Michael Davis, Illinois Inst. of Technology ; Alan Feinerman, Univ. of Illinois-Chicago Proposal # 0629416 / 0629393 Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering and Technology
This award is made under Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (NSF 06-524). There are three major approaches to ethics education in engineering and science: (1) free-standing courses in ethics; (2) large scale education ethics modules, and (3) micro-insertions of ethics instruction into technical courses. This project proposes an innovation in the application of micro-insertion. It will focus on the micro-insertion approach in graduate education of engineers. Because labs are central to graduate education in both engineering and science the comparison of the effectiveness of micro-insertion in the classroom with micro-insertion in the lab will be studied. A nanotechnology lab will be included because graduate students' engagement with practical projects in an emerging technology should provide illuminatingly new micro-insertion problems, useful questions related to them, and useful insights.
The objectives of the project are: 1) to demonstrate an efficient way to teach faculty and graduate students how to develop micro-insertion problems that are suitable for use in graduate engineering curricula, both courses and labs; 2) to assess the effectiveness of the micro-insertion in graduate engineering curricula, comparing its effects in the classroom with its effects in a nanotechnology lab; and 3) to create an electronic resource for disseminating micro-insertion problems to engineering faculty worldwide.
The proposed project will contribute in at least two ways to the field of engineering ethics. First, the multi-year assessment data that the project team will gather and analyze will not only provide insights into the micro-insertion method but will also lay the groundwork for later comparative research with other methods. Second, it will prepare graduate students to produce micro-insertion problems, allowing the determination of whether grad students can assist faculty in integrating ethics into engineering courses (a proof of concept).
The proposed project will both advance understanding and promote teaching and training at the graduate level in engineering ethics. The project team and participating universities include underrepresented groups and will ensure that the Ethics In-Basket meets accessibility standards for users with physical and cognitive disabilities. Research results will be reported in a series of articles and conference papers directed at researchers and educators in three interrelated fields: engineering, ethics, and technical communication.
