PHIL 2045 - Professional Ethics

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2016

The course information on this page is being finalised for 2016. Please check again before classes commence.

It is essential for professionals in any field to have an understanding of the ethical problems and principles in their field. But anyone, no matter what their job, must deal with many other professions as well. Part of professional ethics is the understanding of the ethics of other professions: how they interact and what can be expected from them as correct ethical behaviour. In turn, any professional will benefit from a critical scrutiny of their own ethics by those from other professions. The general principles of professional ethics will be examined, as well as the distinctive problems of the different fields. The course is taught in six modules of four lectures and two tutorials each, covering the ethics of several major professions: Business Ethics, Media Ethics, Police Ethics, Medical Ethics, Legal Ethics, and Research Ethics. Topics covered will also include: the nature of a profession, professional codes of ethics, confidentiality, whistle-blowing, the responsibility of business to the environment, uses and abuses of human research, and animal ethics in research.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code PHIL 2045
    Course Professional Ethics
    Coordinating Unit Philosophy
    Term Semester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Prerequisites At least 12 units of Level 1 ARTS including 3 units of Philosophy; exceptions for students from Faculty of Engineering, Law, Science & Medicine made at discretion of course coordinator
    Incompatible PHIL 2023 or PHIL 3023
    Course Description It is essential for professionals in any field to have an understanding of the ethical problems and principles in their field. But anyone, no matter what their job, must deal with many other professions as well. Part of professional ethics is the understanding of the ethics of other professions: how they interact and what can be expected from them as correct ethical behaviour. In turn, any professional will benefit from a critical scrutiny of their own ethics by those from other professions. The general principles of professional ethics will be examined, as well as the distinctive problems of the different fields. The course is taught in six modules of four lectures and two tutorials each, covering the ethics of several major professions: Business Ethics, Media Ethics, Police Ethics, Medical Ethics, Legal Ethics, and Research Ethics. Topics covered will also include: the nature of a profession, professional codes of ethics, confidentiality, whistle-blowing, the responsibility of business to the environment, uses and abuses of human research, and animal ethics in research.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Denise Gamble

    Lecturers Dr. Denise Gamble & Dr. James Morauta
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

    Lectures: Tuesday 1.00PM; Thursday 3.00PM
  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes


    LO 1 Ability to engage in informed critical   reflection on the nature of professionalism and ethical challenges inherent   in professionalism

    LO 2 Knowledge of prominent normative ethics   frameworks – consequentialist, deontological, virtue, and contractualism

    LO 3 Awareness of types of ethical challenges   and dilemmas confronting members of a range of professions (business, media,   police, law, medicine, research)

    LO 4 Ability to bring to bear ethical analysis   and reasoning in the light of normative ethics frameworks on a selection of   ethical challenges and dilemmas across the chosen range of professions

    LO 5 Ability to relate ethical   concepts and materials to ethical problems in specific professions and   professionalism

    LO 6 Ability to research   appropriate material in relation to set questions in writing essays meeting   the highest standards of rigor and clarity



    University Graduate Attributes

    No information currently available.

  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Text: Ethics for the Professions. John Rowan & Samuel Zinaich, Jnr. Wadsworth. 2003
    Material will also be provided by Course Readers (1 & 2). This will include material in addition to Rowan & Zinaich.
    Recommended Resources
    Joan C. Callahan, Ethical issues in professional life, Oxford University Press, 1988.
    Alan H. Goldman, The moral foundations of professional ethics, Rowman and Littlefield, 1980
    Ruth F. Chadwick, (ed.) Ethics and the professions, Avebury, 1994.
    Justin Oakley, Dean Cocking, Virtue ethics and professional roles. Cambridge University Press, 2001
    Online Learning
    http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/guide/philosophy/prof_ethics.html

    Lectures, in the form of powerpoint slides, will be posted on MyUni after or immediately before lectures. Lectures will not be recorded.
    A Guide to writing an essay in Philosophy is posted on MyUni.
    Essay topics will be posted on MyUni.
    Tutorial questions will be posted weekly on MyUni.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    The purpose of lectures is to introduce students conceptually to a subject area, definitive concepts, problems, and issues in a way that engages their interest and curiosity. Reading material supplementing or going beyond lectures will form the basis of tutorial questions. Tutorial questions and lectures will both focus on discussion of examples or case studies.

    Students will be required to demonstrate that they have prepared for tutorials – by undertaking the reading and answering questions – before they come to tutorials. Students who fail to demonstrate any preparation or ability to constructively respond to the questions, either verbally or in writing, will not be counted as “attending” a tutorial. It is through tutorial participation in this manner that students will be able to assess their own growing competence and understanding in an ongoing way.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The information below provides students with what they need in order to meet requirements of the course in an average week. The total per week is 12 hours. Over 12 weeks = 144 hours

    Attend two one-hour lectures per week 2 hours
    1 hour background reading before each lecture 2 hours
    Attend one one-hour tutorial per week 1 hour
    2 hours preparation for tutorials per week 2 hours Average 2.5 hours per week to research, prepare, and write each essay 5 hours
    Learning Activities Summary

    2 PHIL_2045 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS 2014 LECTURE SCHEDULE TO BE ANNOUNCED

  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    TASK LENGTH TYPE WEIGHT DUE DATE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
    Essay 1 2250 words Summative & formative 50% TBA 1-2, 4
    Essay 2 2250 words Summative 50% TBA 1-2,4
    Assessment Related Requirements
    Students are required to attend and demonstrate preparation at tutorials each week. Students who do not demonstrate preparation will not be marked as attending. Students who miss more than 3 tutorials (without justification or excuses granted by tutor) will be deducted 3 marks for each tutorial missed up to a total of 9. The deductions will be applied to the student’s final mark.

    This requirement meets the need for early feedback from the course: only by measuring their performance against other well-prepared students can students self-assess how they are progressing.
    Assessment Detail

    Two essays, each of 2250 words, must be submitted for assessment. Each is worth 50% of the course mark.

    2 Students will choose from a number of set questions covering topics in the first and second part of the course respectively. Topics will be posted on MyUni, in Assignments, at least 3 weeks prior to the due date.

    Submission

    Essays will be uploaded on Assignments on MyUni.
    They will be marked, and returned electronically.

    Instructions on how to upload will be provided on MyUni in Assignments. A link to the IT help centre on “how to submit an assignment” will be provided: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/myuni/tutorials/

    Students are required to also keep a hard copy of their essays.
    The electronic upload function will be extended only for those students who have extensions granted to upload their essays.
    Work submitted after two weeks after the official due date will not be marked under normal circumstances.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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