Conference Session

Teaching Approaches for Ethics

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory A. Rulifson, University of Colorado, Boulder; Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Whitney Thomas, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, ethics, and globalization.Whitney Thomas Page 24.1291.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Understanding of Social Responsibility by First Year Engineering Students: Ethical Foundations and CoursesAbstractEngineers play a significant role in society, but the extent to which students consider this role asa desirable career attribute and extend their beliefs about the social responsibility (SR) ofengineers beyond basic ethical foundations is not fully understood. A qualitative study wascompleted to understand how first year engineering students define SR and how it

Conference Session

Understanding our Students & Ethical Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Natalie C.T. Van Tyne, Colorado School of Mines; Maria Brunhart-Lupo, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

sustainability, high ethicalstandards, and career fulfillment.18 What they mean by career fulfillment, at least in theconstruction industry, was described in terms of a “new” approach to work-life balance, and arecognition that the “transition to power” would come quickly, requiring these engineers to beready for it.18 The identification of high ethical standards is encouraging to us, as we believe thatour students are receptive to the idea of fulfilling their expected role in society, through anadherence to these standards.Meanwhile, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) recognizes that Millennialsare not a homogenous group.13 On the positive side, these engineers have a great deal ofenthusiasm and optimism for their work,13 as well as

Conference Session

Ethical Behavior in Academia and Beyond

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adeel Khalid, Southern Polytechnic State University (ENG); Beth Stutzmann, RLC- Research Learning Community, Southern Polytechnic State University; Margaret Loraine Lowder, Southern Polytechnic State University; Mir M. Atiqullah, Kennesaw State University; Rajnish Singh, Southern Polytechnic State University; Craig A. Chin, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

including prevalence[11, 12, 13, and 14]; motivations [15]; personal characteristics and attitudes of perpetrators [12,16, and 17]; detection [14]; deterrence [15, and 18] and the correlation between academicdishonesty and the students’ ethical behaviors going forward into their careers [19]. Many ofthese studies [11, 15, 16 and 17] have used surveys of students and/or faculty as the main sourceof data. Anyanwu [20] provides case studies that indicate that plagiarism may often be a result ofstudents’ failure to understand the rules of proper citation. Others concentrate on academicdishonesty in laboratory setting [13] or in test taking [11, 16, and 17] or consider a wide range offorms of academic dishonesty in the aggregate [15].Some studies [15

Conference Session

Graduate Ethics Education & Professional Codes

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard S. Stansbury, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ., Daytona Beach; Joshua Lloyd Olds, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ., Daytona Beach; Eric Joe Coyle, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

purposelyremaining neutral on their personal stance with these issues.3.1 Issue #1: Unmanned Systems for Military ApplicationsThe development and utilization of unmanned systems for military applications is currently ahighly contested and debated issue. For professional engineers and engineering faculty, themajor concern is performing research sponsored by defense organizations such as the U.S.Department of Defense or a defense subcontractor.Robotics researcher, Ronald Arkin, has written a number of papers1,2 and a book3 in support ofdeveloping ethical principles into war-fighting unmanned systems. His career has supportedprojects from ordinance disposal to the lethal Defense Advanced Research Project Agency(DARPA) Unmanned Ground Combat Program, which can

Conference Session

Understanding our Students & Ethical Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth A. McBride-Pluskwik, Iron Range Engineering, a program of Minnesota State University, Mankato; Puteri S. Megat Hamari, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

monitored. You notice that there is some oil spilled on a stair case that presents an immediate safety risk. However, the stairs can only be cleaned by a union worker but none are immediately available to help. Salaried workers have been cited and penalized for assisting with union work in the past, so you are apprehensive to do the job yourself. What should you do? If the penalty came in the form of a fine, would your decision change if the fine as $50, $500, $5,000? Are you liable if you do nothing?The topics that faculty brought to the team were scenarios that the student may encounter in theearly years of their engineering career or typical ethical issues commonly encountered by young

Conference Session

Teaching Approaches for Ethics

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Raridon, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Rebecca A. Bates, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Deborah K. Nykanen P.E., Minnesota State University, Mankato; Marilyn C. Hart, Minnesota State University- Mankato; Winston Sealy, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

need to be able to address with ethicalresponsibility at the forefront of their designs. The learning approach asked students to identifypotential ethical problems and solutions to the real world exploration project that they wereexamining.During the spring 2013 semester, scholars examined ethical issues by examining case studiesfrom career fields related to their majors. Before reviewing the case studies, the idea of ethicswas introduced to the class through a required reading during the Winter Break preceding thesemester. Students read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, a book documenting thediscovery and now widespread use of the “HeLa” cell and the ethical dilemmas involved

Conference Session

Evaluation of Ethical Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Qin Zhu, Purdue University; Carla B. Zoltowski, Purdue University; Megan Kenny Feister, Purdue University; Patrice Marie Buzzanell, Purdue University; William C. Oakes, Purdue University; Alan D. Mead, Illinois Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

Engineering Education (courtesy) at Purdue University. Editor of three books and author of over 140 articles and chapters, her research centers on the intersections of career, gender, and communication, particularly in STEM. Her research has appeared in such journals as Human Relations, Communication Monographs, Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Theory, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Applied Communication Research, as well as proceedings for ASEE and FIE. A fellow and past president of the International Communication Association, she has received numerous awards for her research, teaching/mentoring, and engagement. She is working on Purdue-ADVANCE initiatives for institutional change, the

Conference Session

Graduate Ethics Education & Professional Codes

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yanna Lambrinidou, Virginia Tech; William Joseph Rhoads, Virginia Tech; Siddhartha Roy, Virginia Tech; Erin Heaney, Clean Air: Organizing for Health and Justice; Glenn Andrew Ratajczak, Clean Air Coalition of Western New York; Jennifer Holly Ratajczak, Clean Air Coalition of Western New York

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

listening – but this was implicitly aimedat grooming us to stand out in interviews and boardrooms from the herd ofcolleagues who lacked communication skills. Listening was an asset that we weretaught to view as a “booster” to our career prospects.This career orientation model was built around the goal of creating engineers whofulfill what industry demands. Academia itself was seen as an engineer “churningfactory.” Don’t get me wrong. The curricula and our initiation into the industrialsector were top notch. The message we got about our role in society, however, wasa blur. Although we had courses with case studies depicting huge engineeringfailures and their catastrophic consequences (e.g., the Union Carbide Bhopaltragedy), the public side of these

Conference Session

Ethical Behavior in Academia and Beyond

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edward J. Eckel, Western Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

before they move on in theirresearch careers. The following exploratory study attempts to provide some preliminary data onhow engineering graduate students use and attribute verbatim source text in their theses anddissertations and the implications of such use.Literature ReviewPlagiarism, textual copying or textual appropriation is commonly defined as the unattributed useof words, ideas, or data from other sources in academic writing.10,11,12 Some institutionaldefinitions include the “intention to deceive”13 but not all do, hence leaving open the possibilityof unintentional copying being classified as plagiarism. While most degrees of plagiarism aregenerally considered inappropriate and unacceptable in academic writing,10,14,15,16 an

Conference Session

Evaluation of Ethical Development

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edwin R. Schmeckpeper P.E., Ph.D, Norwich University; Ashley Ater-Kranov, Washington State University; Steven W. Beyerlein, University of Idaho, Moscow; Jay Patrick McCormack, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Patrick D. Pedrow P.E., Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

topics,such as ethics, which are related to the professional practice of engineering. These coursescommonly utilize case studies focusing on ethics as the basis for student discussions.1 Measuringthe student learning resulting from the case study process is often very subjective, difficult toquantify, inconsistent between evaluators, and costly to adminsiter.2,3Proficiency in engineering professional skills, such as ethics, as described in ABET criterion 3 -student outcomes 4, is critical for success in the multidisciplinary, intercultural team interactionsthat characterize 21st century engineering careers. These professional skills may be readilyassessed using a performance assessment that consists of three components: (1) a task that