Evaluating a Problem-Based Learning Strategy for Enhancing Ethical Awareness in Negotiation

摘要

A problem-based learning strategy (Bransford & Schwartz, 1998) was used to develop a training protocol to enhance U.S. Military Academy (USMA) Cadets' awareness of ethical issues and decision-making processes in negotiation situations. The training protocol was tested in an upper-level course on negotiations at USMA. Cadets were assigned to either an experimental (training) or a control (no training) group. The experimental group was exposed to four negotiation scenarios at one-month intervals, and were asked to evaluate the scenario for potential ethical issues, to role-play the scenario in class, and then to evaluate their own and others' negotiation and ethical decision-making performances. Role-plays were followed by an after action review in which the instructor encouraged Cadets to discuss their ethical evaluation and decision-making processes. Following the fourth scenario, the instructor presented a lecture describing a thematic model of ethical sense- making (cf. Graves, Pleban, Miller, Branciforte, Donigian, Johnson, & Matthews, 2010) and how the model could be applied to facilitate decision-making across different contexts. Pre-post training assessments indicated that the training strategy significantly improved the experimental group's sensitivity to themes related to ethical sense-making and decision making in military specific situations relative to scores obtained from the control group. Also, post exercise ethical awareness scores correlated significantly with Cadets' negotiation strategies. The Cadets' responses to the training were favorable. The training strategy may be used to support experiential and dialogue-based professional military ethics training for officer Cadets and newly commissioned junior officers (ROTC, OCS, and USMA).