The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (the Bioethics Commission) recently posted a recording of its recent webinar, Advancing Bioethics Education; the webinar served as an introduction to the Bioethics Commission’s new pedagogical materials. Executive Director Lisa M. Lee, Associate Directors Kayte Spector-Bagdady and Michelle Groman, and Research Analyst Misti Ault Anderson provided an overview of the available materials and discussed potential ways to implement them in an educational setting.
Providing easily accessible and free materials based on the Bioethics Commission’s own analysis is an effort to help meet the recommendations the advisors have made repeatedly that, given the multidisciplinary nature of science and research, bioethics education should be available to a wide variety of disciplines at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. The materials can also be used in continuing education and professional training courses, in graduate or professional school seminars, and in workplace discussion, IRB training, and other sessions.
The pedagogical materials comprise two approaches: a report-specific approach and topic-oriented approach. The topic-based modules are designed to offer maximum flexibility for integration into existing courses or for use as stand-alone curricula. The materials are not intended to provide a comprehensive bioethics curriculum; rather, they complement a teaching strategy with contemporary examples of real-life ethical challenges addressed by a presidential commission.
If you have any questions or comments about the educational materials, or the webinar, please email education@bioethics.gov. Also, be sure to follow the Bioethics Commission on Twitter, @bioethicsgov, for more updates.
