This Ethics Education in Science and Engineering project, Bridging the Gap Between Engineers and Society: Learning to Listen, will combine research and education to explore the relationships between engineering, science, and society. The project will develop a theoretical framework, a graduate-level engineering ethics course, and four freestanding multimedia modules that draw on empirical social science theory and research methods to bridge the relational gap between engineers and their clients. Goals of engineering ethics education will be promoted by teaching engineers to acknowledge and listen to the voices of the communities they serve.
The project has the following objectives: Objective 1: Develop a theoretical framework for an expanded pedagogical approach to engineering ethics that grounds ethical dilemmas in the unfolding realities, uncertainties, diverse perspectives, and multiple levels of technical expertise of the publics affected by engineering and science decisions, research, and products. Objective 2: Build a multidisciplinary, multimedia, empirical engineering ethics graduate course that teaches ethical and scientific inquiry best practices, with explicit consideration of stakeholder needs, values, observations, and knowledge. Objective 3: Partner with the engineering, science, and public health graduate students who take the course to create four teaching modules: Listening, Responsible Conduct of Research, Responsible Conduct of Practice, and Witnessing Wrongdoing and the Obligation to Prevent Harm. Objective 4: Assess the effectiveness of the course and modules in helping students understand their role as vital actors in a larger social fabric, and recognize that consideration of the public is an essential resource for their research and a critical component of their practice.
The proposed research and education plan will advance understanding of a highly promising and currently underutilized method of teaching engineering ethics. Faculty at four universities with diverse audiences have committed to teaching the project's principles and materials. As project collaborator, the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors will aid in the development and dissemination of the work products. The project team and participating students include underrepresented groups in engineering and science, in a variety of contributing roles.
