Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough

Jon Nichols

doi:doi:10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough

Jon Nichols

Published in Education Journal (Volume 4, Issue 5)

Received: 23 July 2015 Accepted: 5 August 2015 Published: 12 August 2015

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Abstract

This study investigated the moral reasoning abilities of second-year university students in in a medium sized liberal arts university in Taiwan. General English students were asked to solve a moral dilemma and their responses were analyzed utilizing Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The results of the study indicate that the majority of student surveyed reason at the conventional level of morality, which is second stage of the second level on Kohlberg’s three-level, six-stage rubric. The study goes on to question whether or not this level of moral reasoning meets the mandate of liberal arts education and whether or not this level of moral reasoning will be sufficient to equip students for the moral decisions which they will face in the future as leaders of policy and industry. Methods to increase students’ moral reasoning ability are also dicussed within this study

Published in	Education Journal (Volume 4, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
Page(s)	207-213
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Moral Reasoning, Taiwanese University Students, Kohlberg

References

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[2]	Pratt, T. (2014, July 1). Concerns rise about cheating by Chinese applicants to U.S. colleges. The Hechingerreport. Retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/concerns-rise-cheating-chinese-applicants-u-s-colleges/
[3]	Qi, L. (2014, May 25). U.S. Schools Expelled 8,000 Chinese Students. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from Qi http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/05/29/u-s-schools-expelled-8000-chinese-students-for-poor-grades-cheating/?mod=e2twy
[4]	"8 Plead Not Guilty in Chinese Test-Taking Scheme for Visas." The New York Times 17 June 2015. Web. .
[5]	Qi, L. (2014, May 25). U.S. Schools Expelled 8,000 Chinese Students. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from Qi http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/05/29/u-s-schools-expelled-8000-chinese-students-for-poor-grades-cheating/?mod=e2twy
[6]	Yuana, B., & Shenb, J. (1998). "Moral Values Held by Early Adolescents in Taiwan and Mainland China." Journal of Moral Education, 27(2).
[7]	Semerci, Ç. (2006). The Opinions of Medicine Faculty Students regarding Cheating in Relation to Kohlberg's Moral Development Concept. Social Behavior and Personality, 34(41).
[8]	Harrison, M. (2014, April 1). The Sunflower Movement in Taiwan. Retrieved from http://www.thechinastory.org/2014/04/the-sunflower-movement-in-taiwan/
[9]	Kohlberg, L., Levine, C., & Hewer, A. (1983). Moral stages: A current formulation and a response to critics. Basel, New York: Karger.
[10]	Barger, Robert N. Ph.D. "A Summary of Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development." A Summary of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development. University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, 2000. Web. .
[11]	Piaget, J. (1932). The Moral Judgment of the Child. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co..
[12]	Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on Moral Development, Vol. I: The Philosophy of Moral Development. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.
[13]	Colby, A; Kohlberg, L. (1987). The Measurement of Moral Judgment Vol. 2: Standard Issue Scoring Manual. Cambridge University Press.
[14]	Kohlberg, L. (1973). "The Claim to Moral Adequacy of a Highest Stage of Moral Judgment". Journal of Philosophy (The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 70, No. 18) 70 (18): 630–646. doi:10.2307/2025030. JSTOR 2025030.
[15]	Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on Moral Development, Vol. I: The Philosophy of Moral Development. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.
[16]	Kohlberg, L; T. Lickona, ed. (1976). "Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-developmental approach". Moral Development and Behavior: Theory, Research and Social Issues. Holt, NY: Rinehart and Winston.
[17]	Lee, Lee C. "The Concomitant Development of Cognitive and Moral Modes of Thought: A Test of Selected Deductions from Piaget's Theory." Genetic Psychology Monographs 83.1 (1971).
[18]	Power, F., Kohlberg, L., & Higgins, A. (1991). Lawrence Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education (Critical Assessments of Contemporary Psychology). New York, New York: Columbia University Press.
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[21]	Yuana, B., & Shenb, J. (1998). "Moral Values Held by Early Adolescents in Taiwan and Mainland China." Journal of Moral Education, 27(2).

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Jon Nichols. (2015). Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough. Education Journal, 4(5), 207-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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Jon Nichols. Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough. Educ. J. 2015, 4(5), 207-213. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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AMA Style

Jon Nichols. Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough. Educ J. 2015;4(5):207-213. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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@article{10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14,
  author = {Jon Nichols},
  title = {Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough},
  journal = {Education Journal},
  volume = {4},
  number = {5},
  pages = {207-213},
  doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20150405.14},
  abstract = {This study investigated the moral reasoning abilities of second-year university students in in a medium sized liberal arts university in Taiwan. General English students were asked to solve a moral dilemma and their responses were analyzed utilizing Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The results of the study indicate that the majority of student surveyed reason at the conventional level of morality, which is second stage of the second level on Kohlberg’s three-level, six-stage rubric. The study goes on to question whether or not this level of moral reasoning meets the mandate of liberal arts education and whether or not this level of moral reasoning will be sufficient to equip students for the moral decisions which they will face in the future as leaders of policy and industry. Methods to increase students’ moral reasoning ability are also dicussed within this study},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough
AU  - Jon Nichols
Y1  - 2015/08/12
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
T2  - Education Journal
JF  - Education Journal
JO  - Education Journal
SP  - 207
EP  - 213
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2619
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
AB  - This study investigated the moral reasoning abilities of second-year university students in in a medium sized liberal arts university in Taiwan. General English students were asked to solve a moral dilemma and their responses were analyzed utilizing Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The results of the study indicate that the majority of student surveyed reason at the conventional level of morality, which is second stage of the second level on Kohlberg’s three-level, six-stage rubric. The study goes on to question whether or not this level of moral reasoning meets the mandate of liberal arts education and whether or not this level of moral reasoning will be sufficient to equip students for the moral decisions which they will face in the future as leaders of policy and industry. Methods to increase students’ moral reasoning ability are also dicussed within this study
VL  - 4
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Jon Nichols

Department of Liberal Arts, Shih Chien University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

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Jon Nichols. (2015). Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough. Education Journal, 4(5), 207-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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ACS Style

Jon Nichols. Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough. Educ. J. 2015, 4(5), 207-213. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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AMA Style

Jon Nichols. Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough. Educ J. 2015;4(5):207-213. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14

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@article{10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14,
  author = {Jon Nichols},
  title = {Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough},
  journal = {Education Journal},
  volume = {4},
  number = {5},
  pages = {207-213},
  doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20150405.14},
  abstract = {This study investigated the moral reasoning abilities of second-year university students in in a medium sized liberal arts university in Taiwan. General English students were asked to solve a moral dilemma and their responses were analyzed utilizing Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The results of the study indicate that the majority of student surveyed reason at the conventional level of morality, which is second stage of the second level on Kohlberg’s three-level, six-stage rubric. The study goes on to question whether or not this level of moral reasoning meets the mandate of liberal arts education and whether or not this level of moral reasoning will be sufficient to equip students for the moral decisions which they will face in the future as leaders of policy and industry. Methods to increase students’ moral reasoning ability are also dicussed within this study},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Moral Reasoning Among Taiwanese Liberal Arts Students: Conventional Morality is not Enough
AU  - Jon Nichols
Y1  - 2015/08/12
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
T2  - Education Journal
JF  - Education Journal
JO  - Education Journal
SP  - 207
EP  - 213
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2619
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20150405.14
AB  - This study investigated the moral reasoning abilities of second-year university students in in a medium sized liberal arts university in Taiwan. General English students were asked to solve a moral dilemma and their responses were analyzed utilizing Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. The results of the study indicate that the majority of student surveyed reason at the conventional level of morality, which is second stage of the second level on Kohlberg’s three-level, six-stage rubric. The study goes on to question whether or not this level of moral reasoning meets the mandate of liberal arts education and whether or not this level of moral reasoning will be sufficient to equip students for the moral decisions which they will face in the future as leaders of policy and industry. Methods to increase students’ moral reasoning ability are also dicussed within this study
VL  - 4
IS  - 5
ER  -

Copy | Download