Assessment Of Ethics Modules In An Engineering Curriculum

Decisions made by engineers have a profound effect on the quality of life for citizens of the entire world. As such, their actions and decisions need to be governed by honesty, integrity, impartiality and fairness. Public health and safety considerations should dictate their professional behavior. (Unger, 1994). Engineers are expected to demonstrate that they adhere to the highest principles of ethical conduct. About 5% of questions on the F.E. exam correlate to engineering ethics. At Texas A&M University, evidence of this interest in professional ethics culminated in the creation of a new course in engineering ethics, as well as a project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop material for introducing ethical issues into required undergraduate engineering courses. Case Western Reserve University has created an Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science. University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Darden School of Graduate Business Administration have created a web site that is dedicated to the dissemination of engineering ethics case studies and supporting resources for students and faculty. The Ethics Updates site of the University of San Diego is another widely cited example. Illinois Institute of Technology’s Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions has made significant strides in promoting ethics amongst engineering societies. All these are very strong signals that educators have been prompted to introduce, integrate and incorporate engineering ethics scenarios into college curriculum, both at the two year and at the four year levels. (Schlager, 1994). Furthermore, it is very important to recognize that such activities promote the critical thinking abilities of students and sharpen their oral and written communication skills. (Whitbeck, 1996). In this paper, the authors describe how they have incorporated and assessed several modules and exercises that can help students get a good exposure into this important area of engineering ethics. In addition, they also provide an analysis of the data they have collected.