Abstract:

This paper presents an example of a student-centered learning model introduced as part of a course in Business Ethics at a School of Business Administration in the Czech Republic. As part of the final assessment, students were encouraged to create a case study based on the managerial ethical decision-making process. Students were encouraged to describe and solve ethical dilemmas from the real business environment.

267 students were involved in the Business Ethics course, and data from four cohorts of students were collected over five years (2019 - 2023). Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods were employed to assess the impact of the approach in question. Concretely, an online survey was distributed, analyzed, and evaluated, and student case studies were analyzed, coded, and evaluated.

Despite common beliefs that learners form their ethical backgrounds outside or before entering tertiary education, primary data collected during this study suggest that encouraging learners to employ active learning strategies, in our case, bridge education and business practice can positively influence their moral development. Encouraging reasoning for ethical decision-making can be improved by teaching guidance for moral judgment. When actively dealing with situations and predicaments in which there is not an optimal or desired choice to be made between two options, and when properly guided by the teacher, the process can yield awareness and consciousness of our values that allow the ability to act responsibly and ethically to lessen or prevent harm to ourselves and/or others.

Finally, data suggest that active learning strategies, as employed during the Business Ethics course, enable students to develop the capacity for self-directed education and help them to acquire not only knowledge about ethics and sustainability but also enhance skills, competencies, and behaviors needed for leading ethical and sustainable business in the 21st century.

Keywords:

Sustainability, business ethics, active learning strategies, student-centered learning, ethics in human resources management.