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Peer Review

An OER Ethics Reader

Reviewed:

Oct 26, 2023 by Business
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.2 stars
Content Quality: 4.8 stars
Effectiveness: 3.5 stars
Ease of Use: 4.8 stars
Overview:

This open access (.pdf) e-Reader is a compilation of readings on ethics. The readings represent stand-alone chapters and, in some cases, whole volumes of writings on ethics. Some chapters present original writings by themselves while others provide translation and commentary on the writings. 

The Reader contains several foundational philosophical readings in the area of ethics. Readers will trace the historical progression of ethics from as early as Confucius (500 BC) and as late as John Stuart Mill (1861 AD). It is a text-based collection of readings with a table of contents with book numbers with the exception of the entries by Immanuel Kant (1785 AD) and John Stuart Mill (1861 AD) which have the titles of their writings as subheadings.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

Recommended uses include:

1.       Pre-lecture reading assignment.

2.       Supplemental reading resource.

3.       Literature review resource.

Technical Requirements:

Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Adobe PDF Reader

Identify Major Learning Goals:

After reading this resource, users will be able to:

  •  identify early authors and writings on ethics.
  • identify and explain key ideas underpinning principles of ethics, values, and morals.
  • compare and contrast writings on ethics across different time periods.
  • summarize historical and contemporary writings on ethics
  • understand and explain the intersection between ethics and writings on utility, value, morals, and justice.
Target Student Population:

College Upper Division, Graduate School

Intermediate or Advanced level for:

·       All majors across the Humanities, Science, and Business esp.

o   Social and Criminal justice

o   Political Science

o   Business, Government, and Societal Ethics

o   Law

o   History

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

An Ethics in Society and/or a Early World History class should be a prerequisite.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The writings are extensive and detailed.  
  • The content is significant and engaging.
  • Respected authors in the history of ethics were presented. 
Concerns:

  • The book opens with the Table of Contents and goes immediately to the main content. The author should further develop the Front Matter of the text to better prepare the reader for undertaking such an extensive body of work.  
  • The front matter should also describe how it is that the resource could be used—whether as a stand-alone reference guide or in-depth research literature resource.
  • There were no visuals or learning exercises to accompany the text. 

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

  • The learning material is an open-access anthology of historical readings on ethics from 500 BC to 1861 AD.
  • It saves learners time and money from gathering the readings themselves thereby increasing the potential for student learning. 
  • Instructors can use the learning material to develop course assignments or class discussion topics. 
  • The e-reader is an excellent resource to access seminal historical and contemporary overviews on ethics.
Concerns:

  • Learning objectives and prerequisite knowledge are not identified.
  • Concepts are not reinforced and it does not assess student learning outcomes.
  • The collection of writings is as significant as it is expansive.
  • The length of chapters is substantial. Organizing the materials into additional volumes, parts or subsections could improve its usefulness as a teaching tool. '
  • In its current state, the 223-page resource is a significant volume of work that people with a primary focus on the study of Ethics will have the discipline and dedication to read.     

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

  • Based on a review of Chapter 5 (On the Connexion [sic] between Justice and Utility):  
  • The volume provides an excellent reference point for readings of Ethics.
  • The original writings provide authenticity and a healthy level of complexity to concepts being presented and discussed.
  • The learning material is a PDF and it is easy to use. PDFs have accessibility features such as read-aloud.
Concerns:

A clickable Table of Contents would be helpful. It would provide a more user-friendly path to using the resource, instead of having to scroll through or enter page numbers to navigate.   

Other Issues and Comments:

  • This is a well-written and helpful resource.
  • Tweaking some features for enhanced interactivity and ease of use (ex, clickable Table of Contents) is recommended.
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