Emory University is building on the foundation established through the Program for Scholarly Integrity (PSI), which integrates instruction on the responsible conduct of research, scholarship, and teaching into the training of all doctoral students.  Emory’s project expands on the PSI by developing learning outcomes specific to the context of international research collaborations. 

Proposal Plan and Activities

 

• Emory will work to enhance responsible conduct of research and scholarship training to graduate students in two distinct areas: (1) international research collaborations and (2) international graduate students conducting research at Emory.    
   
• Emory and the Laney Graduate School will utilize several existing resources in their initiative to train students in international research ethics.  These resources include:  the Program for Scholarly Integrity (PSI), the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI), the Center for Ethics, International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS), the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), and the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC).
   
• Curricular development will involve three phases:

1. Identification of Learning Outcomes:  The FAC will identify partners in the STEM disciplines, including faculty, students, and other university stakeholders.  The primary goal of the committee will be the development of learning outcomes in the areas mentioned above.  Panel discussions and roundtables will flesh out a comprehensive set of learning outcomes for Emory’s international research constituencies and provide a framework for the development of specific course content.

2. Development of Pedagogical Strategies:  The FAC will suggest topic areas to apply the learning outcomes.  They will establish focus groups across STEM programs tasked with developing constituency-specific new courses or integrating new content into existing courses that will produce the desired outcomes.

3. Student Engagement:  Student Ambassadors, an integral part of the PSI, will have additional opportunities to assist in curricular development.  Additionally, the Laney Graduate School will launch a student workshop competition.  Students will create a workshop designed to meet one of the knowledge, skill, or attitude learning outcomes identified by the Faculty Advisory Committee.  Faculty will mentor competition winners towards international dissemination of their workshop through conference presentation and scholarly publication.
 

• Assessment methods for the international components of the enhanced PSI will be developed in consultation with the Assessment Team assembled as part of the PSI.  Likely assessments may include: 

1. Values Clarification Exercises where students will be asked to assess the process of value clarification on their system of values.

2. Case Study Analysis specific to international investigations and international students working in domestic areas will assess whether or not students have mastered key content knowledge.

3. “Measure of Ethical Decision-Making,” developed by researchers at the University of Oklahoma (Mumford et al.) will be used to assess students’ skill development.

4. Pre-test/Post-test assessments will be used to measure a change in students’ attitudes.