Project-based learning in bioethics education

Abstract

Higher education has become more student-centered as the Bologna process assigns students more time to study and research. Online teaching has been needed during the pandemic, which can be challenging regarding didactic and assessment. This paper analyzes project-based learning (PBL) as a form of teaching and assessing students in a bioethics course on reproductive ethics. The team project was the final assessment of the Faculty of Bioethics core curriculum course, "Bioethics, Technology and Procreation,” offered to two student groups in the 2019–2020 school year. The analysis of the results of PBL is descriptive qualitative with semi-quantitative data from student feedback. Forty students were presented with a detailed methodology of team projects and were encouraged to form teams of 3 to 5. They need to develop a team project with creativity and pastoral sensibility that will communicate the content assimilated in class to a selected target audience, with adequate means to measure the impact of their project on their target. Thirty-eight students formed ten teams and presented ten projects. Each team had 2–4 encounters with the professor and 6–10 encounters among team members. Six of the ten projects were categorized as didactic, three mediatic, one didactic-mediatic and 0 artistic. The grades of this final assignment ranged from 7 to 10, with an average of 8.7 out of 10. The survey feedback demonstrated high satisfaction, as students discovered new values in teamwork and pastoral applications. However, this innovation can be more time-consuming for the professor and the students, requiring more significant time management, teamwork and communication competency.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Course syllabus (abridged for this publication)

Description: This course seeks to help the students understand the issues and debates surrounding infertility and ART. The student should assimilate the scientific data, the ethical positions, and the challenges of a secular mindset on these issues. Learning is attained through lessons, team and individual assignments, forums, debates and presentations to demonstrate the capacity to translate the acquired knowledge into pastoral projects.

Objective: This course seeks to help the students understand the issues and debates surrounding infertility and ART. The student should be able to assimilate the personalist bioethics position that coincides with the Catholic magisterium and should be able to defend this position in the current secular mindset, translating this knowledge into pastoral projects that could help propagate this understanding.

Competence: Students graduating from this course should have acquired knowledge about infertility problems, treatment options, and ethical positions. They should have assimilated the personalist bioethics vision and be able to explain and defend this position and apply it with pastoral creativity and sensibility.

Course content:

• 1. The human meaning of procreation: a) Today's vision of procreation; b) Personalist view of sexuality and procreation; c) Procreate and produce: two different human acts.

• 2. Scientific data: a) Infertility: causes, diagnosis, and treatment; b) natural methods; c) NaProTechnology; Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).

• 3. Ethics of ART: a) Judgment according to DP; b) Judgment according to the Magisterium; c) Surrogate motherhood; d) Laws and policy on procreation; e) Destiny for frozen embryos; f) Pastoral aspects.

Methodology

The course will consist of lectures with activities, forums and student presentations. Outside the classroom, the students will need to prepare weekly assignments that are individual or in teams. The final assessment can be a team or individual project demonstrating the content's assimilation and the ability to apply it to a particular audience pastorally.

Credits and distribution of work time

Twelve hours of classes and 18 h of four assignments, including essays, comparison charts, case studies, film forums, and personal readings. 20 h of a final team project (PBL).

Learning outcome

• 1. Summarize scientific data on infertility's causes, investigation and treatments. (NFP, NaProTechnology, ART)

• 2. Analyze, evaluate and contrast the modern secular mentality on fertility problems (sexuality, procreation, family) with those of the Catholic and personalist vision.

• 3. Offer a personal critique of the arguments for and against using ART in infertility treatments.

• 4. Analyze and offer ethical judgment on cases related to fertility treatments.

• 5. Designate pastoral projects on infertility that may influence society in favor of the culture of life.

Appendix 2: Instructions for PBL final team project

Please follow these steps.

• 1) Forming a team.

  • a) The number of the team should be at most six students. A smaller team of three to four might work better.

  • b) If you decide to work alone or have a team with more than six students, you need special approval from the professor.

  • c) The size of the team has a bearing on the final grade—since the larger the team, the more time and energy the project will require to carry out. The project should be proportionate to the time expected on the average of 20 h per student in the team.

  • d) Inform the professor of the formation of the team by ____________________.

• 2) Proposal of the target and the deliverable or project.

  • a) The team should ideally have a leader, a secretary and a spokesperson. The secretary should help with the minutes and final report describing the team project process. The spokesperson could be the one to present the project at the end.

  • b) Discuss which target audience is best suited for this project among the team members. Remember, the idea is to devise a project covering the course content's three areas (mentality, scientific data, and ethics) for a specific target. This stage is crucial. You can choose from different possibilities. It might be necessary to do some research in order to decide on the best target.

  • c) Discuss also among the team members the project that would be most effective in hel** to convince or enlighten the target you have chosen based on the content material of the course. Preliminary research might also be necessary.

  • d) Consider the method of measuring the impact. That is, how do you know if the deliverable has been or will be effective in communicating the objective content?

  • e) A 1–2 page proposal could be drafted and sent to the professor at this stage. He can give you feedback, either written or by Zoom meeting, to discuss the merits and defects of the proposal. The proposal could take several encounters and exchanges. Once the professor gives you the okay, the team can start to work on the project.

• 3) The deliverable

  • a) The team should now divide the work among its members reasonably and fairly.

  • b) Refer to the rubrics that will give an idea about what is requested in formulating this deliverable. Some suggested research is offered below.

    • i) What is the target audience like? What are their background characteristics? How do you reach them? How do you learn more about them and their attitudes toward the subject matter (surveys, literature searches, interviews, etc.)?

    • ii) How is the deliverable going to reach out to the target audience? How will they learn about it? What kind of recruitment or promotion would be needed? Would the deliverable address their real needs, pastorally speaking (how to verify that)? Are similar resources or activities available as alternatives, and what can I learn from these alternatives?

    • iii) Does the content of the deliverable correspond to the three areas of content seen in the course? Does the deliverable express an understanding of the mentality of the target audience and address their concerns in a sensitive and pastoral manner? Does the deliverable cover the basic scientific knowledge proportionate to the target's level of education? Are the ethical principles and messages given in a way suitable to the target audience's needs and concerns?

    • iv) How is the impact factor measured? Is the means of measurement specific to the target audience's background and needs? Is the means of measurement objective and quantifiable?

  • c) While finalizing the deliverable, the team should send a progress report to the professor about the advances and difficulties. There should be at least one Zoom encounter with the professor so that he can give his feedback and observations.

  • d) Ideally, the project should be delivered to the target audience, and the report should record or describe the process. The impact should also be recorded and reported. This can be part of the final presentation.

  • e) The deliverable and the report should be handed to the professor before the final presentation.

• 4) The report

  • a) A report should describe the entire process of the team project. This report allows the professor to evaluate the competence of teamwork among the members.

  • b) It should describe the responsibilities and tasks of the different members.

  • c) It should describe the different encounters and decisions of the team.

  • d) It should describe how the team arrives at the target, deliverable, and impact measurement decisions.

  • e) It should describe the different investigations, the debates, the obstacles, and the team's agreements.

• 5) The presentation

  • a) Each team has 20 min to present on the final evaluation day.

    • i) The presentation is focused on the deliverable, the target and the impact.

    • ii) The presenter should explain the nature of this deliverable, its goal and objective, and why the team believes it will effectively communicate the course content to the target audience.

    • iii) If the project has been delivered, what are the results and impact? If not, how will the impact be measured?

  • b) It is followed by 10 min of questions and answers by the other teams and the professor.

Appendix 3: Assessment rubrics

Table 4

Table 4 Rubrics for deliverable

Table 5

Table 5 Rubrics for presentation

Table 6

Table 6 Rubrics for teamwork, if applicable

Appendix 4: Questionnaire