Back to TGE 1257 - Ethics in Applied Technology

Part 4I.4: Ethical Excavations (Bioethics - Independent Exploration)

Authors: Clayn D. Lambert
License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Topic Outcomes

By the end of Part 4, you should be able to:

  • Excavate existing bioethical patterns in your personal reasoning (if choosing this module)

  • Analyze origins and development of your medical ethics-focused thinking (self-directed)

  • Navigate tensions between bioethical and other reasoning approaches (independently)

  • Apply self-directed archaeological analysis method to discover framework concepts (with minimal scaffolding)

  • Integrate bioethical insights into your ongoing conflict map (optionally, based on relevance)

Topic Summary

Part 4: Bioethics - Learning Outcomes

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Independent Learning Module

Primary Learning Outcomes

Excavate Existing Bioethical Patterns in Personal Reasoning

Students will independently identify where autonomy, beneficence/non-maleficence, justice, and informed consent-focused thinking already appears in their ethical decision-making.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes initiative in recognizing existing emphasis on individual choice and informed consent in healthcare or life decisions

  • Identifies personal approaches to balancing helping others while avoiding harm in vulnerable situations

  • Discovers unconscious fairness considerations regarding access to care, resources, or life-sustaining technologies

  • Maps where bioethical reasoning conflicts with paternalistic, utilitarian efficiency, or traditional authority approaches

Analyze Origins and Development of Bioethical Thinking

Students will self-direct investigation into how their medical ethics and life-decision reasoning patterns developed through personal experience.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes autonomous approach to connecting bioethical patterns to healthcare experiences, family medical decisions, or formative encounters with vulnerability

  • Independently explains how focus on autonomy and informed consent might have been shaped by personal history

  • Self-identifies sources of their approach to balancing individual rights with expert medical judgment

  • Recognizes experiential factors that encouraged attention to fairness in healthcare access or end-of-life decisions

Navigate Tensions Between Bioethical and Other Reasoning Patterns

Students will independently explore conflicts between medical ethics principles and cultural values, religious beliefs, or economic constraints.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes initiative in identifying specific conflicts between individual autonomy and family/community decision-making traditions

  • Self-directs exploration of tensions between non-maleficence (do no harm) and respect for patient choices

  • Independently recognizes where bioethical logic conflicts with utilitarian resource allocation or virtue-based medical paternalism

  • Analyzes situations where principled bioethical reasoning feels inadequate for complex human suffering

Apply Self-Directed Archaeological Analysis Method to Philosophical Framework

Students will independently design and conduct excavation of bioethical concepts in their reasoning, with minimal external scaffolding.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Takes initiative in developing personalized approach to bioethics excavation based on conflict map needs

  • Creates original prompts and questions for AI-guided analysis rather than following provided templates

  • Engages in self-directed discovery with greater autonomy over the investigation process

  • Demonstrates independent assessment of whether bioethical analysis adds value to their ethical reasoning

Integrate Bioethical Analysis into Ongoing Conflict Map (Optional)

Students may choose to add bioethical insights to their developing understanding of personal ethical complexity if the framework proves relevant to their dilemma.

Evidence of Learning:

  • Makes informed decision about whether bioethical analysis warrants inclusion in conflict map

  • Creates bioethics addendum only if it reveals significant patterns or tensions

  • Adds citations to existing conflict map if medical ethics reasoning proves relevant

  • Builds cumulative analysis that selectively integrates frameworks based on personal relevance

Topic Sources

Topic Authors

Clayn D. Lambert