SP13

Exploring Ethical Frameworks

Individual Homework
50 Points
Name: _______Arielle Basel_______
Case tud! "itle: ___Education: #ost in "ranslation____
$irections: %ead thoroughl! &NE o' the case studies (elow) and discuss and answer the 'ollowing
*uestions to the (est o' !our a(ilit!+ Be as detailed as possi(le with !our answers+
http://ethical-literacy.org/lost-in-translation/
tep &ne: Identi'! the Issue
1 What is the key dilemma/problem to be solved in this case? Write this so that a stranger cold readily
nderstand the dilemma !ithot kno!ing all o" the details o" the case# $" possible% !rite the problem as a
single sentence statement or &estion#
The key dilemma in this case is, Brian McNalley does not know if he should show mercy on his
student by letting her re-do her paper or do the ustifiable thing, holding up the uni!ersity"s policies and
fail her as they say. The real dilemma faced here is whether to be true to the policies and standards of
the institution or uphold his own moral code.
2 Who are the stakeholders in this case? '(ote) Stakeholders are any individals% !ritten abot in the case
or not% !ho may be a""ected by the decisions that are made#*
+he stdent is a stakeholder becase she cold either be sho!n mercy and possibly pass the class or not given
a chance and "ail#
,r# ,c(ally is a stakeholder becase he !ill have to deal !ith the decision he makes on his conscience "or the
rest o" his li"e#
+he -niversity is a stakeholder becase !hen they hired ,r# ,c(ally they believed he !old hold p their
policies#
+he other stdents in the class are stakeholders becase they !ere also given the syllabs in the beginning o" the
class and are e.pected to nderstand and i" they !ere not as cltrally challenged as she% !old they be given
the same mercy#
The parents of the students are also stakeholders because they sent her internationally here in
e#pectation that she does well, if she were to fail a course, she could be sent back home without
getting that chance e!er again.
tep "wo: &utline the &ptions
3 /onsider as many !ays to resolve this dilemma as possible and list them belo!#
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'(ote) 0estion 12 asks that yo retrn to this &estion to label the "rame!orks associated !ith the
possible resoltions that yo have listed here# Please label the "rame!ork ne.t to the resoltion and
circle it#*
,r# ,c(ally cold allo! the stdent to re!rite her paper% given as she did not nderstand the re&irements#
'-tilitarian* 3or the greater good o" the stdent4s "tre academic career#
,r# ,c(ally cold "ail the stdent and e5ect her "rom the corse so she doesn4t have a class "ailre recorded on
her transcript# '6stice* ,ight not be "air to this stdent bt is "air to everyone else% treating them all e&al#
,r# ,c(ally cold "ail her on the paper and hope that she gets her grades back p and passes# '6stice* 3air to
the niversity and the other stdents as !ell as her7 she shold have read the syllabs#
,r# ,c(ally cold pretend he didn4t catch the plagiarism in her paper and grade it as sal# 'Practical* +he
average person may do this% not !anting to have to deal !ith the sitation#
,r# ,c(ally cold 5st tell her not to do it again and e.empt her "rom the assignment% and tell her i" she does it
again% he4ll have to "ail her# ',oral 8ights* +his is do nto others as yo !old have them do nto yo#
tep "hree: ,ather Evidence-Interview &thers
4 -sing the key dilemma posed in Step 9ne% intervie! 10 people on ho! they !old resolve the problem
and !hy# '(ote) :s intervie!er% please do not share yor thoghts on ho! you !old resolve the
problem#* -se the table located on page ; to record their responses#
tep Four: Construct Ethical Arguments
5 $ractice using the four ethical frameworks we ha!e e#amined in class 'tilitarian% moral rights%
5stice% and practical* and list one resolution for each framework and e#plain why it fits there.
I' !ou 'ollow this
rule when 'aced
with a dilemma.
/ou will make a decision (ased on.
utilitarian the greatest good 'or the greatest
num(er 0or the least harm to others1
moral rights the wa! !ou would want to (e treated
2ustice what is 'air and e*ual 'or all involved
practical whether or not the 3t!pical person4
would 'ind !our decision to (e
accepta(le
a tilitarian) Mr. McNally could allow the student to rewrite her paper, gi!en as she did not
understand the re%uirements. This is utilitarian because it is for the greater good of the
student"s academic career. &f he does not gi!e her a second chance to fi# it, she would ha!e
a failure of an assignment and possibly a class on her record.
b moral rights) ,r# ,c(ally cold 5st tell her not to do it again and e.empt her "rom the
assignment% and tell her i" she does it again% he4ll have to "ail her# +his is moral rights becase all persons
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asked !old !ant this to be don4t to them% it is the easy !ay ot "or everyone% even i" it isn4t the right
thing to do#
c 5stice) ,r# ,c(ally cold "ail the stdent and e5ect her "rom the corse so she doesn4t have a
class "ailre recorded on her transcript# +his is 5stice becase the other stdents are given the same
treatment as !ell becase i" it !as a stdent that !asn4t international he !old "ail them !ithot
&estioning it# +here"ore7 by "ailing her% it is "air to the other stdents and the niversity4s standards% and
"air to her becase she is also e5ected "rom the class so she doesn4t "ail ot o" it#
d practical) ,r# ,c(ally cold pretend he didn4t catch the plagiarism in her paper and grade it as
sal# +his is practical becase $ believe the average person to be non<con"rontational% and !ant to avoid
having to deal !ith the problem% so pretending it is not there is better "or them% althogh it may not be
better in the long rn#
6 Now, go back to your inter!iews with others and your own options to sol!e the dilemma 'see %uestion ()*
and label each with the appropriate ethical framework.
tep Five: Evaluate the Arguments
7 8evie!ing the responses "rom the individals intervie!ed in Step +hree as !ell as yor own options to
sol!e the dilemma, consider ho! stakeholders yo have identi"ied in the case might best bene"it#
+hen% rank the "rame!orks belo! according to their perceived merit% !ith 1 being the highest ranking#
11===-tilitarian=============== "rame!ork
1>===6stice================= "rame!ork
13===,oral 8ights============="rame!ork
1;===Practical================ "rame!ork
tep ix: 5ake a $ecision- Evaluate the Impact
8 +onsidering all the possible outcomes that you 'and those you ha!e inter!iewed* ha!e
associated with each ethical framework, make a decision on how you would resol!e the case.
& would allow the student to rewrite her paper and resubmit it after e#plaining to her e#actly what
plagiarism is so she does not do it again. ,fter ha!ing her resubmit and & grade it, if there was
plagiarism still in it, & would fail her.
9 -#plain why you made your decision.
This way, she is gi!en a chance to fi# the plagiarism, especially if she did not understand what
was wrong in the first place and it is fair to her. &t may not be fair to the other students, but they
grew up in a society where plagiarism was ingrained in their heads as a .no-no./ The uni!ersity
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will be satisfied by their policies if she turns it in again with plagiarism. &n this case, e!eryone is
statisfied.
10 ?.plain ho! each o" the stakeholders yo have identi"ied 'see &estion 1>* might be a""ected by yor
decision#
,r# ,c(ally is a""ected by sho!ing mercy to his stdent% he doesn4t have to have a bad conscience by
allo!ing her to "ail his class other!ise#
+he stdent is given a second chance that she can either "i. or blo! again% either !ay% her "tre is no!
in her hands7 she is positively a""ected becase she gets a second chance#
+he other stdents might be mad that they !old not be sho!n the same mercy% bt they shold kno!
better and i" she does it again% she !ill be treated as they !old#
+he niversity4s standards and policies may be ignored a little% and then they !old have a pro"essor that
said he !old phold them% that didn4t# @o!ever% i" she does it again% they !ill be pheld#
+he stdent4s parents !ill be relieved as the stdent !ill be becase she probably !on4t lose all she has
been !orking "or% !hich is very good#
6erson 7hat would the! do8 7h!8 7hat ethical
'ramework did the!
use8
1
They would gi!e her a second
chance.
0he ob!iously didn"t
understand it wasn"t
acceptable here.
1tilitarian
> They would allow her to resubmit her
paper after going o!er it with her and
pointing out what was wrong.
0he will now know
e#actly what it is so
she can or can"t do it
again
1tilitarian
3
They would fail her and then take her
out of the class
&t is fair to e!erybody
in the situation
2ustice
;
$retend they didn"t see it They wouldn"t want to
deal with it
$ractical
5
They would fail her on the paper. &t is what they are
supposed to do.
2ustice
2
They would let her fi# her paper but,
gi!e her a short time frame for it to be
turned in again.
0he is gi!en a
second chance but
still limited.
1tilitarian
A They would gi!e her a second chance &gnorance is bliss 1tilitarian
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to do it again.
B They would ust not ha!e her do it and
tell her not to do it in any other papers
or she will be failed.
&ndirectly deals with it
and they would want
that to happen
Moral 3ights
C They would tell her what it is and ha!e
her not do it again
0o she knows and
can keep up with the
other course work
Moral 3ights
10 Tell her to go back where she came
from.
'4isclaimer: My grandfather is 56*
0he does not belong
here if she can"t read
english
$ractical7
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