Research Ethics was one of the classes offered at Hokkaido Summer Institute 2016. It was held for 5 days from June 27th to July 13th.
This program offered a practical learning class for students in both humanities and sciences for the research ethics needed to carry out research. The class was a mix of students from the humanities and sciences, with students from the graduate school of letters, the graduate school of science, the graduate school of veterinary sciences, and the graduate school of law. The course adviser was Professor Majima Shunzo of the Center for Applied Research Ethics Education.
One noticeable characteristic about this class is that it was carried out as in the style of “flipped teaching”. Students were given video materials regarding research ethics before participating in class. In class, students would then use the content from the video and several related examples to answer questions such as “what would you have thought? What would you have done,” or “how should one resolve this problem?” Students thought about these problems both as individuals and in groups, and finally all students would debate these topics amongst themselves.
Through continuing these discussions, students became more capable of considering problems related to research ethics. Thus, they have also become further able to make decisions on their own to solve problems that come up within the process of research.
Comments from the students included claims such as “Being able to think for myself while also hearing the opinion of other students in a discussion style class was good,” and “The next time I face a problem in research ethics, I believe I will be able to handle it.”