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Article

Introducing Summer High School Student–Researchers to Ethics in Scientific Research

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Patricia Ann Mabrouk

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115

J. Chem. Educ., 2007, 84 (6), p 952

DOI: 10.1021/ed084p952

Publication Date (Web): June 1, 2007

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

A series of case studies illustrating important ethical concerns in the practice of scientific research have been developed for and tested by high school students participating in summer science apprenticeship programs. The case studies discuss intellectual property, assignment of credit, confidentiality, plagiarism, and the fabrication and falsification of laboratory data. The materials have been tested over a three-year period with high school students involved in two summer programs, the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED and Northeastern University’s Young Scholars program. Summative assessment—accomplished using a paper-based survey tool administered at the end of the workshop—suggests that the workshop model using the case-study approach was an effective vehicle for the discussion of ethics in scientific research; that the topics selected for discussion were new, interesting, and relevant to the student participants; and that the handouts were valuable to the participants. As such, the approach and materials developed here could be used widely to facilitate faculty–student discussions of research ethics by those faculty offering summer research experiences to high school students, including ACS Project SEED.