The goal of the project here proposed is to transform the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science (hereafter OEC, available at http://onlineethics.org) into a permanent, highly visible commons for engineering and science ethics as a part of the new National Academy of Engineering (NAE) initiative in engineering ethics. This commons will provide a base for greater intellectual and material support for the growth of science and engineering ethics. Currently, the OEC is known both for its wealth of cases, problems, essays, syllabi, and ethical guidelines and advice, and for the exceptionally high standards of "friendliness" and accessibility resulting from its thoughtful creation of HTML that meets W3C/WAI standards and from its intelligent use of the hypermedia capabilities of the Web. In addition, the OEC provides an innovative model of what can be achieved with a staff composed primarily of undergraduates.
In preparation for the transition to the NAE, the proposed project will conduct major research into the effectiveness of typical educational uses made of the materials in the OEC with the goal of developing and refining educational methods, tools, and instructional modules for science and engineering ethics (SEE) instruction. This is an important goal given the increasing use in ethics instruction of web-based ethics materials, such as complex problem-based scenarios or cases that include useful links to other supporting materials like ethics codes and expert commentaries. Web access to engaging instructional materials, for courses and for self-directed learning, is an evermore viable and attractive opportunity for learners and educators, and though the uses of the OEC are diverse, it presently provides one of the finest examples of a resource center for SEE instruction.
However, the availability of first-rate online materials does not in itself guarantee improvement in the quality of SEE course offerings. In the development phase of the educational research, an educational psychologist will work closely with experienced SEE instructors, utilizing OEC materials to design methods, web- based instructional tools, and assessments that can be incorporated into self-contained SEE modules. In the test phase of the project, these modules will be evaluated in courses taught by a range of SEE instructors. The final modules will provide clear criteria for "best practices" in SEE problem-based instruction. This design and evaluation research will be based on cutting edge work in educational research and theory. It will greatly aid educators in making the best use of OEC instructional materials and will itself contribute to evaluation theory and methods. The project will further prepare for the transition by offering opportunities to a wider population of undergraduates. During the project, students at other universities will help build the OEC through summer jobs. The project will create a special a content management system that will ensure that new content will conform to the high standards that have made the OEC a leader in accessibility, user friendliness, and thoughtful use of hyperlinking, and ensure that content addition is simple enough to allow undergraduates to continue to contribute to the construction of the OEC. The OEC team is uniquely qualified to prepare the website to readily incorporate and fully index pages that both meet the OEC design standards and which undergraduates are competent to create.
