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MIS303 Professional Ethics Reflection

Learning Outcomes

The Subject Learning Outcomes demonstrated by successful completion of the task below include:

1. Identify and explain how codes of ethics directly impact professional practice and behaviour in the IS profession.
2. Analyse and discuss the impact and consequences of ethical and unethical IS practices.
3. Critically reflect on the relationship between ethics and legal frameworks in the IS industry.
4. Apply professional ethics to positively contribute to public interest and business.

Task Summary

This assessment task requires you to reflect on your experiences in the subject MIS303: Professional Ethics by following a four-step process designed to help you gain insights into the work you have done and how it relates to your own career and life more broadly. As the trimester comes to a close, you will be asked to reflect on your learning experiences by referring back to the weekly journals you had produced from Modules 1 to 5 and submit a final reflective report of 1250 words (+/- 10%) that will include the weekly journals in the Appendix.

Context

This is an individual assignment that tracks your growth as a student of Professional Ethics over the trimester. It is scaffolded around what you have learnt in class. Seeking input from your peers and the learning facilitator is essential for you to achieve a positive result in this subject. This reflective report gives you the opportunity to communicate your understanding of how professional ethics relates to your career and future.

Task Instructions

1. During Modules 1 to5, you were asked to produce a weekly journal to record your learnings each week. Based on these weekly journals, please write a 1250-word reflective report about your experience.  Please include your weekly journals in the Appendix of the report and refer to the Assessment Rubric to ensure you address all the assessment criteria.
2. You are required to follow the four steps of Kolb’s learning cycle (see Figure 1) when writing the reflective report.
3. You were asked to keep a learning journal throughout this subject. Your completed learning journal should be appended to this assessment when you submit it.

Figure 1: Kolb’s experiental learning cycle

Note. Adapted from Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experimental learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Copyright 1984 by Prentice Hall.  

Step 1:  Concrete experience – Keep a learning journal. The first step is to keep a learning journal for the trimester (Modules 1.1 through to 5.2 as described above). You should have already completed this step by now.

Step 2: Reflective observation – Summarise what happened. You should now be able to comment on your experiences this trimester. This exercise is not a list of what you have done, but rather an observation of what you have learnt – were there any themes that arose from your journal? The point of a learning journal is to start a discussion on what the key concepts and skills you have learnt and acquired in the course of this subject. This is because we often do not stop to think and reflect on what we have learnt.

Step 3: Abstract conceptualisation – Analyse what this means. The next step is to analyse what you have found. Reflective practice is a process of thinking about new experiences with a view towards learning. It is a form of personal response to new experiences, situations, events, or information. What new knowledge have you gained in response to this exercise? And what does this information mean to you?  You are expected to reflect at a deep level here. This means that it is not just about explaining what you have done in this subject – rather, it requires you to think about your personal beliefs, your background and the way you perceive the world around you. Did you learn anything in this subject that challenged you or change the way you thought about information systems and how ethics fits into your future practice as a professional?

Step 4: Active experimentation – New action. The final step is to discuss what you plan to do with this new knowledge. These new insights may lead to a change of thinking or behaviour. In what ways could this change happen? Set yourself some specific goals for your future studies or career in the IS industry.

Report Structure

1. You are required to complete this assessment in a report format using the following headings:
   1. Introduction
   2. Reflective Observation
   3. Abstract conceptualisation
   4. Active experimentation

1. Conclusion
2. Appendix of weekly learning journals

2. Please note that simply describing what you have done each week will not be enough to pass this assessment. You are expected to go ‘deeper’ and analyse what this subject meant to you and your future goals.  

Referencing

Formal citation of sources is not required. However, specific reference to your own experiences must be made.