Conference Session

Engineering Practice for a Moral World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Catalano, State University of New York-Binghamton

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

sick and enfeebled, children and the elderly, all those dispossessedor powerless in our society.Keywords: Engineering ethics, codes of conduct, models of nature, a morally deep worldIntroductionEngineering applies technical knowledge to solve human problems. More completely,engineering is a technological activity that uses professional imagination, judgment,integrity, and intellectual discipline in the application of science, technology,mathematics, and practical experience to design, produce, and operate useful objects orprocesses that meet the needs and desires of a client.1 Today engineering is seen as aprofession which refers specifically to fields that require extensive study and mastery ofspecialized knowledge and a voluntary and abiding

Conference Session

Moral Development, Engineering Pedagogy and Ethics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College; Ida Ngambeki, Smith College; Lionel Claris, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

the feedback is crucial,especially in helping students balance the analytical and reflective aspects. We assert that theblog holds potential for stimulating moral imagination and encouraging students to pursue newideas that emerge from the integration of personal experience, technical content, and concepts inethics. Page 11.1287.2IntroductionEducators in engineering ethics have long discussed the advantages and disadvantages ofteaching ethics across the curriculum versus in stand-alone courses. The integrated approach hasbeen shown to be effective in meeting key outcomes criteria.1 It can also help students betterunderstand the relevance of

Conference Session

Moral Development, Engineering Pedagogy and Ethics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christan Whysong, Virginia Tech; Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech; Kumar Mallikarjunan, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Biological SystemsEngineering (BSE). There exists a collaborative effort between some faculty of EngE and BSE, Page 11.735.2which is funded under the department-level reform (DLR) program of the NSF. The goal of theDLR project between these two departments is to reformulate curricula within the EngE and BSEprograms by using a theme-based spiral curriculum approach. The twentieth-centurypsychologist, Jerome Bruner, proposed the notion of a spiral curriculum in which basic ideas arevisited repeatedly in an increasingly complex manner. 1 Figure 1 provides a visual description ofthe spiral curriculum being implemented by EngE and BSE faculty

Conference Session

New Horizons in Academic Integrity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Jordan, Baylor University; Bill Elmore, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

. Page 11.562.3Results and InterpretationsOur general observation is that the amount of cheating is probably underreported. We do notknow of a motive for a student to admit cheating, when he has not done so. However, somestudents may have had a motive to deny cheating for fear that they might be caught.The results to the basic question of whether or not they have cheated are shown below in Table1. The values for frequency of cheating are reported as percentages of the total number ofrespondents. Table 1 Have you ever cheated in college? Number Never Once Few Frequently Often as of (%) (%) Times

Conference Session

New Horizons in Academic Integrity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Murali Krishnamurthi, Northern Illinois University; Jason Rhode, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, tutorials, and online modules on academic integrity. Theeducational materials online on academic integrity fall under three categories: (1) policyinformation on academic dishonesty (numerous universities), (2) simple tutorials on academicintegrity with examples and quizzes (York University, Penn State University, Indiana University, Page 11.1047.2Virginia Tech, University of Southern California, Radford University) and (3) multimediatutorials with audio, stills, and interaction (Rutgers University, University of Guelph).The quality of educational materials on academic integrity available online and their accessibilityto a wider audience vary. Many

Conference Session

Engineering Practice for a Moral World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gene Moriarty, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Page 11.1288.4values for J: -3, -2.5, -2.0, 0, -2, -1, -3, 0, 1, -2.5, which yields an average of -1.5. On a minus 3three to plus three scale, this is not a very good number. If honesty, for example, were at issue,we must conclude that dishonesty pretty much prevailed.Of course, most problems of engineering ethics involve multiple values. I might want to produceproducts that are safe and at the same time environmentally sustainable. These are both ways tocontribute to the good. Again, if I call these values J1 and J2, I would like to have values of plus-three for both. Or if there are three values of interest, I would like to attain the maximum of threevalue functions, say J1, J2, and J3. The

Conference Session

New Horizons in Academic Integrity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trevor Harding, Kettering University; Cynthia Finelli, University of Michigan; Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

decision making for the development ofa theoretical model of this process. The current paper will present a detailed analysis of severalof these variables, building on previously published results5,6. This paper does not, however,intend to identify practical recommendations for dealing with cheating in the academic orworkplace settings.Figure 1 provides an overview of the variables and their interactions that will be discussed in thispaper. This figure is not based on a theoretical understanding of the issue, nor is it a completeand necessarily accurate depiction of the decision making processes used by engineeringundergraduate students. Rather, it is intended as a guide to the reader so that they may moreeasily follow the analyses and conclusions

Conference Session

Moral Development, Engineering Pedagogy and Ethics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kirsty Mills, University of New Mexico

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

annually, and cross listed in the School ofEngineering and the College of Arts and Science. First offered in the Fall semester of 2005, itattracted 9 students, 2 from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and 7 fromthe Department of Chemistry. As a required core course in an upcoming highly interdisciplinaryNanoscience and Microsystems graduate curriculum, enrollment is expected to increasesignificantly. The course is also to be disseminated via the web portal of the NSF-fundedNational Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), a network of 13 universities whichmakes nanotechnology user facilities available to industry and to academe, and which hassignificant education and ethics components.The course has five elements: 1

Conference Session

Moral Development, Engineering Pedagogy and Ethics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yilmaz Hatipkarasulu, Texas A&M University; James H. Gill, Jr., Jr., Louisiana State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

were able to be carried onto a more qualitative, complex andfuzzy platform16.The idea behind the systems thinking concept is to study things in a holistic way while aimingto gain insights into the whole through the interactions and processes between the elementsthat comprise the whole "system". In light of this definition, the first step to establish thesystems approach framework is to describe the structure for the built environment. Figure 1illustrates the major building blocks of the system that starts with public defining the need andends with the delivery of the full project for use. Page 11.598.4Figure 1. Built Environment System Flow and

Conference Session

New Horizons in Academic Integrity

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adly Fam, University at Buffalo, SUNY; Indranil Sarkar, University at Buffalo, SUNY; Khaled Almuhareb, University at Buffalo, SUNY

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, we will denote this probabilityas just Pc.One of the results of the analysis is to determine the minimum needed Pc to achieve a desiredeffective control on cheating without being too intrusive. An unnecessarily large Pc couldinterfere with the healthy academic atmosphere in the class without necessarily leading tosignificant increase in control over cheating, as will be evident from the following analysis.We assume that the probability of getting caught in a given activity (e.g. a quiz or homework) isindependent of the probability of getting caught in any other activity. Therefore, the probabilityof getting caught at least once in n incidents is given by:This is plotted in figure 1 for various values of Pc for a range of n up to 40. It is

Conference Session

Engineering Practice for a Moral World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Houston, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

the material? Q8. What if the company lawyer asked for the material? Page 11.599.4 Q9. Through all of these questions, has it at any time become more ethical to read the material?There is a distinct goal for each question in this sequence.Question 1 is used to establish the moral climate of the class. In my experience, and hopefully inyours, the students will know the correct answer is to stop reading the material and return it tothe sender.Question 2 is simply to distract the class from their first response.Question 3 is to distinguish between legality and ethics. While we expect them to be identical,legal

Conference Session

Moral Development, Engineering Pedagogy and Ethics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Schmaltz, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

assure that departing graduates do not experience a wide gap between theircampus experiences and professional practices.IntroductionThe ME faculty at Western Kentucky University (WKU) have developed and implemented asequence of professional experiences for students pursuing a baccalaureate ME degree that isconsistent with overall mission of the engineering department [1]: …to produce, as its graduates, competent engineering practitioners. An engineering practitioner is one who has a foundation of basic science, mathematics, and engineering knowledge, combined Page 11.563.2 with practical knowledge and experience in

Conference Session

Engineering Practice for a Moral World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Rossler, Oklahoma State University; Martin High, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

regulation of attorneys’professional conduct. Additionally, a comparison of legal versus engineering ethics curriculamaterial shows the development of the ethical and professional canons for attorneys relative tothose for engineers. Lastly, the paper offers suggestions to engineering faculty.IntroductionThe general public characterizes lawyers as “greedy, manipulative, and corrupt.”1 Corporatescandals, media-circus court coverage, allegations that frivolous medical malpractice lawsuitsundermine healthcare, and widely-publicized multi-million dollar tort damage awards work tocreate this perception.2 Additionally, the adversary process employed in the legal system oftenworks to ensure that at most half of the parties involved in any legal dispute are

Conference Session

Ethics Integration in the Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenny Lo, Virginia Tech; Vinod Lohani, Virginia Tech; Jennifer Mullin, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

engaged in learning ethics material. Parts of these changes are attributedto an NSF supported department-level reform (DLR) project. Traditionally, ethics instruction inthe course included reading assignments and video presentations. However, this year, apresentation assignment was developed for the course’s 32-seat workshops. Groups of 3 to 6students were assigned one of eight recent topics: 1) levee construction in New Orleans2) looting and government response in New Orleans 3) debris removal in New Orleans4) contamination issues in New Orleans 5) rebuilding New Orleans 6) Asian tsunami ofDecember 2004 7) San Francisco and earthquake preparedness and 8) Galveston and hurricanes.For each topic, groups were given instructions regarding subjects