BellaOnline Forums Education Distance Learning Ethics Class

I'm in an Ethics class where some of my fellow students get very agitated talking about the issues. I get the sense that maybe they're not used to discussing ethics problems and they take them personally rather than looking at them objectively as part of a see-all-sides class discussion.

It frustrates me because I love ethics discussions. Because of the upset emotions - we're in week 2 of the class - now I feel like I can't discuss the issues because it will further upset these classmates. It seems as if I can only state my view, know that they might get really upset because my view differs from them, and then leave it at that.

Since the class discussion is the only real "interaction" in the class, it frustrates me because I really looked forward to having these discussions. We're not talking about black-and-white issues, they're ethical issues with all sorts of shades of gray. The whole point of the class if that we're examining ethical issues! But some classmates feel there is absolutely only one right answer - their answer - and anything else is outrageous. They can't even fathom looking at another angle.

So anyway clearly I can't change them. I can't substitute in students who are fun to discuss the issues with from all sides. So I was pondering this and I realized, hey I have **you guys** who are amazingly fun to talk with and who are perfectly capable of looking at issues from various sides! You can be my fun discussion area. I can in essence give up on the actual classmates who can't handle the discussion, and discuss with you instead! That way I have the fun of the class without the stress of those specific classmates

A win-win

Has anyone else ever hit a class where the people in the class just weren't good at the discussion topic?

A couple of questions Lisa.
1. Aren't you in an MBA course? So aren't most of the students working or wanting to work in the top levels of companies? And they only see one side of an issue?

2. Is your instructor not present in those discussions at all? Not mentioning that maybe people should be looking at more than one side of an issue?

I think that if number 1 is true and the instructor is not pointing out that there is very seldom a straightforward right and wrong answer to those types of questions, then no wonder I believe that corporations are doing more harm than good in this world.

From reading your "Know it all" discussion, I am convinced that many of those students will not even listen to anyone else's opinion other than maybe the instructor's. I therefore think your instructor should be involved and doing his job of helping the students look at problems more objectively and support their opinions with facts rather than beliefs.

I don't remember ever having any classes where people in the class weren't good at the discussion topic but then in my classes we didn't have such specific discussion topics usually. We did have one class on ethics but the questions were geared to take into account the fact that counselors had to follow a specific code of ethics so it was more a matter of interpreting the various principles listed in the code and how it applied to different situations that we were discussing.

I do know that I believe my ethical standards to be very high and I know your's are too. But even so, I also realize that everything is not black and white and that there are no completely right or wrong answers to some ethical questions. I also know that sometimes life would be a lot easier if I did have only one answer for some questions.

This is a bachelors of leadership that I am finally finishing up. Some of the students in this class are not in the leadership program and are taking it for filler. So I think they didn't know what they were in for

The instructor in this class is the most hands off I've ever seen and yes it would really help if she was more involved. I am trying to encourage her to post more

Maybe this class is filler for the teacher too.

Dear Jilly -

I'm not really sure - at times she answers email quite quickly. But she seems to be absent in the forums. I think it would help more if she moderated and guided the discussion.