In this assignment you will work in small groups. The assignment will allow you to put to work what you have learned about ethics, ethical reasoning, and social responsibility. The product of the group collaboration is a powerpoint presentation and an oral presentation. The oral presentation will occur in the block of time reserved for the final exam for our class: Thursday, March 19, 2009. 12:30 - 2:20 PM.

Here are some documents that will be useful.

• See the notes on getting started for ideas about how to make the group activity a positive one.
• See what group you are in.
• Group evaluation grading form.
• Group activity log.

The topic for the project is ethical considerations of the "Octo-mom" case. The delivery of octuplets to Nadya Suleman. Each group will research a different ethical principle, they will then apply that principle to the facts of the "Octo-mom" case and make a set of recomendations consistent with their ethical principle. The point of the presentation is to inform the class of the important ideas relevant to the ethical principle of your group, the facts of the case, and your recomendations for the future in an informative and entertaining manner.

The ethical principles we will use are:

1. Ethical Utilitarianism (group 2)
2. Ethical Relativism (group 2)
3. Justice based ethics (group 3)
4. Rights based ethics (group 4)
5. Ethical Universalism (group 5)
6. Ethical Egoism (group 6)

Here are the phyiscal parameters of the presentation.

• The presentation will 10 minutes total (including set up and questions).
• Each group member will have a turn speaking.
• Each group will prepare an electronic presentation in powerpoint or some other medium.
• The presentation will include sections on
  1. The groups ethical principle. What it means, how it is applied. This will require considerable research on the groups part.
  2. The facts of "Octo-mom" case. How it interacts with the ethical principle.
  3. A stakeholder analysis
  4. Recomendations for the future.
• Each group will send me a final version of their presentation by 5:00 PM the day before the presentation.
• Presentations will be Thursday, March 19, 2009. 12:30 - 2:20 PM.

Grading Rubric. When grading the presentation I will look for the following information in your presentation.

• Background
  1. Ethical principle research
     1. What is your principle
     2. Who developed it?
     3. What is its history?
     4. In what contexts is it usually applied.
  2. The facts of the "Octo-mom" case.
     1. What happened?
     2. Who are the principle characters?
     3. Why is the case contoversial?
     4. Why did it attract so much media attention?
  3. A stakeholder analysis. Inparticular what stakeholders might use your ethical principle.
  4. What wrongs need to be "righted"
  5. Recomendations to right wrongs, lessen negative impacts of future cases

I will also look for the following attributes of the presentation.

• Fits withing the given time.
• All group memebers participate (Hint. Practice it with a live audience at least once).
• Uses graphs, pictures, visuals
• Gives evidence (support your claims)
• Goes beyond what we talked about in class. Do your own research
• Uses and attributes the ideas of others
• Tells a story

I will use the following Grade Sheet to record your grades as your group gives the presentation..

Some guidlines for Presentation preparation.

• A presentation is a tool that helps you explain to others what you have done. Most of the information is in your comments. The poster gives you something to refer to, and reminds you of important points.
• A 10 minute presentation will have between 5 and 9 slides.
• Keep visuals simple and uncluttered
• Restrict text to 4-8 lines per page.
• Use color and font changes to carry a message (e.g. related concepts or experimental results in the same colors), not arbitrarily.
• Use LARGE fonts.
• Use graphics rather than words where possible.
• Put keywords on poster to help you remember script.

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