Developing and Implementing STEM-Related Bioethics Curricula for High School Education

Abstract: A growing focus on STEM-related instruction for high school students entails a growing need for corresponding subject-specific ethics education. This presentation will describe the development and implementation of resources for teaching ethics concepts through a high school bioethics project (HSBP) sponsored by a division of medical ethics at a major academic medical center. Review of the evolution of this project will begin with the description of a partnership between the HSBP and a nonprofit organization offering a summer STEM program for underserved teens. This partnership yielded a two-week summer series of classes covering diverse bioethics topics including organ transplant, climate change, CRISPR and other gene therapies, health law, bioethics at the clinical bedside, and a discussion of seminal historical cases in the field. Building on this program, over the past year the HSBP has provided STEM-related ethics curriculum assistance to two high schools and a state-funded pre-college enrichment program that teaches STEM subjects to local underserved high schoolers. This presentation will further describe the evolving importance of STEM-related ethics education at the high school level, how various bioethics sessions can be tailored to students and institutions, the need for administrative buy-in, and the reception these sessions have received to date. Finally, the presentation will evaluate how these recent efforts can serve as a pilot program for STEM-related ethics education more broadly and inform outreach plans for schools nationwide.