To exercise leadership, science and engineering educators need to provide their students with the tools to identify and respond appropriately to professional problems with ethical dimensions. This project involves four to eight undergraduate engineering students in the identification of promising sources of ethical questions and problems that can provide the basis for a curriculum in engineering ethics for graduate students. Under the supervision of the principal investigator, in association with a group of collaborating faculty, the students will gather information about current dissertation topics that are promising sources. They will meet with the faculty and students working on these topics to obtain information about how the ethical issues are being handled. They will also consider ethical issues that arise in engineering more generally. As the results from their research and interviews are developed, they will be incorporated and tested in a graduate course in engineering ethics to be taught at MIT in the spring. Research will continue over the summer and fall, to identify new issues and examine those previously identified more deeply. Results will be incorporated into graduate engineering as well as other programs at MIT, and be reported on widely at meetings and in engineering publications. This proposal focuses on an important area in Ethics and Values Studies. The investigators are very well qualified; the plan is thoughtful and feasible; university support is good. Results are likely to improve the teaching of engineering ethics on this campus and in graduate curricula nationwide. Support is highly recommended.
