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Course Planning by Program

2023-24

Essential Objectives

Course Syllabus


Revision Date: 11-Dec-23
 

Spring 2024 | HUM-2020-VO02 - Bioethics


Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Location: Online
Credits: 3 (45 hours)
Day/Times: Meets online
Semester Dates: 01-23-2024 to 05-06-2024
Last day to drop without a grade: 02-11-2024 - Refund Policy
Last day to withdraw (W grade): 03-24-2024 - Refund Policy
This course has started, please contact the offering academic center about registration

Faculty

Phillips Keller
View Faculty Credentials

Hiring Coordinator for this course: Jennifer Gundy

General Education Requirements


This section meets the following CCV General Education Requirement(s) for the current catalog year:
VSCS Humanistic Perspectives
    Note
  1. Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.
  2. Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course explores ethical issues and decision-making processes involved in biomedical research and practice, as viewed from legal, medical, social and philosophical perspectives. Students will apply philosophical frameworks, theoretical approaches, argument development skills, and critical thinking to address moral questions pertaining to the beginning and end of life, biotechnology and genetic experimentation, justice in healthcare, responsibilities of physicians, environmental health and other pertinent subjects.


Essential Objectives

1. Discuss individual, social, cultural, and ethical implications of making decisions on a range of moral issues related to healthcare and biology (including right to life and death, reproductive issues, sexual assignment, cloning, and the role of religion in healthcare), and reflect on varied positions surrounding these.
2. Identify and define key concepts, facts, theories, and perspectives important in clarifying and resolving bioethical concerns including patient choice, confidentiality, informed consent, access to information, and physician/family relationships.
3. Discuss types of criteria which physicians, hospital administrators, government officials, and legal professionals use in making decisions affecting human life and how these affect individuals, families, and various populations.
4. Examine current controversies in biomedical research from political, social, and philosophical perspectives.
5. Explore philosophical and social justice implications of bioethical issues such as allocation of and access to healthcare resources, differential treatment of certain groups, and environmental health; describe their effect on specific populations and propose just solutions.
6. Demonstrate critical reasoning, research, and argumentation skills in analyzing and developing informed positions about significant bioethical controversies.


Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.


Required Textbooks and Resources

HUM-2020-VO02 Link to Textbooks/Resources Information for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.


Methods

The activities this semester consist of:

  • Weekly Reading Assignment
  • Weekly Discussion Forum
  • One 3-5 page Response Paper
  • Final Examination

Evaluation Criteria

Discussion Forum Participation – 50%

There are 14 weekly discussion forums, of which 11 will be graded. Each discussion forum will be worth between 1-5 points, depending on the quality of your participation. Each week’s discussion forum topic will be based on the preceding week’s reading assignment. Before entering the discussion forum for the first time, you should read the grading criteria that I have posted in Week 0. The grading criteria will give you a good idea of what I am looking for in your responses.

Response Paper – 25%

A 3-5 page response paper will be assigned during the semester on a topic to be determined. Your paper should demonstrate that you have understood the assigned material by presenting the pros and cons of the issue as well as your own position. For a more detailed explanation of my expectations, please see the “Response Paper Grading Criteria” in Week 0.

Final Examination – 25%

The Final Examination will be a series of short essays based on the work we have done during the semester.


Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

 HighLow
A+10098
A Less than 9893
A-Less than 9390
B+Less than 9088
B Less than 8883
B-Less than 8380
C+Less than 8078
C Less than 7873
C-Less than 7370
D+Less than 7068
D Less than 6863
D-Less than 6360
FLess than 60 
P10060
NPLess than 600


Weekly Schedule


Week/ModuleTopic  Readings  Assignments
 

1

Class Introductions

  

“Good and Bad Ethical Reasoning” (Pence, Chapter 1)
"Why Our Children Don't Think There are Moral Facts"

  

Discussion Forum: Getting to Know You
Writing Assignment: Scavenger Hunt

 

2

Basic Principles

  

“Research on Vulnerable Populations” (Pence, chapter 9)
Wikipedia article on Hippocratic Oath
AMA News article on Modern Hippocratic Oath

  

Discussion Forum: Ethical Theories and Bioethics

 

3

Individual Rights (Autonomy) and Informed Consent

  

“Requests to Die: Terminal and Nonterminal Patients” (Pence, chapter 2)
AMA article on refusing life-sustaining treatment

  

Discussion Forum: Human Research: The Conflict Between Autonomy and Utility

 

4

The Right to Refuse Treatment: A Consequence of Autonomy

  

“Strained by Katrina, A Hospital Faces Deadly Choices”

  

Discussion Forum: Does a Mentally Competent Person Have a Right to Refuse Treatment?

 

5

Physician-Assisted Suicide

  

“Abortion: The Trial of Kenneth Edelin” (Pence, chapter 4)
“Our Bodies, Our Souls"

  

Discussion Forum: Does Society Have an Obligation to Help a Person Die?

 

6

The Limits of Autonomy/Introduction to Personhood

  

“Comas: Quinlan, Cruzan and Schiavo” (Pence, chapter 3)

  

Discussion Forum: "Our Bodies, Our Souls"

Begin Response Paper (topic to be announced)

 

7

Personhood Continued: Brain Death

  

Read: “Medical Research on Animals” (Pence, Chapter 8)
Tom Regan: "Christianity and Animal Rights"
Watch: “Unnecessary Fuss, Parts 1-5”

  

Discussion Forum: Ethical Treatment at the End of Life

Write: Work on Response Paper

 

8

Do Animals Have Rights Too?

  

"Just Distribution of Organs: the God Committee” (Pence, chapter 11)

  

Discussion Forum: Is Animal Experimentation Justified

Continue working on response paper

 

9

There will be no discussion forum or reading assignment this week so students can work on their response papers.

    
 

10

Organ Transplantation

  

“Embryos, Stem Cells and Cloning” (Pence, chapter 6)
Cloning Fact Sheet

  

Discussion Forum: Personal Responsibility and The Ethics of Organ Distribution

 

11

The Brave New World of Genetic Engineering

  

"Ethical Issues in Testing for Genetic Disease" (Pence, chapter 15)
"Facing Life with a Lethal Gene"

  

Discussion Forum: Is Cloning Ethical?

 

12

Testing for Genetic Disease

  

“Ethical Issues with the Affordable Care Act” (Pence, chapter 17)
Watch: "Sick Around the World" (Frontline video)

  

Discussion Forum: Would You Get Tested?/Does Society Have a Role to Play?

 

13

Universal Health Care

    

Discussion Forum: Is Health Care a Right?/What About the Costs?

Begin Final Exam

 

14

There will be no reading and no Discussion Forum this week so that students can work on the Final Exam.

    
 

15

Class Wrap-Up

    

Discussion Forum

Turn in Final Exam

 

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

  • In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
  • Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
  • Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:


CCV strives to mitigate barriers to course access for students with documented disabilities. To request accommodations, please
  1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
  2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
  3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.


Academic Integrity


CCV has a commitment to honesty and excellence in academic work and expects the same from all students. Academic dishonesty, or cheating, can occur whenever you present -as your own work- something that you did not do. You can also be guilty of cheating if you help someone else cheat. Being unaware of what constitutes academic dishonesty (such as knowing what plagiarism is) does not absolve a student of the responsibility to be honest in his/her academic work. Academic dishonesty is taken very seriously and may lead to dismissal from the College.