Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ochs, Lehigh University; Lisa Getzler-Linn, Lehigh University; Margaret Huyck, Illinois Institute of Technology; Scott Schaffer, Purdue University; Mary Raber, Michigan Technology University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, 2009IntroductionA four-university collaboration has received National Science Foundation (NSF) Course,Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) funding for a three-year project with twoprimary goals: 1) to develop a database of reliable and valid measures for assessing attainmentof teamwork skills and ethical awareness in undergraduate students enrolled in multidisciplinaryproject based, design projects, and 2) to identify and describe ‘best practices’ from across theseinstitutions that improve the achievement of learning objectives and thereby increase programquality. Example learning objectives from one course are described as follows: “Studentsenrolled in these project courses will experience and demonstrate an understanding of ‘bestpractices’ in the

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics - Courses and Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald McEachron, Drexel University; Sheila Vaidya, Drexel University; Stacey Ake, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

morality as the determination of right and wrong behavior while ethics is the processby which morals are synthesized into a coherent system. Furthermore, we adopt three primarypropositions: 1. Morality is intimately involved with everyday experiences; 2. Morality and Ethics can, and should be taught; 3. Moral reflection is an important daily occurrence – Socrates The first proposition is in responses to students (and faculty, administrators, staff, etc.)who consider their daily activities to be outside the range of activities to which moral judgmentsshould be applied. This is what allows students to excuse plagiarism – it is a common activity towhich such esoteric philosophical musings as considerations of

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics - Courses and Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Seamus Freyne, Manhattan College; Micah Hale, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

’ knowledge of ethics is typically through discussions and essay assignments. Whilemost respondents declared the need to improve ethics education, they recognized as hurdles acrowded curriculum and lack of qualified teachers.Bibliography                                                        1 Fleddermann, C. B., Engineering Ethics, 3/e, 20082 Marshall, J. and Marshall, J., “Integrating Ethics Education into the Engineering Curriculum,” Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 20033 Wolverton, R. H. and Wolverton, J. B., “Implementation of Ethics Education throughout an Engineering College,” Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Loendorf, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

programs has recognized this need. As a result the EngineeringAccreditation Commission (EAC) and Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of ABET,Inc.1 has mandated that undergraduate engineering curricula include the study of ethics. This is aprecautionary approach requiring students to think in ethical terms at all times and not just whenthings go wrong. It could be viewed as defensive ethics by training students how to respond to Page 14.1182.2possible events and anticipate the consequences of their actions. Many ethical lessons areunfortunately learned during an engineer's career only after some unforeseen consequence orunnoticed flaw. The

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salvatore Marsico, Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes-Barre

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

consequently recorded as final actions.Licensing StatutesIn some instances, such as Alabama, a distinction is made between graduates from accreditedand nonaccredited institutions.: “ 1. Graduation in an approved engineering curriculum plus four years experience…. 2. Graduation in an unapproved engineering curriculum plus six years experience….10Whereas, other states require: “(i) graduation from an approved engineering curriculum of fouror more years.11 Each jurisdiction exercises autonomy and works with the registration boards todevelop statutes which meet their specific needs and make provisions for those coming fromother jurisdictions to either practice permanently or temporarily: “(A) The state board of registration for

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics - Courses and Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Norma Mattei, University of New Orleans

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

universities, a survey wasadministered to several classes at UNO. The survey was based on part of a recent large scalestudy called the PACE-1 Study, involving a seven section survey of 643 undergraduateengineering and pre-engineering students at eleven institutions, ranging from communitycolleges to large research universities. The PACE-1 study attempted to determine what is studentcheating, how often does cheating occur, why do students cheat, and what methods can be usedto reduce or stop cheating. Because of time constraints, the UNO survey was based on the firstsection of the PACE-1 survey. The UNO questionnaire was a short one-page voluntary surveythat was given at the beginning of several large undergrad classes in order to try to determinewhat

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Skvarenina, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

clear that a number of them are not technical andthey are sometimes referred to as “soft skills.” Among these soft skills are ethics (outcome “i”),teamwork (“e”), global perspectives (“j”), diversity (“j”), communications (“g”), and life-long Page 14.720.2learning ( “h”). The focus of this paper is the ethics requirement. “Proceedings of the 2009 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2009, American Society for Engineering Education” Table 1: TAC TC2K Required Outcomes (Criterion 3) a. an appropriate mastery of the knowledge, techniques, skills and modern

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Didier Valdes, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez; Erika Jaramillo Giraldo, University of Puerto Rico; Jorge Ferrer, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez; William Frey, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

integrateresearch ethics into the graduate curriculum in science and engineering. Funded by the NationalScience Foundation, this project has developed four workshops directed toward graduatestudents to provide them with decision making tools for reaching ethical decisions. Theworkshops which build upon one another, (1) help graduate students become aware of issues andproblems in research ethics, (2) outline a method of moral deliberation to help them analyzeproblematic situations, (3) provide students with tools and practice in analyzing real world ethicscases in the research context, and (4) offer a capstone activity in which the students give posterpresentations on a case connected to their research interests.This paper focuses on the third of the series

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics, Academic Integrity

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

curricula.This is particularly essential for civil and environmental engineering, as human lives may be lostand significant environmental damage may occur as a result of unethical behavior. At theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder (CU), the Civil (CVEN) and Environmental (EVEN)engineering curricula attempt to lay a strong foundation in ethics in the 1-credit Introduction toEngineering courses that first year students are required to take. It is hoped that drawingparallels between professional ethics and cheating behaviors among students will enhance thestudents’ understanding of professional ethics. The perception of cheating behaviors by studentsin these courses was evaluated using the 18 questions from the PACES-1 survey1. Despitelinking the survey

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Leiffer, LeTourneau University; R. William Graff; B.Kyun Lee, Le Tourneau University; Martin Batts, Le Tourneau University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

that such an environmentally based ethic has four major pitfalls, as follows: 1. It proves detrimental to the meaning of engineering. 2. It provides an inadequate base for an ethical system. 3. It requires a major shift in worldview, and 4. It could produce a situation that is actually harmful to human lives.Historical background of environmentally-based ethicsBefore discussing the specific impact of environmentally-based ethics on engineering, it isimportant to take a brief look at the events that brought us to our current situation. Seriousconcern for the environment over the last five decades produced both (1) a scientific examinationof the issues at stake and (2) various philosophical or socio-political movements rooted

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics, Academic Integrity

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shobi Sivadasan, Stevens Institute of Technology; Brian Sauser, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Figure 1: Boardman Soft Systems MethodologyBrief Overview of the SytemiTool:We will introduce the use of the SystemiTool8, a modeling tool used for a visualrepresentation of a system. Developed by John Boardman, the SystemiTool is used tosupport the creation, editing, and portrayal, in the form of a storyboard of scenes, ofsystemic diagrams referred to as systemigrams. Boardman’s tool was based on thepremise - Is there value in transforming “rich text” into a structured diagram in which theprincipal concepts are identifiable and the sentence structures recoverable? In otherwords, once the words describing the system and its relationships are translated into thesystemigram, will the reader be able to recreate the words that were used to create

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Jordan, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

and students from ouruniversity worked on a design of a pedestrian bridge to be built in south eastern Kenya. We havereported on our preliminary work at a 2007 conference9. About the time we finished ourpreliminary design a pedestrian bridge failed in Nepal10. This bridge was built by a non-profitagency that uses many volunteers to do their design and building. A photograph of the failedbridge is shown below. Figure 1—Failed bridge in Nepal that had been built by a non-profit agency13This bridge failure shows the importance of ensuring safety in whatever the students design.While the bridge in this example was not the result of a student design, its length is not muchlonger than the largely student designed bridge that was designed

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York, Binghamton; Caroline Baillie, Queens University, Kingston

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

known to other people. The value must also be translated into behaviors that areconsistent with the chosen value and integrated into the life style.Accordingly if some concept is to be considered valued then: (1) It was chosen fromalternatives; (2) It was chosen freely; (3) It is prized; (4) It is affirmed; (5)It is actedupon; and (6) It is acted upon repeatedly, over time.The last category of love, philia, challenges us to see the world in a different way, in thewords of Thomas Berry20 as a collection of subjects. Berry’s most famous quotation is: The Universe and thus the Earth is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.By communion, Berry was referring to intimacy or a feeling of emotional closeness, aconnection

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tammy VanDeGrift, University of Portland; Donald Chinn, University of Washington, Tacoma

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

analysis of students’ work.Our results show that students met the learning objectives of crafting arguments, reflecting uponcomputing skills, and discussing issues related to professionalism and diversity.1. IntroductionOne of several educational objectives for computer science programs is preparing students for asuccessful career in the software industry. Both ABET and CC2001 emphasize that computer sciencegraduates should engage topics related to ethics and professionalism1,10. For example, CC2001 identifiesthe social context of computing (SP2) and professional and ethical responsibilities (SP4) as core subjectareas. It also describes in detail the scope of these areas (Chapter 10, pages 55-61). ABET programoutcome letter (e) (an understanding

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics V

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Oliver, University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

-blowingit is important to emphasize that legal protections for whistle-blowers are uncertain. Further, thefinancial and personal costs of whistle-blowing can be staggering.3 One aspect of whistle-blowing that has not been covered well is the negativeconsequences that may result from filing a wrongful-termination lawsuit claiming whistle-blowerstatus. Some potential negative consequences of whistle-blower lawsuits are illustrated by twocase studies presented below. These two case studies both involve engineers who sued formeremployers claiming whistle-blower protections. Case 1: Scapegoat Engineer at Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant? First Energy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC) operates the Davis–Besse Nuclear PowerStation in Ohio

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics, Academic Integrity

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Isaac Wait, Marshall University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

classified as cheating and do not havea harmful effect on their education.IntroductionThe number of American-style universities outside of North America is increasing, spurred bythe twin perceptions that (1) American education is a pathway to career success, and (2) in thepost-9/11 world, gaining admittance to America is increasingly difficult. As branch campuses ofestablished American universities open abroad, and as new international institutions obtainaccreditation from US-based agencies, it is important to examine how to provide an “American”education when an institution is surrounded by a foreign culture, populated by non-Americanstudents, and largely staffed by educators with limited academic experience in the United States.Academic honesty

Conference Session

Topics in Engineering Ethics IV

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent Nelson, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

attitudes amongundergraduate engineers enrolled in a course specifically focused on BID.MethodsThe BID class used in this study was an undergraduate multidisciplinary special topics course,cross-listed in biology, polymer textile and fiber engineering, industrial and systems engineering,materials science and engineering, and mechanical engineering. The distribution of engineeringstudents in the class was 1 electrical, 13 biomedical, 8 industrial and systems, 13 mechanical,and 3 materials science. There were also 7 biology students, but they were not part of the studydescribed here.The beginning portion of the course consisted of general introductory lectures on BID, designmethodology, and tools and techniques specific to BID, as well as class

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics - Courses and Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brock Barry, United States Military Academy; Matthew Ohland, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

engineeringprograms would incorporate some form of professional and ethical education into their curricula.The U.S. Department of Education states that the “goal of accreditation is to ensure thateducation provided by institutions of higher education meets acceptable levels of quality”(p.50)1. Degree granting engineering programs in the United States, seeking to initially obtain ormaintain accreditation, are required to meet the curriculum content and learning outcomesestablished by ABET, Inc. (formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering andTechnology, Inc.). ABET traditionally makes relatively minor revisions to the accreditationprocess and criteria on an annual basis. However, during the mid-1990s a significant paradigmshift was conceived by

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marilyn Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Chernobyl or Challenger are valuable for study, the sheer amount of informationmay be prohibitive for those instructors who take an integrated approach in technical courses,rather than farming out students to the philosophy department for their ethics injection. Smallcases are much more contained: “By their nature,” Lynch and Klein note, “small cases can neverbe presented in full enthnographic detail. . . .”1 Because they are much less detailed than majorcases, these small classes are easier to incorporate in a technical class.While studying ethics in general allows students to exercise their moral imaginations, small cases Page 14.585.2are

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics, Academic Integrity

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam Melvin, North Carolina State University; Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

epidemicat universities across the United States. In a recent study, 75% of students surveyed admitted tocheating at least once while in college (1). Another study showed that there has been a four-foldincrease in the past 30 years (from 11% to 49%) in the number of students who admitted tocollaborating on assignments when the instructor asked for individual work (2). Multiple studieshave revealed that the incidence of cheating varies substantially across disciplines (2,3,4,5), withmajors such as business and engineering having the highest reported instances. Passow andcolleagues (5) found that older students (4th and 5th year undergraduates) cheat significantly morethan first year students on exams, while second year students tend to cheat more on