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Work in Progress: Creating an Internet Platform for USA and Indian Students to Share Ethical Viewpoints

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Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

International Division Technical Session 5

Tagged Division

International

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--38133

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/38133

Download Count

304

Paper Authors

biography

Sweta Saraff Amity University Kolkata Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-9688-1612

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Sweta Saraff is an Assistant Professor in the department of Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences in Amity University Kolkata. She teaches Behavioral Sciences to University students. Her research interests are cognitive science, behavioral economics, learning pedagogies, cross-cultural communication, and text analysis.

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biography

Roman Taraban Texas Tech University

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Roman Taraban is Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Texas Tech University. He received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. His interests are in how undergraduate students learn, and especially, in critical thinking and how students draw meaningful connections in traditional college content materials.

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biography

William M. Marcy P.E. Texas Tech University

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Professor and Director of the Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism and Ethics
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas

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biography

Ramakrishna Biswal National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

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Dr. Ramakrishna Biswal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social
Sciences at National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental
Psychology from the University of Delhi. His research interests are broadly in the field of child
development and disability with a specific focus on emotion processing, mental health,
adolescent issues, and information processing among the students.

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Abstract

Ethical engineering practice is a global issue. Future engineers must learn about ethics in classrooms and apply the knowledge and skills in workplaces that are locally relevant and globally sustainable [1]. However, cultural norms and social realities may result in differences in ethical perspectives. The ongoing collaborative project described in this paper attempts to develop the cross-cultural sensitivity of Indian and USA students through their reflections on case studies that present ethical dilemmas in real-world situations. Central questions addressed in this paper include: 1) How does a pedagogical model based on socio-cultural theory and incorporating cross-cultural activities support undergraduate engineering students in socio-cultural and ethical thinking? and 2) How do engineering students develop their professional identities through socio-cultural and ethical discourse? Based on socio-cultural learning theory, the present collaborative effort engages hundreds of students in professional ethics classrooms in India and the USA each semester through online learning. Indian and USA students are guided to a website that is open to the world and administered by the course instructors. Student participation is implemented using well-structured scaffolding within a unique forum that provides students with a context in which to express their ethical positions, with constructive feedback from peers, while maintaining social etiquettes. Drawing on the theoretical models guiding this project, we discuss how internet-based collaborative pedagogic practices can reduce the gaps in cross-cultural communications among future professionals.

Saraff, S., & Taraban, R., & Marcy, W. M., & Biswal, R. (2021, July), Work in Progress: Creating an Internet Platform for USA and Indian Students to Share Ethical Viewpoints Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--38133

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