Globalisation, Education, Policy, and Curricula Issues: Development of Moral and Ethical Reasoning: A Comparison of U.S. and International University Students’ Moral Reasoning Skills

The research reported in this chapter was conducted at a private Christian-affiliated university in the western United States. Two samples of beginning freshmen and two samples of seniors (all groups including U.S. and international students) were given the revised version of the DIT (DIT-2; Rest & Narvaez, 1998) during the same semester. Post conventional thinking pscores were collected and statistically compared using a one-way ANOVA. This study of moral development using the DIT-2 test can provide useful insights into the different ways that diverse populations reason in situations of moral complexity. Findings regarding gender and language differences were consistent with previous research; however, comparing international populations studying in the U.S. with native U.S. students found differences in moral reasoning scores needing further consideration. We conclude that additional research is necessary to determine the moral development of diverse groups within international settings. This research can help school officials working with different groups to support diverse students in higher education.