Inaugural Lecture of Professor Jason M. Stephens

The Faculty of Arts and Education invites you to join us in celebrating Professor Jason Stephens' achievements by attending his inaugural lecture.

Venue: University of Auckland B201 | 10 Symonds Street, Auckland

Lecture hall: Lecture Theatre 201-440

Time: Lecture 4 - 5pm | Drinks Reception 5-6pm

Celebratory refreshments will be held after the inaugural lecture.

About the lecture

Minding (and Mending) the Gap: Exploring the Divide between Moral Judgment and Action

Why do people act in ways at odds with their moral judgments? Why isn’t—as Socrates famously (and erroneously) declared—‘knowing the good’ sufficient impetus for ‘doing the good’? Beyond our capacity for moral reasoning, what other factors affect the decisions we make and the actions we take? In this inaugural lecture, I will overview my explorations (theoretical and empirical) into the ‘judgment-action gap' (as it is known in moral psychology). These explorations have largely focused the problem of academic misconduct—an all-too common instantiation of the judgement-action gap—and sought to answer the question: Why do students cheat, even when they believe it is wrong? After nearly three decades of minding this gap, I have come to conclude that cheating (and the use of deception more broadly) is natural and normal, yet unethical and evitable. My lecture will describe these four propositions and their implications for mending the gap—helping students (and ourselves) ‘achieve with integrity’.

About the speaker:

Jason M. Stephens, Ph.D., is Head of the School (Learning, Development, and Professional Practice) in the Faculty Arts and Education. His primary research interests include human motivation, ethical functioning, cheating behaviour, and the uses (and misuses) of artificial intelligence in educational contexts. He is a co-author of two books on schooling and moral development (Educating Citizens and Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity) as well as numerous journal articles and other publications related to motivation, morality, and misconduct among secondary and tertiary students. He is Principal Investigator of the Research on Academic Integrity in New Zealand (RAINZ) Project, Vice President of Research and Outreach for the International Center for Academic Integrity, a member of the Executive Board for the Association for Moral Education, and serves on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Moral Education and the International Journal for Educational Integrity. Born and educated in the United States (B.A. at the University of Vermont, M.Ed. at Vanderbilt University, and Ph.D. at Stanford University), Jason moved to Auckland in 2012 to join the Faculty of Education as a Senior Lecturer. He is proud to call New Zealand his home.

Think GREEN! - registration is for catering purposes only, no need to print out your ticket

Getting to the venue: The Faculty of Arts and Educations' buildings are conveniently located at the heart of the University's City Campus and are easily accessible via many forms of public transport. For further information on public transport schedules, visit the Auckland Transport website. For those driving in, further information on parking options can be found here.