Practicing Research Ethics Education to Prevent Research Misconduct in Upper Secondary School: Class Practice Utilizing Actual Cases of Misconduct in Research Activities

Abstract

In recent years, opportunities for research activities in inquiry subjects have been increasing in upper secondary schools. In such an opportune situation, it is widely considered necessary to develop the ability of students engaged in research to understand research ethics, to exercise independent judgment, and to act with ethical conduct. However, compared to universities and other research institutions, there are few examples of research into ethics education in upper secondary schools. Therefore, this study focused on “specific research misconduct” and implemented research ethics education using actual examples of research misconduct published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as teaching materials. Based on the what was observed in the practice lessons, further consideration was given to what students should be more careful of when conducting their own research activities. In addition, a checklist to help prevent research misconduct in research activities was compiled.