Innovation in Traditional and Online Criminal Justice Ethics Courses: Integrating Un-Grading, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Style Role Plays, and Real-World Cases to Promote Learning

Abstract

Ethics is a critical subject for criminal justice students, yet traditional efforts to teach the subject effectively have been less than successful. Research on student outcomes in online learning, and the proliferation of online education, give rise to concerns about potential further reductions in effectiveness of ethics training when delivered asynchronously. This paper presents a mixed-method, pretest/posttest evaluation of two criminal justice ethics course sections, containing multiple innovative teaching components. Changes in student ethical judgements in scenarios, Dark Triad traits, and Value Orientations were compared. Asynchronous and face-to-face students demonstrated similar ethics knowledge but improved in different content areas. Across sections, students rated their course experience very favorably, reporting they appreciated the innovations used. These observations highlight the need to explore novel instructional strategies and technological tools for engaging students in ethics coursework, with specific attention to the distinct needs and preferences of online and face-to-face learners.

Keywords:

• Criminal justice ethics
• teaching ethics
• asynchronous online learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Students in our Criminal Justice BA program complete an exit exam prior to graduation, measuring their attainment of program-wide learning outcomes, of which ethics is one component. Students’ performance on this measure has indicated persistent problems in distinguishing between ethics and morality, as well as applying ethical principles to the exam scenarios. Notably, while some instructors and scholars perceive ethics and morality to be near-synonymous, in this context the two concepts are defined as related, but distinct. That is, morality is defined as inherently personal-cultural, while ethical conduct reflects the values and standards of a profession one may join (see Beets, 1991 for example). This distinction is particularly important given the conflicts between morality and professional ethics in several Criminal Justice professions, such as defense lawyers’ near-absolute duty of confidentiality in the face of clients’ disturbing admissions.

2 The complete set of materials for each section of the course, including CYOA-style activities, readings, case information, assignment templates, and syllabi may be obtained by reaching out to the corresponding author.

3 Although students are required to take Criminal Justice Ethics to graduate, they are not required to take it in a specific modality, nor during a specific semester during their enrollment. Students self-enroll in courses, and thus, could have enrolled in either section (or chosen to take the course with a different instructor during the next semester). Neither section reached its’ enrollment cap, ensuring that students had the option to choose their preferred section.

Additional information

Funding

Internal University Grant - SGII

Notes on contributors

Annabelle Frazier

Annabelle Frazier is an Assistant Teaching Professor and Graduate Program Director at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security. Her background includes a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology and an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (with a license to practice in Mississippi and Massachusetts). As a scholar-practitioner, she has a decade of experience providing assessment, counseling, and care coordination services to people experiencing legal system involvement. Dr. Frazier’s research centers on decision-making in the criminal system, with specific focus on highly stigmatized offenses and defendants. More information on her work is available at www.AnnabelleFrazier.com.