Educating engineering students about ethics: Experiences at brown university and trinity college

Ware, D. K., Ahlgren, D. J. and Silverman, H. F. (2013) Educating engineering students about ethics: Experiences at brown university and trinity college. [Conference Proceedings]

Abstract
Documents
Statistics
Information
Library

[+][-]

Abstract

Engineering students need to understand that their future profession is guided by principles of ethics - principles regarding both the practice of engineering itself, and the business environment in which that practice occurs. Since 2003 at Trinity College (Hartford), and since 2005 at Brown University, this need has been addressed in lectures presented by an ethics advocate, lawyer and member of the senior management team at a Fortune 50 corporation. These lectures draw heavily upon real-life examples of business situations in which the company's engineers faced ethical choices and decisions. The guest lecturer solicits student participation and discussion to illustrate the importance of ethics, the kinds of ethical decisions made in the business world, and the nature of ethical decision-making. Particular ethical challenges discussed during the lecture include conflicts of interest, gratuities and bribes, and the protection of proprietary information, among others. This paper will discuss the method and content of the lecture, and observations by the lecturer and the host engineering professors about the perceived level of ethical awareness among the students. The paper will describe the courses in which the lectures are presented at Trinity and Brown, and it will present and discuss the results of a survey completed by the engineering students. The survey, administered to current and past students at Trinity and Brown, asked them to evaluate the value and effectiveness of the ethics lectures. The survey questions asked students to recall the lecture, to consider the lecture's effect on their ability to make ethical choices, and to rate the value of the ethics lecture on their engineering education. Approximately 80% of those surveyed considered ethics to be a generally important topic to be covered in their college education, and 74% found this particular lecture to have been helpful for making ethical choices. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.

Documents

3839:1684

[+][-]

3839:1684

[thumbnail of Ware and Ahlgren and Silverman 2013.pdf]

Preview

Ware and Ahlgren and Silverman 2013.pdf

Download (201kB) | Preview

Information

URI:

https://eprints.teachingandlearning.ie/id/eprint/3839

Title:

Educating engineering students about ethics: Experiences at brown university and trinity college

Authors:

Ware, D. K., Ahlgren, D. J. and Silverman, H. F.

Official URL:

http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0...

Date:

2013

Additional Information:

Conference code: 99351; Export Date: 23 February 2015; Correspondence Address: Department of Business Ethics, Trinity College, Brown UniversityUnited States; References: (2012) Program Solicitation NSF, pp. 11-514. , http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11514/nsf11514.htm, Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE; Wulf, W.A., Editorial, engineering ethics (2002) The Bridge, 32 (3), p. 3. , Fall; Herkert, J.R., Continuing and emerging issues in engineering ethics education (2002) The Bridge, 32 (3), pp. 8-13. , Fall; Herkert, J.R., Collaborative learning in engineering ethics (1997) Science and Engineering Ethics, 3 (4), pp. 447-462; Harris Jr., C.E., Davis, M., Pritchard, M.S., Rabins, M.J., Engineering ethics: What? Why? How? And When? (1996) Journal of Engineering Education, pp. 93-96. , April; Colby, A., Sullivan, W., Ethics teaching in undergraduate engineering education (2008) Journal of Engineering Education, 97 (3), pp. 327-338; Bryant University First-year Program, , http://www.bryant.edu/academics/undergraduate/first-yearexperience.htm, Last visited December 20, 2012; Bentley University Center for Business Ethics, , http://cbe.bentley.edu/, Last visited December 20, 2012; Standards and Criteria for Demonstrating Excellence in Baccalaureate/Graduate Degree Schools and Programs, , http://www.acbsp.org/p/cm/ld/fid=81, Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), Criteria 1.2 and 6.1.3.g), Last visited December 20, 2012; Verner, I.M., Ahlgren, D.J., Robot contest as a laboratory for experiential engineering education (2005) J. Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC) Special Issue on Robotics in Undergraduate Education, , ACM Press, New York, 4, 2, July; Ahlgren, D.J., Mentoring In the first-year engineering course: Reflections and best practices International Conference on Engineering Education, , http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE2011/papers/icee2011_submission_233.pdf, Belfast, August 2011; Cohen, S., Grace, D., Engineers and social responsibility: An obligation to do good (1999) IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 13 (3), pp. 12-19; Ladd, J., Collective and individual moral responsibility in engineering: Some questions (1982) IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 1 (2), pp. 3-10; Moral dilemmas in engineering (2000) Social, Ethical and Policy Implications of Engineering: Selected Readings, pp. 77-80. , IEEE Press, New York; Kumagai, J., The whistle-blower's dilemma (2004) IEEE Spectrum, pp. 53-55. , April; Survey Monkey, , http://www.surveymonkey.com, at

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Business environments; Business situations; College education; Conflicts of interest; Engineering professors; Proprietary information; Senior management; Student participation; Engineering education; Human resource management; Philosophical aspects; Professional aspects; Surveys; Teaching; Students

Library

Item Type:

Conference Proceedings

Depositing User:

National Forum

Date Deposited:

06 Dec 2015 21:13

Revision:

Last Modified:

12 Dec 2015 18:04

Statistics