Building Better Worlds: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Engineering Ethics Pedagogy

Amy Schroeder

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Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: Ethical Design
Tagged Division: Engineering Ethics
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34235
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/34235
Download Count: 590

Paper Authors

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Amy Schroeder University of Southern California

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Dr. Amy Schroeder has been teaching communication in the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California for the past six years. She developed a new course focused on science, literature and ethics; it has become a consistently successful course in USC's general education program. She holds a PhD in literature and creative writing from USC; her first book received the Field Prize and was published by Oberlin College Press. Her prose appears in the Los Angeles Times, Ms. Magazine, the Boston Review, Los Angeles Magazine and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Her poetry has been been published widely in literary magazines.

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Abstract

This paper, titled “Building Better Worlds: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Engineering Ethics,” provides empirical evidence of the value of a multimodal, multidisciplinary approach for ethics training and development. The paper, which describes our freshman seminar “Science, Literature, and Ethics,” commences with a review of relevant literature supporting the benefits of a multifocal approach in ethics pedagogy. Survey data from students demonstrates the success of this unique and innovative approach. Students were surveyed about their experience in taking the course and their own assessment of levels of success in ethics training. Data also examines actual attainment of learning objectives and outcomes, such as the successful acquisition of key ethical principles and the comprehensive understanding and retention of complex theoretical concepts. Students from multiple terms were surveyed, to assess the consistency of success in using this non-traditional, interdisciplinary approach. Pedagogical methods (used both within the classroom and without) are discussed in detail in the paper. Course content is also discussed, with emphasis on the multifaceted nature of the curriculum: classical and contemporary ethical theory, readings in the philosophy of technology, and readings in diverse canonical and non-canonical works of science fiction. Throughout the course, students achieved mastery in the practical application of ethical theory by applying concepts and decision-making models to both literary works as well as current issues in science, technology, and engineering. This humanistic course concluded with a summative group project, which required students to draw upon all aspects of the diverse curriculum in order to fulfill assignment goals. The project, which was designed to activate both creative and critical thinking abilities, directed students to create utopian societies. In order to imagine visionary alternative societies, students employed ethical principles, invoked themes and ideas from literature, and utilized new and even speculative technologies. In designing planned "perfect" communities, the students examined our most pressing social, scientific, and cultural challenges, such as climate change, poverty, bias in its multiple forms, and inequality of opportunity. Students responded to these problems by envisioning new possibilities in all areas of human life, including governance, education, employment, family formation, housing, healthcare and entertainment. The utopias were a blue-sky project; students were constrained only by the limits of their imagination and their understanding of course concepts. Because the assignment required students to create original content in multiple modes (verbal, visual, and oral), it reinforced the interdisciplinary approach of the course and engaged diverse learning methods (auditory, written, and visual.) The summative project is a key example of the alternative learning methodologies employed in this seminar, and the paper describes in depth how students fulfilled assignment goals, using examples from student projects. Our paper illustrates the benefits of employing a humanities-based approach when teaching engineering ethics. We emphasize the potential for inculcating a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of this complex field of study, showing that an approach to ethics education rooted in the liberal arts allows for both creative expression and imaginative problem-solving.

Citation
Format

Schroeder, A. (2020, June), Building Better Worlds: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Engineering Ethics Pedagogy Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34235

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper, titled “Building Better Worlds: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Engineering Ethics,” provides empirical evidence of the value of a multimodal, multidisciplinary approach for ethics training and development. The paper, which describes our freshman seminar “Science, Literature, and Ethics,” commences with a review of relevant literature supporting the benefits of a multifocal approach in ethics pedagogy. Survey data from students demonstrates the success of this unique and innovative approach. Students were surveyed about their experience in taking the course and their own assessment of levels of success in ethics training. Data also examines actual attainment of learning objectives and outcomes, such as the successful acquisition of key ethical principles and the comprehensive understanding and retention of complex theoretical concepts. Students from multiple terms were surveyed, to assess the consistency of success in using this non-traditional, interdisciplinary approach. Pedagogical methods (used both within the classroom and without) are discussed in detail in the paper. Course content is also discussed, with emphasis on the multifaceted nature of the curriculum: classical and contemporary ethical theory, readings in the philosophy of technology, and readings in diverse canonical and non-canonical works of science fiction. Throughout the course, students achieved mastery in the practical application of ethical theory by applying concepts and decision-making models to both literary works as well as current issues in science, technology, and engineering. This humanistic course concluded with a summative group project, which required students to draw upon all aspects of the diverse curriculum in order to fulfill assignment goals. The project, which was designed to activate both creative and critical thinking abilities, directed students to create utopian societies. In order to imagine visionary alternative societies, students employed ethical principles, invoked themes and ideas from literature, and utilized new and even speculative technologies. In designing planned &quot;perfect&quot; communities, the students examined our most pressing social, scientific, and cultural challenges, such as climate change, poverty, bias in its multiple forms, and inequality of opportunity. Students responded to these problems by envisioning new possibilities in all areas of human life, including governance, education, employment, family formation, housing, healthcare and entertainment. The utopias were a blue-sky project; students were constrained only by the limits of their imagination and their understanding of course concepts. Because the assignment required students to create original content in multiple modes (verbal, visual, and oral), it reinforced the interdisciplinary approach of the course and engaged diverse learning methods (auditory, written, and visual.) The summative project is a key example of the alternative learning methodologies employed in this seminar, and the paper describes in depth how students fulfilled assignment goals, using examples from student projects. Our paper illustrates the benefits of employing a humanities-based approach when teaching engineering ethics. We emphasize the potential for inculcating a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of this complex field of study, showing that an approach to ethics education rooted in the liberal arts allows for both creative expression and imaginative problem-solving. 
AU  - Amy Schroeder
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Building Better Worlds: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Engineering Ethics Pedagogy
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/34235
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--34235
ER  -