Unit Exams

Unit exams are the major assessment method for the class. There are four unit exams, one at the end of each unit. The first unit exam is mostly objective (although it may contain a short essay). We will discuss the format and content of the first exam in class prior to the exam. The other three unit exams are case analysis reports.

Case Analysis Reports

Unit exams 2-4 consist of a single case analysis report. The report responds to a case that students receive during the exam period. Cases are designed to require an answer that makes use of all or almost all of the materials studied during that unit. Before each exam we will spend some time reviewing the material for the exam (mostly by reviewing the answers to the Exam Study Sheet) and analyzing practice cases that are similar to the exam case. 

What is a case analysis report?

A case analysis report is essentially ethical guidance, offered by the student to the health care professionals in the case. Most cases include at least one main ethical issue. The thesis of the report should respond to this main ethical issue. For example, perhaps the main question the case raises is about whether physicians should accept a patient’s request to withhold life sustaining treatment. The thesis should directly answer this question and should usually indicate the main point(s) of the student’s response. 

The body of the essay is the student’s defense of their thesis. Students should provide arguments in favor of their thesis that demonstrate engagement with the case and extensive understanding of the material discussed in class and included in readings. Explicitly mention principles, ideas, or definitions from class and readings so that it is clear you are familiar with this material! Students should also consider potential objections (either to their thesis or arguments) and respond to these. 

The body of the essay is also a good place to give additional guidance to physicians that goes beyond the thesis, or to address how the health care professionals should respond to anticipated new information. In the case that you feel you do not have enough information to fully resolve the case, indicate what you would do to obtain the necessary information, then explain how various facts you might discover would impact your guidance in this case. 

Preparing to write a report

You will have access to your Philosophical Journals while writing the essay. Remember this when writing your journal entries–be sure to discuss specific facts, principles, and theories from readings or class discussion so that you can refer to these during the exam!

Students are generally discouraged from incorporating any specific concepts, ideas, or facts from outside of course materials. If such materials do appear in unit exams they must be cited. Failure to cite these sources (or mis-citation, such as citation of sources that do not exist) will be treated as plagiarism. See the Understanding Academic Integrity.

You will have the full 75 minute period to write your essay. There is no specific length requirement, but essays will have to be a certain length to adequately meet all the objectives in the rubric, and even longer to meet all of these objectives in a way that earns maximum credit. Write the best essay you can in the time you have. 

Rubric for Case Analysis Reports

Component	Description
Thesis	Essay contains a clear organizing thesis that (1) responds to main ethical issue in the case. In addition to responding to the main ethical issue, the thesis should be (2) a normative claim that is (3) concise and (4) appropriately specific.		20%
Arguments	Arguments “support” a thesis when they constitute reasons for thinking the thesis is true. The body of the paper should contain all and only those arguments that support the thesis. The following criteria are used to assess the extent to which the arguments support the thesis.
	Organization	[30%]
	Are the arguments clearly organized around supporting the thesis? For example, can the paper be broken up into a number of discrete arguments, all of which independently support the thesis? Does the paper flow from one point to the next?
	Quality of reasoning	[30%]
	Philosophical reasoning: are the philosophical arguments presented sound, or at least valid? Does the paper make important distinctions and consider relevant analogies or similar cases?
	Consideration of objections: Objections are reasons for thinking that the student’s thesis is false, or that one of its supporting arguments fails. Does the paper consider objections that a reasonable interlocutor might make?
	Use of course materials	[20%]
	Does the paper interact with major philosophical arguments, distinctions, and concepts discussed in class or in readings? Is the treatment of these philosophical sources careful and thoughtful? Is it helpful in supporting the thesis? Does the paper interact with objections to its thesis or arguments that are reasonably inferred from major class discussions or points in the readings?
	Arguments, total		80%
TOTAL			100%