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Making Connections: Engineering Ethics on the World Wide Web
Abstract
This paper focuses on the use of the World Wide Web in courses and
course units dealing with engineering ethics and/or the social
implications of engineering. Course materials and other resources for
use by students and faculty are discussed and a new website, the Web
Clearinghouse for Engineering and Computing Ethics, is introduced.
Course materials and resources found on the Web include: ethics centers
that focus on engineering ethics and/or other fields of professional
ethics; case studies and other instructional materials; course syllabi;
codes of engineering ethics; ethics pages of professional societies;
papers, articles and reports with relevance to engineering and computer
ethics; on-line ethics journals and newsletters; and primary source
archives. The Web lends itself for use as a place to post a
“living” course syllabus, with hypertext links to on- and
off-site material containing course information and assignments as well
as information on content and pedagogical techniques of interest to
faculty who are developing and teaching courses in engineering and
computing ethics. By illustrating in real-time the interconnectedness of
information from engineering, the humanities and the social sciences,
the Web serves as a tangible metaphor for the interdisciplinary approach
necessary for a complete examination of ethics in engineering
... If an educational institution should decide to incorporate ethics into its curriculum, the internet could be searched for examples of an ethics syllabus. The availability of the information would facilitate the incorporation of ethics into the curriculum (Herkert, 1997: 2). The reaction to this question was totally unexpected as only twentytwo percent of the students indicated that training should include principles of ethics only. ...
... Most recently, a number of organizations have sought to increase the utility of these basic approaches by improving their accessibility through the Internet. These include the development of the on-line Ethics Center for Engineering and Science Case Western University (2008), the Texas Technological University National Institute for Engineering Ethics (2008), the Texas A&M Engineering Ethics web site (2008), the ethics web site section of the National Society of Professional Engineers Ethics (2010) and others (Cummings and Lo 2004;Herkert 1997;Steneck 1999). Resources from these organizations include individual on-line courses, manuscripts, case studies, videos, DVDs, and tests for engineering ethics training. ...
This paper describes a second generation Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education. Details describing the first generation activities of this overall effort are published in Chung and Alfred (Sci Eng Ethics 15:189-199, 2009). The second generation research effort represents a major development in the interactive simulator educational approach. As with the first generation effort, the simulator places students in first person perspective scenarios involving different types of ethical situations. Students must still gather data, assess the situation, and make decisions. The approach still requires students to develop their own ability to identify and respond to ethical engineering situations. However, were as, the generation one effort involved the use of a dogmatic model based on National Society of Professional Engineers' Code of Ethics, the new generation two model is based on a mathematical model of the actual experiences of engineers involved in ethical situations. This approach also allows the use of feedback in the form of decision effectiveness and professional career impact. Statistical comparisons indicate a 59 percent increase in overall knowledge and a 19 percent improvement in teaching effectiveness over an Internet Engineering Ethics resource based approach.
... The emergence of the World Wide Web and explosive growth of online resources have been of great benefit to the field of engineering ethics. 36 Unlike print, the Web provides an effective mechanism for quickly assembling this material in a flexible and easily updateable format. Materials and resources found on the Web include: ethics centers; case studies (often with commentaries) and other instructional materials; course syllabi; codes of engineering ethics; ethics pages of professional societies; papers, articles and reports; and online journals and newsletters. ...
Engineering ethics entails three frames of reference: individual, professional, and social. "Microethics" considers individuals and internal relations of the engineering profession; "macroethics" applies to the collective social responsibility of the profession and to societal decisions about technology. Most research and teaching in engineering ethics, including online resources, has had a "micro" focus. Mechanisms for incorporating macroethical perspectives include: integrating engineering ethics and science, technology and society (STS); closer integration of engineering ethics and computer ethics; and consideration of the influence of professional engineering societies and corporate social responsibility programs on ethical engineering practice. Integrating macroethical issues and concerns in engineering ethics involves broadening the context of ethical problem solving. This in turn implies: developing courses emphasizing both micro and macro perspectives, providing faculty development that includes training in both STS and practical ethics; and revision of curriculum materials, including online resources. Multidisciplinary collaboration is recommended 1) to create online case studies emphasizing ethical decision making in individual, professional, and societal contexts; 2) to leverage existing online computer ethics resources with relevance to engineering education and practice; and 3) to create transparent linkages between public policy positions advocated by professional societies and codes of ethics.
Improving the ethical thinking and analysis of university students is becoming an essential goal of modern curricula and program designers in various disciplines. To support ethics learning via practical applications and decision-making scenarios, ethics instructors are adding innovative methods to their multidisciplinary courses by following creative teaching practices and including diverse activities inside and outside the classroom. In this paper, a review of activities that promote ethics learning and engagement of undergraduate students is presented as a guide to devise a comprehensive framework for applying and promoting ethics. Ethics centers are also introduced as well-organized hubs that plan, organize, and host activities to support ethics teaching and enhance student intellectual growth and community services. The paper is enriched with numerous examples of activities and strategies for instructors and incentives for students extracted from an intensive review conducted on more than 60 ethics centers and 40 syllabi of ethics courses offered in international colleges and universities.
In modern and well-structured universities, ethics centers are playing a key role in hosting, organizing, and managing activities to enrich and guide students’ ethical thinking and analysis. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the goals, activities, and administration of ethics centers, as well as their role in promoting ethical thinking for academic, career, and business purposes. The paper also gives an overview of the most common activities organized by these hubs in order to highlight their contributions to pedagogy, student learning and intellectual growth, research development, and community service. This study is based on an intensive review conducted on seventy-five ethics centers established in universities and colleges around the globe. First, it provides administrations of academic institutions with the basic knowledge needed to plan for potential new ethics centers. They can benefit from the present expertise of described ethics centers and project the practical methodologies on their university needs. In addition, directors and coordinators of established ethics centers would enhance their experience by including new activities and collaborations to their plans. Finally, ethics course instructors can benefit from the listed activities to increase student involvement by including practical methods and discussions beyond the classroom.
The curricular, pedagogical and methodological objectives that the Drexel program in engineering ethics aims are discussed. Designed initially to respond to practical needs of students and their employees in Drexel's co-operative education program, the objectives offer one possible implementation of the ABET 2000 criteria. An engineering ethics should be interwoven into an integrated engineering curriculum and relate closely to other analytical and hands-on activities of the engineering student, in the classroom and in the lab. The study of the ethics should supplement, clarify and modify the values acquired during professional socialization and draw on real-life experiences collected by the student in the school and the workplace.
Ethics as a topic of study is called for by both the present ABET accreditation criteria and the proposed Engineering Criteria 2000. This paper presents the results of a survey of the ethics-related course requirements of virtually all engineering programs in the U.S. Even with a liberal definition of “ethics-related topics,” the data reveal that only about one-fourth of the institutions surveyed require all of their engineering undergraduates to take at least one course in which ethics or ethics-related topics were listed in the catalog description. Because the institutions with extensive ethics course requirements tended to be small, only about one out of five students who graduated from accredited programs in 1996–97 came from an institution with such a requirement. These data show the relative invisibility of ethics-related instruction in present course requirements, and also highlight institutions that can serve as examples for others seeking to improve their instructional efforts in this area.
This paper describes the use and analysis of the Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education (SEEE) to perform cross culture engineering ethics training and analysis. Details describing the first generation and second generation development of the SEEE are published in Chung and Alfred, Science and Engineering Ethics, vol. 15, 2009 and Alfred and Chung, Science and Engineering Ethics, vol. 18, 2012. In this effort, a group of far eastern educated students operated the simulator in the instructional, training, scenario, and evaluation modes. The pre and post treatment performance of these students were compared to U.S. Educated students. Analysis of the performance indicated that the far eastern educated student increased their level of knowledge 23.7 percent while U.S. educated students increased their level of knowledge by 39.3 percent.
Interest in engineering ethics education developed significant momentum in the USA as the 20th century drew to a close. Nevertheless, nearly 80% of engineering graduates are not required to take ethics-related courses. The content of engineering ethics education consists of 'microethical' issues focusing on individual professional responsibility and 'macroethical' issues dealing with the development of technology. The pedagogical framework of engineering ethics education has evolved primarily toward utilization of case studies and codes of ethics, in some instances supplemented by an introduction to moral theory. Substantial progress has been made in the development of case materials, including highprofile cases, everyday cases, quantitative cases and cases highlighting 'good works'. Cases are widely disseminated in textbooks and online. Online resources include interactive case studies and a rich variety of other ethics-related materials. Prominent curriculum models in the USA include a required course in engineering ethics, ethics-across-the-curriculum projects, and integration of engineering ethics and science, technology and society material. Changes in accreditation criteria for US engineering schools will potentially elevate the prominence of instruction in engineering ethics and the societal context of engineering. Many challenges remain, most notably the need for US engineering faculty to accept greater responsibility for engineering ethics education.
This paper discusses collaborative learning and its use in an elective course on ethics in engineering. Collaborative learning
is a form of active learning in which students learn with and from one another in small groups. The benefits of collaborative
learning include improved student performance and enthusiasm for learning, development of communication skills, and greater
student appreciation of the importance of judgment and collaboration in solving real-world problems such as those encountered
in engineering ethics. Collaborative learning strategies employed in the course include informal small group discussions/problem
solving, role-playing exercises, and cooperative student group projects, including peer grading. Student response to these
techniques has been highly favorable. Realizing the benefits of collaborative learning is a challenge to both teachers, who
must give up some control in the classroom, and students, who must be willing to take greater responsibility for their learning.
Societal pressures, accreditation organizations, and licensing agencies are emphasizing the importance of ethics in the engineering curriculum. Traditionally, this subject has been taught using dogma, heuristics, and case study approaches. Most recently a number of organizations have sought to increase the utility of these approaches by utilizing the Internet. Resources from these organizations include on-line courses and tests, videos, and DVDs. While these individual approaches provide a foundation on which to base engineering ethics, they may be limited in developing a student’s ability to identify, analyze, and respond to engineering ethics situations outside of the classroom environment. More effective approaches utilize a combination of these types of approaches. This paper describes the design and development of an internet based interactive Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education. The simulator places students in first person perspective scenarios involving different types of ethical situations. Students must gather data, assess the situation, and make decisions. This requires students to develop their own ability to identify and respond to ethical engineering situations. A limited comparison between the internet based interactive simulator and conventional internet web based instruction indicates a statistically significant improvement of 32% in instructional effectiveness. The simulator is currently being used at the University of Houston to help fulfill ABET requirements.
Engineering educators have long discussed the need to teach professional responsibility and the social context of engineering without adding to overcrowded curricula. One difficulty we face is the lack of appropriate teaching materials that can fit into existing courses. The PRiME (Professional Responsibility Modules for Engineering) Project (http://www.engr.utexas.edu/ethics/primeModules.cfm) described in this paper was initiated at the University of Texas, Austin to provide web-based modules that could be integrated into any undergraduate engineering class. Using HPL (How People Learn) theory, PRiME developed and piloted four modules during the academic year 2004-2005. This article introduces the modules and the pilot, outlines the assessment process, analyzes the results, and describes how the modules are being revised in light of the initial assessment. In its first year of development and testing, PRiME made significant progress towards meeting its objectives. The PRiME Project can strengthen engineering education by providing faculty with an effective system for engaging students in learning about professional responsibility.
The last quarter of the twentieth century witnessed many notable
changes in engineering education in the USA including a growing
recognition of the importance of ethics and social responsibility.
Although nearly 80% of US engineering graduates are not required to take
ethics-related courses (Stephan, 1999), engineering ethics has begun to
make its mark in engineering curricula: required courses in engineering
ethics at a few prominent institutions; across-the-curriculum ethics
initiatives; and numerous elective courses in engineering ethics, some
of which are options under broader general education requirements. Many
engineers and ethicists are critical of the traditional preoccupation of
engineering ethics with specific moral dilemmas confronting individuals
and call for greater attention to macroethical issues related to the
societal implications of technology as a complement to the traditional
microethical approach that focuses on individual cases
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