Engineering graduate students typically do not receive but need formal education on how to pursue an engineering solution that accounts for the ethical implications of the technical problems they are trained to deal with. Their undergraduate curriculum does not adequately address the unique needs of graduate education, e.g., graduate programs in engineering include many more international students, who may have very different conceptions of appropriate standards of behavior both as students and as engineers; graduate students face moral questions related to research and teaching that most undergraduate students do not; and, in addition, with a master or doctoral degree, graduate students typically qualify for positions within industry or academia that carry greater authority, responsibility ? to peers, clients, and the public ? and decision-making power. This project promises to fill a critical need to develop educational materials and a graduate course on engineering ethics that are designed specifically for engineering graduate students. The overall goal for the proposed project is to determine what should be taught to graduate engineering students about ethics. The research has a theoretical component that will identify what should be taught, as well as a practical component to develop a pilot graduate course in engineering ethics. Other activities include an Engineering Ethics Seminar Series (EESS) and evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot course and the educational materials.
The research and management structure of the project and the interdisciplinary makeup of the research team address the EESE interest in providing support for interdisciplinary partnerships among the engineering, social sciences, and humanities. The research promises to improve our understanding of the ethical problems that today?s graduate students are facing and are likely to encounter. In particular, thick case studies, not currently available, are being developed. Incorporating the developed course materials into a graduate course will contribute to the education of engineers. Finally, the methodology used in this project to develop thick cases will provide a model for other scientific fields, such as chemistry or biology, that also need professional ethics courses and educational materials.
The project is based on the integration of teaching and research. Graduate students are key participants in the interdisciplinary research to identify the ethical issues and construct educational materials that address such issues. Through their evaluations and participation in the pilot course, students are shaping the direction of future graduate level engineering ethics. Disseminating the developed research case studies formally in academic venues, including journals and the engineering ethics website at Texas A&M University, will impact the larger educational community.
