.
Inquiry based learning (Dewey, 1938) Undertake research and build digital
literacy skills
Self directed – find your own answers,
examples
Social construction of knowledge.
(Vygotsky, 1988, Lave and Wenger, 1991)
Constructivism.
Practice giving constructive criticism and
feedback
Peer reviews and discussion
Metacognition (Flavell, 1979)
Individual reflection
Reflect on own thoughts and
assumptions
Reflection of personal standpoint and that
of others.

8. Pedagogy

11. http://derby.vxcommunity.com/Issue/the-bank-note-in-the-bush/22495/Results

12. http://derby.vxcommunity.com/Issue/is-meat-murder/22507

13. What’s in for the students?
• CPD
• Certificate
• Badges
• Analytical and critical thinking skills
• Interprofessional
• Engagement with a world-renowned Professor of Ethics
• It’s Free!

14. What do students think about VX/TEC?
• “I thought this would be interesting but easy. It was definitely
interesting, but not easy. From the 1st challenge I found myself
really thinking about how I felt.”
• “I thoroughly enjoyed the ethical challenges. I had to really take
a step back and think about the issues. There were times when
I felt conflicted, knowing that there were two sides to the issue”
• “I found it was sometimes difficult to find the right words to
express what I was thinking and feeling as well I would have
liked.”
• “Great way to challenge myself and make me think about areas
that I often push to the back unless I have to think about them.”

15. What do students think about VX/TEC?
• “I was not prepared for the challenges, but I was pleasantly surprised at
how much they made me think. I always through myself to be a rational
and logical person when it came to ethical decision making, but I found
myself having to stop and search my true ideals before answering several
times. Especially as the topic got more and more challenging.”
• “All in all, I greatly appreciated taking part in these challenges and cannot
wait for the second part to come out so I can get involved again! I wonder
if it might prove beneficial to offer ethics courses such as these to students
in all programs as a core module. It benefits an individual to understand
and test their own convictions as well as the reasons and thinking
processes behind them. Thank you!”
• “I found myself feeling like I needed to 'champion the underdog' but then
feeling like I was letting my heart rule my head. And found myself
wondering what were my real feelings.”

16. What do students think about VX/TEC?
• “I found it was sometimes difficult to find the right words to
express what I was thinking and feeling as well I would have
liked. It was really interesting to interact with a wide range of
people with different experiences and points of view from my on
and I have enjoyed the experience”
• “Instructors, designers and online educators did here a damn
good job and the flexibility of online learning is for sure as a
positive factor. I am finishing now my degree in January at
Derby but it will help me with my Master to think more critically
and it would had help me by a lot of assignments.”

17. Summary
• How could you see this being used in your teaching?
• Would you be interested in using the Ethics Challenge for your
students? (it’s free!)
• To find out more visit derby.vxcommunity.com

18. Questions