Writing an Ethics Case: A Group Project

In class we have made some use of cases written by students and faculty of Santa Clara University.  The cases were placed someone before a difficult ethical decision in a real life situation.   Our task in the next two classes will be to write an ethics case based on our own experiences.  We will break into small groups and each group will write a case.  After finishing the project, we will use them as the basis of discussion in class.

Step 1: Brainstorm

What are ethical dilemmas that possibly could confront you as a student, as young person, as a son or daughter, as a citizen?  Brainstorm a list of five to ten possibilities.   The dilemmas should be personal and contemporary.  The situations should be real, not commonplace situations that others will evaluate in a quick and simple way.  It can be a dilemma you have encountered. 

As you evaluate the list of dilemmas to select one for development, eliminate the ones for which you have no personal experience or for which you have no personal familiarity through another person.  Choose a compelling problem that is difficult to decide.  

Step 2: Write a rough draft

Write a rough draft.  Make clear these three elements:

1.       Who is the protagonist?

2.       What issue does he or she face?

3.       What circumstances complicate the situation?

Step 3: Refine the story and think of two questions

Now revise and edit the story.  What details could bring out more nuances or complexity?  Is the choice too clear-cut?  Think of two questions that will stimulate thought.

Step 4: Turn in everything and post on the blog

Turn in your brainstorming, your rough draft, and your finished case.  Post your case on the class blog with the first names of all the people in your group. 

TOK Essay: Final Checklist

At this point I have read the first drafts of the TOK Essay and forwarded my commentary.  Next week we will spend a class or two in individual conferences so that I can explain my comments, if this is necessary. Then we will move forward in the last classes of the Ethics unit.

The final draft of the TOK Essay will be uploaded to the IBO website on January 21 (January 22 if your section is on that day).

Before submitting the final draft of the TOK Essay, let's look at some questions to evaluate your final draft.

Introduction

• Did you derive a knowledge issue directly related to the prescribed title?
• Did you directly answer the question posed in the prescribed title?
• Did you specify the ways of knowing or areas of knowledge that you will focus upon?
• Did you articulate the thesis you will argue?
• Does the reader have an idea of the path you will take in the argument?
• Is your introduction brief and concise?  Is every word necessary?

Body

• Have you defined key terms?
• Do not use a standard dictionary or a TOK textbook for definitions!
• Is your paper structured as an argument (a debate)? 
• Are you arguing your thesis consistently?
• Are you making assertions?
• Do you have reasons?
• Do you have evidence?
• Have you included strong counterarguments?
• Have you refuted the counterarguments?
• Have you considered other perspectives (e.g., cultural, philosophical, academic, gender, etc.)?
• Have you demonstrated an understanding of the complexity of the issue?
• Are you making distinctions within the ways of knowing or areas of knowledge?
• Are you making connections to the ways of knowing or areas of knowledge?
• Have you related the knowledge issue to your own life?  
• Are your examples personal or are they clichés? 
• Have you compared and contrasted the results of your analysis of an issue involving two areas of knowledge or ways of knowing?  Have you unwittingly written two short unrelated essays about a knowledge issue in two areas of knowledge or ways of knowing? 
• Have you identified the implications or assumptions of your argument?  In other words, do you clearly see where your argument comes from and where it is going?
• Have you cited the sources for specific information?  Are the sources in correct format (as used in the Extended Essay)?  Do you also have a bibliography in correct format? (Nota Bene: not all essays need sources)
• Is your language clear?  Are you consistently using TOK terms (claim, issue, belief, knowledge, et al.)?
• Have you signposted for the reader?  Have you explicitly made clear the elements of your argument and your consideration of counterarguments?

 Conclusion

• Have you properly summarized your findings?
• Have you explained what your argument has established?

Final Considerations

• Have you met the word limit (1200-1600 words)?
• Do you have 12 point font?
• Have you double-spaced the text?
• Have you put the prescribed title at the top of the first page?

A Last Word on Authenticity

The TOK Essay must be entirely your own work.  Teachers, tutors, or family members are not permitted to revise or edit the essay.  The course guide for the Theory of Knowledge stipulates:

If a preliminary draft is produced, the teacher may read and comment on it, but is not permitted to edit it for the student. Only one draft may be presented to the teacher before the final essay is submitted. In general, teachers’ comments should be about the essay as a whole, although it is acceptable to question or comment upon a particular paragraph. Where a student is writing in a second or third language, more flexibility may be appropriate: for example, the teacher may indicate that a particular sentence or word usage is difficult for the reader. However, here as elsewhere, it is the student’s responsibility to correct mistakes and make improvements.

Authenticity

Teachers must ensure that essays are the student’s own work. If there is doubt, authenticity should be checked by a discussion with the student about the content of the essay submitted and a scrutiny of one or more of the following:

• the student’s initial proposal and outline
• the first draft of the essay
• the student’s references and bibliography for the essay, where appropriate
• the style of the writing, which may reveal obvious discrepancies.

It should be made clear to students that they will be required to sign a written declaration when submitting the essay, to confirm that it is their own work. In addition, students must be made aware that their teachers will also be required to verify the claim made in the declaration.