Conference Session

Ethical Cases and Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert M. Brooks, Temple University; Jyothsna Kavuturu, St.Joseph’s College; Mehmet Cetin, Temple University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Page 25.836.7engagement in the topic when case studies are and are not included. PI 7-Took a More ActivePart in the Learning Process comes close to “students are more engaged in the topic when casestudies are included than when not”. The experimental group showed 25% improvement over thecontrol group on PI 7. Since 25% improvement is significant, one could say that students aremore engaged in the topic when case studies are included than when not. However, in futurestudies the authors plan to include “students are more engaged in the topic when case studies areincluded than when not” as a separate PI.The GPAs of the controlled and experimental groups were 2.29 and 2.31 respectively. Thedifference in the GPAs is so small that it is negligible

Conference Session

Approaches to Teaching Ethics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael H.G. Hoffmann, Georgia Institute as Technology; Jason Borenstein, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

.  Assessing alternatives in terms of consequences, public defensibility, institutional barriers, etc.  Engaging in reasoned dialogue or negotiations.  Revising options, plans, or actions.This list highlights the complexity of the issues that engineers confront. An engineer‘s actionscan have effects on stakeholders whose existence, perspectives, and values she does notnecessarily see. An engineer does not always directly interact with the people whose livesare being altered as result of her decisions. Obviously, engineering students need to refinetheir technical competence. But it is crucially important that they develop ―soft skills‖ aswell [3]. Among these skills is the ability to identify hidden ethical challenges.Ill-Structured

Conference Session

Ethical Issues I: Sustainability and Environmental Ethics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Spierre, Arizona State University; Elizabeth A. Martin, Arizona State University; Jathan Sadowski; Andrew Berardy, Arizona State University; Scott McClintock, Arizona State University; Shirley-Ann Augustin, Arizona State University; Nicholas Hohman; Jay George Banna Jr.

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

a “master plan” of action. Two students in particular emerged asgroup leaders and explained the plan to the entire class. As a result, there was a concerted effortto earn equal grades through class-wide trust and effective communication. Although MCC1students could have acted rapaciously, given the abundance of fish in the Lake available to theirgeneration, they all agreed to scores of 80% with little conflict and felt pleased with theresources they would bestow on the next generation, MCC2 and ASU. In fact, MCC1 left amessage online for the future students explaining their strategy and enabling continuation of the‘master plan”. MCC2 and ASU struggled much more than MCC2, as they were trying to organizelarger, geographically

Conference Session

Panel: A Conversation About Ethics Education and Resources

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rebecca A. Bates, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Taft H. Broome Jr., Howard University; Legand L. Burge Jr., Tuskegee University; Rachelle Hollander, National Academy of Engineering; Michael C. Loui, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

' Council (EDC) Public Policy Committee. In 2005 Dean Burge was elected to a first 2-year term on the ASEE Engineering Deans Council Executive Board, and re-elected in 2007. Hechairs the EDC Committee on Diversity, is a member of the 2007 ASEE Engineering DeansInstitute (EDI) Colloquium Planning Committee, and a member of the current EDC K-12Engineering Task Force.Rachelle Hollander directs the National Academy of Engineering’s Center for EngineeringEthics and Society (CEES). CEES manages the NAE Online Ethics Center(www.onlineethics.org). For many years Dr. Hollander directed the science and engineeringethics activities at the National Science Foundation. In 2006, Dr. Hollander received theOlmsted Award “for innovative contributions to the liberal

Conference Session

Professional Issues in Ethics Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Islam H. El-adaway, Mississippi State University; Marianne M. Jennings, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

and the reason for its ranking.• Tier One Offenses; Falsification of data is a tier-one offense because the impact of this conduct is to hamper scientific research because new research builds on the old research and falsified data results in wasted efforts, additional costs, and delays in scientific advancement. For example, falsified research in medicine could result in physicians developing a plan of treatment for a patient that is not the best one for that patient but was assumed to be based on the falsified data [32]. Co-authorship is not generally considered to be a form of falsification. Yet, a review of the types of co-authorship relationships indicates that editors are, at the very least, mislead about the

Conference Session

Ethical Cases and Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth R. Leitch P.E., West Texas A&M University; Rhonda B. Dittfurth, West Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

material in part or in total online for anengineering course. Dr. Leitch experienced eight of thirteen required courses for an MBA degree (2008-2009)online and saw that the same techniques applied there could also be adapted for an engineering ethics course. Theonline offerings in Summer Session I 2011 (engineering ethics and engineering economics) were the first of severalcourses that WTAMU sees filling a need for a student population with a large number of non-traditional andworking students. Many engineering faculty may be leery of online instruction because they have no experiencewith it. With careful planning, online courses offer flexibility to students and a possible new revenue stream inregard to distance learners that may never set foot

Conference Session

Ethical Issues II: Academic Integrity and Student Development

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Narciso F. Macia P.E., Arizona State University, Polytechnic; Robert W. Nowlin, Retired

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

understood. For instance, one might know how and where to use sugar (skill) butat the same time have no idea of how sugar is produced (theoretical knowledge). Also, onemight know how to describe the chemical and physical reaction that arrests material degradationin a galvanized metal (theoretical knowledge) but have never galvanized a part.In summary, this paper has three goals:1. Provide some ethical motivation for university administrators to put in place programs thathelp a prospective student choose a degree program that matches his/her interests, academicskills and immediate and long-term career plans.2. Present a graphical representation that can be used to contrast the various characteristics ofengineering programs that can be used as a

Conference Session

Approaches to Teaching Ethics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marilyn A. Dyrud, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

distinguish them from those who simplymake a wage in a certain occupation. For Samuel Florman, service is “the main existentialpleasure of engineering . . . to contribute to the well-being of his fellow man.”13Professionals may provide pro bono work for the indigent or be active in local governmentalboards, such as traffic commissions or city planning committees. Engineers without Borders, inparticular, is laudable as an activity that has a significant, positive impact on project recipients;our campus chapter, for example, has gone to Tanzania for the past three summers to dig wellsand provide the infrastructure in a remote community that currently does not have access to cleanwater. From these experiences, students learn important lessons about

Conference Session

Ethical Issues I: Sustainability and Environmental Ethics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

April A. Kedrowicz, University of Utah; Maria Dawn Blevins, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

situated, incremental curriculum plan in all seven departments in the college. Her responsibilities include faculty development (she has facilitated nu- merous college-wide workshops), TA training (approximately 15 graduate students from the humanities work with CLEAR to develop the communication competence of engineering undergraduates), program- matic and basic research, instructional development, and assessment. Kedrowicz received her Ph.D. in communication from the University of Utah in 2005. She also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organizational and corporate communication from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.Ms. Maria Dawn Blevins, University of Utah

Conference Session

Professional Issues in Ethics Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

A. Dean Fontenot, Texas Tech University; Richard A. Burgess, National Institute for Engineering Ethics

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

currently works as a Research Associate and Deputy Director at the Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism (MCEP) and National Institute for Engineering Ethics (NIEE) at Texas Tech University. He oversees the day to day operations of the center’s distance learning courses for both engineering students and practicing engineers. Additionally, he provides lectures on ethical theory and other topics in an on-campus engineering ethics course. Burgess was also a member of the Ethics in the Curriculum Task Force for Texas Tech’s Quality Enhancement Plan. The Quality Enhancement Plan was a crucial component of Texas Tech’s accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A theme throughout these roles

Conference Session

Ethics and Technology

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmed S. Khan, DeVry University, DuPage; Aram Agajanian, DeVry University, Chicago

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

robotic nanoscale assembly devices.2010 Toxic Substances Control Act requests regulation of commercial nanomaterial use. Page 25.965.4 United Kingdom issues a lengthy report on nanotechnology and food, warning the country’s food industry not to hide the use of nanotechnology2011 The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee continues gathering evidence on revisions to the 30-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act to regulate the commercial use of nanomaterials. The NEST Subcommittee updates both the NNI Strategic Plan and NNI EHS Research strategy based on

Conference Session

Ethical Cases and Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Russell Capelli, Virginia Tech; Estela Patron Moen, Virginia Tech; William N. Collins, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

forunethical wage rates by ensuring that at all stages in the bridge project, Haitian workers andleaders were either equally compensated (i.e. everyone on the project, both American andHaitian, were working for free) or were the highest paid participants on the project. Similarly, theVirginia Tech Haitian exchange student serving as an advisor to the project was compensatedonly for work performed following coursework at Virginia Tech, and (because he planned to liveand work in Haiti into the foreseeable future) was compensated at a rate comparable to otherHaitian entry level engineering graduates.Construction safetyEvery aspect of construction was performed by Haitian workers, with the exception of the initialbridge feasibility study and setting the

Conference Session

Ethics and Technology

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Joseph Frey, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez; Christopher Papadopoulos, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez; Marcel J. Castro-Sitiriche, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez; Fatima Zevallos, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez; Denisse Echevarria, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Puerto Rico Seismic Network. She is currently employed as an undergraduate Research Assistant with the Graduate Research and Education for Appro- priate Technology: Inspiring Direct Engagement and Agency (GREAT IDEA) project. Zevallos is a native of Port au Prince, Haiti, and is fluent in Haitian Creole, French, English, and Spanish. She plans to return back to her hometown to share and apply her scientific knowledge in seismology.Denisse Echevarria , University of Puerto Rico, Mayagez Denisse Echevarria is a junior in mechanical engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagez. Echevarria is currently employed as an Undergraduate Research Assistant with the Graduate Research and Education for Appropriate