Confucian ethics perspective: The effect of course style on the information ethics cognition of students
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the information ethics (IE) of students appear to improve more through adoption of the technology mediated learning (TML) platform rather than face-to-face (FTF) approach. In addition, it shows the pattern changes in each scenario resulting from the ethics training and analyses them from the Confucian ethics perspective, indicating that researchers should consider this aspect in future models.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed non-parametric methods to test the outcome of the “information ethics course” of two kinds of training platforms. FTF training: 193 students; TML training: 185 students.
Findings
The TML platform produces a more significant improvement in the students’ respect for rules, privacy, accessibility, and intellectual property (IP) cognition, rather than the FTF method. Based on the findings, two propositions (eight sub-propositions) are formulated and revised two sub-propositions.
Research limitations/implications
However, this study has a few limitations that can be enhanced by further research in the future: first, the data were only collected from one university (National Pingtung University), thus, the external validity is not satisfactory for all Chinese context students. Second, it is necessary to collect both of scenario-based and qualitative data from different cultural context students (such as Mainland China, the USA, Europe, Arabia, etc.) and then compare their results, thereby making further contributions to the current study. Third, the study was intentionally used as the measure of progress in ethical understanding without highlighting the difference between intentionality and actual behavior.
Originality/value
Teachers should draw upon the principles of Ren, Yi, and Li, from the Confucian ethics perspective to encourage students to respect the IE for Chinese context students. In addition, emphasis should be placed on the ability of students to build their information ethics cognition through the cognitive information processing learning methods, which can enhance the “accessibility,” “accuracy,” “privacy,” and “IP” cognition of Chinese students in both the FTF and TML platform learning process. This will help to reduce students’ unethical behavior as they advance in their future careers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China for its financial support of this study (NSC99-2410-H-251-004-MY2). The author would also like to acknowledge the constructive comments and encouragement of Professor Adcroft Andy, Miller Jennifer and anonymous reviewers.
Citation
Chang, C.L.-h. (2017), "Confucian ethics perspective: The effect of course style on the information ethics cognition of students", Management Decision, Vol. 55 No. 2, pp. 427-449. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2016-0447
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited