Concerns about the increased use and abuse of information technology have evolved into more formalized evaluations of computer ethics in many organizations. This trend extends to most of the universities where they provide different modules related to professional computer ethics. Although these formalized evaluations have become more common, very little is known about the effects of collaborative learning on students’ moral reasoning and how to assess it. This study uses an experiment, involving students in three universities: University of Limerick in Ireland, De Montfort University in England and Sacred Heart University in the USA. The authors will describe the implementation of virtual groups that comprise students from the three institutions and evaluate their use of Blackboard in their discussion and analysis of an ethical dilemma. We will also provide some analysis of the development of moral reasoning by pre- and post testing students using Moral Judgment Test (MJT) (Lind, 2000). The results of this research will be of great value for both academic and practitioners in the area of computer ethics.
Griffin, Joe; Grodzinsky, Frances; and Jefferies, Pat, "The Impact of using Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Tools on Moral Reasoning in A Multi-Institutional Computer Ethics Module" (2002). Computer Science & Information Technology Faculty Publications. 13.