Situational ethics

About: Situational ethics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4023 publications have been published within this topic receiving 145379 citations.

Reducing student reticence through teacher interaction strategy

Abstract: Reticence is a common problem faced by ESL/EFL teachers in classrooms, especially in those with mainly Asian students. The willingness to communicate model of MacIntyre, Clement, Dornyei, and Noels (1998. ‘Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: a situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation’. The Modern Language Journal 82/4: 545–62.) postulates that willingness to speak is determined not only by learners themselves but also by the situation they are in, suggesting that situational variables such as topic and participants should be included in the investigation. This paper aims to examine whether teacher interaction strategy could be one of the factors triggering student reticence in classrooms. A group of Form 1 (Grade 7) Hong Kong Chinese students were given two lessons characterized by different interaction patterns. The two lessons were videotaped for analysis. The results show that teacher strategy is a major determinant of student reticence in classrooms, but it is not the sole factor. Pedagogical factors such as lesson objectives and task type were also found to influence a teacher's classroom-based interaction strategy decision making.

Communicating Imminent Risk

Abstract: Warning research has identified people’s major information sources as environmental cues, social cues, and social warnings from authorities, news media, and peers. Social sources are differentiated by expertise, trustworthiness, and responsibility for providing protection. Warning messages are most likely to produce appropriate protective actions if they provide information receivers need to understand the threat, expected time of impact, affected (and safe) areas, appropriate protective actions, and sources to contact for additional information and assistance. Such information produces situational risk perceptions that can be characterized in term of expected casualties, damage, and disruption to the community in general and to one’s family in particular. People’s choices of response actions can be frustrated by situational inhibitors or enhanced by situational facilitators that arise from their physical, social, and household contexts.

To cheat or not to cheat: effects of moral perspective and situational variables on students' attitudes

Abstract: One hundred and ninety‐six Israeli middle‐school students participated in a study that explored the effects of moral orientation (moral versus conventional)and of three situational variables on attitudes toward two types of cheating in school exams—copying from others (‘active’)and letting others copy (‘passive’). Several vignettes that were comprised of different combinations of the three situational variables—exam importance, supervision level and peers' norms—were used as the main instrument. It was found that a‐morally oriented students approved significantly more of cheating than morally oriented students. Importance of exam had marginally significant effects on active copying. Level of supervision during exam and classmates' norms had significant effects on both active and passive cheating attitudes.