Values and Ethics
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Let’s take a
look at
what really
matters to
you.
What do you believe in?
Who do you care about?
What motivates you?
Are you a spiritual person?
Why are you really in college?
How do you tell the
difference between right and wrong?
What are values?
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They are the ideas and beliefs about life
that guide us to do what we do and be
what we are…
They can be about:
Politics
Sex
Religion
Being of service
Education
Money
Career
Family
Friends
Dishonesty
Taking Risks
Respect
Leisure
And so on…
Different kinds of Values
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Moral Values:
• Values you hold for yourself but
don’t force on others such as right
vs. wrong, honesty vs. dishonesty,
being of service to others
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Aesthetic Values:
• Personal standards of beauty as
seen in nature, art, music, personal
appearance
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Performance Values:
• Benchmarks you set for yourself
such as accuracy, speed, reward for
achievement, self-discipline and
overall accomplishment
Means & Ends Values
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Instrumental Values (the means):
• Objectives used to reach goals such as
being responsible, obedient, loving,
ambitious, independent, honest
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Intrinsic Values (the end):
• Personal happiness, a comfortable life,
personal freedom, true friendship, a
successful career
Values Checklist
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Having good friends
Having a positive relationship
Having self-respect & the
respect of others
Being financially secure
Being spiritual
Making a meaningful
contribution to mankind
Being a moral person
Being a great athlete
Being physically attractive
Being creative
Being personally responsible
Getting along well with people
in general
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Having freedom and
independence
Being well educated
Serving others
Having peace of mind
Getting recognition (being
famous)
Being a good citizen
Being healthy
Being intelligent
Having strong family ties
Being honest & having
integrity
Being dedicated and
committed
Values for College Success
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Connecting your personal values to being
successful in college:
• Clarify your values to be sure you really understand
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As strange as it may seem, many people operate on values
without thinking them through.
Truly understanding your values is key to applying them
successfully in college, in a career, or in life.
• Make a forthright self-evaluation
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Are your values workable in college?
Do you need to change or re-figure them?
• If necessary, change your values to make them more
productive and effective…
Forging Academic Values:
Participate Fully
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College takes much more time and work
than high school.
You also have much more freedom which
requires much more personal responsibility.
Avoid being unnecessarily frivolous, make
yourself stay “on-task”!
And, unless you honestly have no choice,
DON’T SKIP CLASS!
Forging Academic Values:
Participate Honorably #1
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Let’s be frank: If you cheat or plagiarize, you are
side-stepping the real reason you came to
college: to get an education.
Academic dishonesty myths:
• The risk of getting caught is small.
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It only takes getting caught once and you could be out.
• There is no other way to be “successful.”
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No? Then dishonesty should be the hallmark of all human
endeavor.
• It doesn’t matter in the long run.
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Not if you don’t have a conscience.
• The penalty for getting caught won’t be severe.
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Is this something you want to find out the hard way?
Forging Academic Values:
Participate Honorably #2
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If, on the other hand, you honestly give it your
“best shot”:
• Practicing academic integrity builds moral character.
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There’s nothing like having your conscience tell you did it
right!
• Choosing moral actions builds others’ trust in you.
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Having people believe in you is a major plus.
• Making bogus grades masks real feedback about
learning.
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How will you ever know what you are really capable of?
• Improving integrity in the classroom can rebuild national
character.
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The college classroom is an excellent place to begin
stemming the tide of corporate greed and corruption.
The Eleventh Commandment
Thou shalt not
get caught!
Challenges to your Values
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At college, you are going to meet new people whose values
may be quite different, if not totally opposite, to your own.
• You may be politically liberal and find yourself
befriending a staunch conservative.
Are you going to pass judgment and walk away?
Or are you going to be tolerant and try to see the person in
a new way?
Tolerance is a very positive trait, but even it can be carried
too far.
If you see your new friend show a really self-destructive
tendency, like excessive drinking, it is probably best not to
aid and abet them in their weakness, but rather to tell them
what you really think.
Your challenge is to balance your personal welfare, your
tolerance for diversity and your freedom of choice.
Values in Conflict: Dualisms
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Values of a society are often in conflict:
• Poverty vs. “Rugged Individualism”
• The Death Penalty vs. Deterrence of Major Crimes
• And so on…
An individual’s values can also be in conflict, often
personal values reflect the two-sided nature of our
culture’s unresolved contradictory values.
Who is right? Who is wrong? – These are a matter of
individual choice, based on both conscience and
careful critical thinking.
Think on this duality:
• Earning excellent grades in college is critical to
success in life.
• The most important decision you make in college
is about the kind of person you want to be.
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“Grades?” Or “Who do you want to be?” How do you
resolve this enigma?
Changing Society, Changing Values
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American values are changing, caused by:
• Demographic changes caused by much immigration from
other countries
• Globalization of the world economy
• Growing environmental concerns
• Political polarization
• Breakup of the family
• Computer technology and the Internet
• The Feminist movement
• Federal intervention in state’s rights
• Terrorism
• And on and on…
All of these, and many more, will greatly affect the values
of the individual.
Service Learning and Values
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Service Learning is a teaching method that
combines meaningful service to the
community with curriculum-based learning.
• Serving: To be effective, it should serve a genuine
community need, seen by a student-led
assessment and it should serve a real need.
• Linking: The program needs to have a strong link
between the community need and classroom
goals.
• Learning: Reflection is a key element in service
learning. The instructor sets time and methods for
students to reflect on and analyze their service
experience.
• It includes the best of both worlds into one:
community service and internships into one
learning experience.
Think about your legacy…
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In order to aid you to understand if you are truly
living up to your values, Stephen Covey, author
of the bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Successful
People, suggests you ask yourself this question:
• Imagine that you are attending your own funeral,
looking down at yourself in the casket.
• After you sit down, four people:
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A family member
A friend
A co-worker
Someone from your church or community organization
give a eulogy for you.
• What would you want them to say about you?
Value Assessment Web Resources
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College Success Factors Index
• http://www.csfi-wadsworth.com
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Steps to Successful Career Planning
• http://career.asu.edu/S/careerplan/selfdiscovery/ValuesAssessment.htm
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Journal of College and Character
• http://collegevalues.org/center.cfm
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Rutgers Value Assessment
• http://careerservices.rutgers.edu/OCAvaluesassessment.html
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Ohio Learning Network: Values Assessment
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http://www.oln.org/student_services/plan_your_education/assess_values.php
Values & Ethics
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In the preceding presentation about values, the
words morals and morality came up regularly.
Is there a connection between morality and
ethics?
Generally, the words are used interchangeably.
There is, however, a difference:
• Morality is usually more theoretical; it is a philosophical
concept.
• Ethics are the practical application of morality in daily
life.
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The difference is that of theory and practice.
If a person has a moral character, he or she will
generally deal with other people in an ethical
manner.
A 28 Day Project
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In order to determine what you believe is the most
important personal value of all, here is a method originally
developed by the ancient Greeks for determining something
really important.
At the same time every day (for instance, upon rising in the
morning or at bedtime) for 28 days, keep a journal and
write down: “The personal value I consider most important
is ______” Try to keep it to as few items as possible. One
thing is best, but if you have several items, write them
down. Limit yourself to no more than three.
At about the 25th or 26th day of the procedure, one
particular value should emerge as the predominant one.
Enjoy, learn and grow!