Di You, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology B.A., Inner Mongolia University of Technology, China Ph.D, University of Minnesota Research: Moral sensitivity, Moral reasoning, Professional ethics with concentration on teacher education
find out, especially eager to determine the effects of a values-based education. Working with Alvernia Associate Professor Neil Penny, You gathered data on Alvernia students in 2007 and again in 2009, using a standard value test. She examined findings with regard to how many philosophy and theology courses and how much community service students had performed, doing exact comparisons on specific students when possible. The results? Students who took more than the basic philosophy and theology courses and who did more than Alvernia’s minimum requirement of community service hours were significantly more sophisticated in terms of moral reasoning. “Even more dramatically, students who did more than the basics had a decrease in personal interest; they were less self-centered,” You reports. Last summer, using a Faculty Excellent Grant, You studied her data to prepare and present “The Impact of Taking Theology and Philosophy Classes as well as Engaging in Community Service on Undergraduates’ Moral Reasoning Development” at the Association for Moral Education annual meeting in Nanjing, China. In February, her article “Assessing Student Moral Reasoning of a Value-Based Education” appeared in the journal Psychology Research. “As an Alvernia professor, it was reassuring that what we’re doing at this university matters,” Dr. You says. “Freshman might arrive with an ‘all about me’ attitude but the values-based education we provide can and does have a significant influence.” The energetic and personable researcher continues to delve into the subject, currently exploring intervention strategies that can impact students’ moral reasoning. “With my research about moral development and professional ethics, I like to see it as a continuum, not to compartmentalize,” she says. “And to do that you have to rise above the trees.” — Jane Scheirer Jones