Using a Creative Fiction Assignment to Teach Ethics in a First-year Introduction to Engineering Course

Sara A. Atwood; Brenda Read-Daily

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Conference: 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Seattle, Washington
Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Start Date: June 14, 2015
End Date: June 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-50180-1
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Engineering Ethics Division Technical Session 1
Tagged Division: Engineering Ethics
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 11
Page Numbers: 26.1649.1 - 26.1649.11
DOI: 10.18260/p.24985
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/24985
Download Count: 994

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Paper Authors

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Sara A. Atwood Elizabethtown College

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Dr. Sara A. Atwood is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She holds a BA and MS from Dartmouth College, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

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biography

Brenda Read-Daily Elizabethtown College

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Dr. Brenda Read-Daily is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Bradley University, and a MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.

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Abstract

Using a Creative Fiction Assignment to Teach Ethics in a First Year Introduction to Engineering Course As identified by ABET, understanding professional and ethical responsibility (Outcome f) is one of the critical components of undergraduate engineering education. However, effectively teaching and assessing ethical decision-‐making continues to be a challenge. Programs implement a variety of approaches including dedicated courses inside and outside of engineering, as well as weaving ethical case studies throughout the curriculum. This paper describes an approach that combines the common practice of integrating an ethics unit into a first year introduction to engineering course with the innovation of a creative fiction assignment requiring the students to generate and reflect upon an ethical dilemma of personal interest, while exercising creativity and communication skills. The creative fiction assignment was conceived upon realizing that generating relevant ethical dilemmas with “grey areas” and no obvious “right answer” required a deep level of ethical understanding. At that point, instructors turned the tables on the students and provided historical case studies for reflection during class sessions, but asked the students, in small groups, to create their own fictional “case studies” as a culminating assignment. Students were encouraged to write a 1500 word creative short story, but other genres were approved. The assignment has been implemented with approximately 90 students over two years. The detailed assignment and grading rubric will be provided in the full paper. Student work went well beyond the instructors’ expectations, with students thoroughly enjoying the assignment and producing short stories in the genres of science fiction, post-‐apocalypse, and hard-‐boiled detective, as well as comic strips, a musical performance of rewritten song lyrics, a screenplay depicting a courtroom drama, and short films written, acted, and edited by the students. The level of ethical understanding in the works varied, but generally rose beyond the level achieved with simple reflections on case studies, which instructors found difficult to assess because there was less opportunity for variation. The assignment was also more enjoyable to grade for the instructors, and allowed for additional emphasis on and assessment of creativity and communication skills. Examples of student work will be provided in the full paper. The assignment was assessed qualitatively using reflections from the instructors and student comments on course evaluations, and quantitatively using student achievement measured by the grading rubric (average of 3.5 out of 4.0, roughly an A-‐ with our schema), and self-‐reported student achievement on the ABET outcomes covered by the course (average of 4.3 out of 5, indicating strong achievement of ABET f – professional and ethical understanding). For the future, instructors are reviewing the engineering ethics literature to develop a survey for more targeted assessment of the assignment (which will be presented at the conference for feedback), and are considering ways to push for higher levels of ethical understanding while maintaining the fun and creativity of the assignment. The authors look forward to disseminating this innovative approach to teaching ethics to other instructors, and discussing ways to improve future implementations and assessment.

Citation
Format

Atwood, S. A., & Read-Daily, B. (2015, June), Using a Creative Fiction Assignment to Teach Ethics in a First-year Introduction to Engineering Course Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24985

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Using  a  Creative  Fiction  Assignment  to  Teach  Ethics  in  a  First  Year  Introduction  to  Engineering  Course    As  identified  by  ABET,  understanding  professional  and  ethical  responsibility  (Outcome  f)  is  one  of  the  critical  components  of  undergraduate  engineering  education.  However,  effectively  teaching  and  assessing  ethical  decision-‐making  continues  to  be  a  challenge.  Programs  implement  a  variety  of  approaches  including  dedicated  courses  inside  and  outside  of  engineering,  as  well  as  weaving  ethical  case  studies  throughout  the  curriculum.  This  paper  describes  an  approach  that  combines  the  common  practice  of  integrating  an  ethics  unit  into  a  first  year  introduction  to  engineering  course  with  the  innovation  of  a  creative  fiction  assignment  requiring  the  students  to  generate  and  reflect  upon  an  ethical  dilemma  of  personal  interest,  while  exercising  creativity  and  communication  skills.    The  creative  fiction  assignment  was  conceived  upon  realizing  that  generating  relevant  ethical  dilemmas  with  “grey  areas”  and  no  obvious  “right  answer”  required  a  deep  level  of  ethical  understanding.  At  that  point,  instructors  turned  the  tables  on  the  students  and  provided  historical  case  studies  for  reflection  during  class  sessions,  but  asked  the  students,  in  small  groups,  to  create  their  own  fictional  “case  studies”  as  a  culminating  assignment.  Students  were  encouraged  to  write  a  1500  word  creative  short  story,  but  other  genres  were  approved.  The  assignment  has  been  implemented  with  approximately  90  students  over  two  years.  The  detailed  assignment  and  grading  rubric  will  be  provided  in  the  full  paper.    Student  work  went  well  beyond  the  instructors’  expectations,  with  students  thoroughly  enjoying  the  assignment  and  producing  short  stories  in  the  genres  of  science  fiction,  post-‐apocalypse,  and  hard-‐boiled  detective,  as  well  as  comic  strips,  a  musical  performance  of  rewritten  song  lyrics,  a  screenplay  depicting  a  courtroom  drama,  and  short  films  written,  acted,  and  edited  by  the  students.  The  level  of  ethical  understanding  in  the  works  varied,  but  generally  rose  beyond  the  level  achieved  with  simple  reflections  on  case  studies,  which  instructors  found  difficult  to  assess  because  there  was  less  opportunity  for  variation.  The  assignment  was  also  more  enjoyable  to  grade  for  the  instructors,  and  allowed  for  additional  emphasis  on  and  assessment  of  creativity  and  communication  skills.  Examples  of  student  work  will  be  provided  in  the  full  paper.    The  assignment  was  assessed  qualitatively  using  reflections  from  the  instructors  and  student  comments  on  course  evaluations,  and  quantitatively  using  student  achievement  measured  by  the  grading  rubric  (average  of  3.5  out  of  4.0,  roughly  an  A-‐  with  our  schema),  and  self-‐reported  student  achievement  on  the  ABET  outcomes  covered  by  the  course  (average  of  4.3  out  of  5,  indicating  strong  achievement  of  ABET  f  –  professional  and  ethical  understanding).      For  the  future,  instructors  are  reviewing  the  engineering  ethics  literature  to  develop  a  survey  for  more  targeted  assessment  of  the  assignment  (which  will  be  presented  at  the  conference  for  feedback),  and  are  considering  ways  to  push  for  higher  levels  of  ethical  understanding  while  maintaining  the  fun  and  creativity  of  the  assignment.  The  authors  look  forward  to  disseminating  this  innovative  approach  to  teaching  ethics  to  other  instructors,  and  discussing  ways  to  improve  future  implementations  and  assessment.          
AU  - Sara A.  Atwood
AU  - Brenda Read-Daily
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Using a Creative Fiction Assignment to Teach Ethics in a First-year Introduction to Engineering Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/24985
DO  - 10.18260/p.24985
ER  -