The Impact of an Online Ethics Module on Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice Instruction on the Morality Levels of Appraisal Students

Abstract

This paper represents a portion of the work performed for the PhD in Education at Walden University. The financial markets have been in a state of chaos for a number of years. Some of the chaos can be attributed to appraisers bending under unethical pressure exerted by lenders (Martin, 2009). Bandura (2001) and Detert, Trevino and Sweitzer (2008) described such deviation from moral behavior as a disengagement from the agents of cognitive morality. Some suggest a lack of morality among appraisers was a principal cause of the financial collapse of the 2000s. Therefore, if appraiser morality could be positively affected, adherence to appraisal codes of ethics would be enhanced. Appraisers must complete a 7-hour USPAP Update Continuing Education course once per renewal cycle to maintain their license. The research problem is to determine the effect an online USPAP course has on the moral outlook of appraisal students who take these courses. The research will consist of administering the Defining Issues Test (DIT) before the USPAP course as a baseline, and then again after the USPAP course to determine if there is a difference in moral outlook. An Ethics Module (EM) will be created and added to the USPAP course for some participants. The researcher will determine if the EM affects the student’s morality level. The researcher will also determine if the teaching environment (online vs grounded) affects student morality. The results of this research may result in recommendations to the agency that promulgates USPAP based upon the results of this research.