Improving Ethics Studies Through A Spiral Themed Curriculum: Implementing Ethics Discussion At The Sophomore Level

To enhance ethics training during the undergraduate career, engineering ethics material should be presented throughout the engineering curriculum. In continuation of the Department Level Reform (DLR) project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), two departments at Virginia Tech aim to implement ethics throughout a four-year program by utilizing a spiralthemed curriculum. Preliminary work consisted of compiling a library of ethics case studies related to Biological Systems Engineering (BSE), particularly Bioprocess Engineering, along with different methods of implementing these ethics case studies. This work was presented during the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. 1 As the project moved to its second phase, the two departments have begun incorporating the library of ethics case studies in a designated sophomore course. Initial work focused on genetically modified products because they incorporate several key ethical issues. A key theme of the spiral curriculum, sustainability can be observed as students review genetic modification of major food crops, such as cottonseed. Students may also study how different countries view genetically modified products while looking at labeling laws found in each country. Patents can be studied when looking at the patenting of specific genes and the idea of the terminating gene. It was concluded the best method for incorporating ethics training into the BSE curriculum is to utilize already existing labs and projects by adding ethics material to them. Sophomores in BSE are currently required to take an Introduction to Biological Systems Engineering course in which they perform an oil extraction laboratory with cottonseed. As part of this laboratory, students were provided with a brief introduction to genetically modified products. They were then asked to consider potential differences that might occur in the production of cottonseed oil if genetically modified cottonseed were used as the raw material instead of the naturally occurring cottonseed as part of an informal written assignment and class discussion. For example, students were asked about labeling and marketing of the oil and if the production waste should be treated any differently. Additionally, students completed a survey at the end of the ethics exercise to provide their feedback. Of interest was whether the students felt there was even an ethical issue present, the complexity of the thought process used when responding to the questions, students’ openness to the discussion format, and the successes and challenges of implementing ethics material with this specific laboratory. A summary of these findings are presented in this paper. Background and spiral approach At an institution, 1200+ engineering intents enter the General Engineering (GE) program and have a common first semester offered by the Department of Engineering Education (EngE). Some of these students matriculate into the Department of Biological Systems Engineering (BSE). There exists a collaborative effort between some faculty of EngE and BSE, which is P ge 12854.2 funded under the department-level reform (DLR) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of the DLR program between these two departments is to reformulate curricula within the EngE and BSE programs by using a theme-based spiral curriculum approach. The twentieth-century psychologist, Jerome Bruner, proposed the notion of a spiral curriculum in which basic ideas are visited repeatedly in an increasingly complex manner. 2 Figure 1 provides a visual description of the spiral curriculum being implemented by EngE and BSE faculty. One of the strategies used to teach themes of sustainability, design, systems, and ethics is the use of active learning in the form of hands-on activities. In the proposed reformulation, sustainability is the overall theme with ethics as one of the supporting themes for the spiral approach. Figure 1. Schematic of a spiral theme based curriculum. Ethics, systems approach and engineering design will be revisited with increasing difficulty at each level or run. In support of this approach, a library of ethics case studies related to Biological Systems Engineering (BSE), particularly Bioprocessing Engineering was developed. This library, along with different methods of implementing these ethics case studies were created as part of an undergraduate research project during summer 2005. The details from that work were presented during the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. 1 As the project enters its next phase, the two departments have begun incorporating the library of ethics case studies in a designated sophomore course in the BSE Department. Freshman year: ethics instruction One of the main objectives of the freshman introductory engineering course, taught by EngE is: Having successfully completed this course, the student will be able to demonstrate an understanding of professional ethics and application to real-life situations. During this course students watch the National Institute for Engineering Ethic’s Incident at Morales video, which introduces ethics concepts such as public health, making tradeoffs, and differences in international laws. Students are required to read a chapter discussing basic moral theories and a few classic engineering case studies from Holtzapple and Reece’s Concepts in Engineering. 3 P ge 12854.3 The three main moral theories studied are utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and rights ethics. Additionally students reflect on ethics as part of an electronic portfolio assignment and work in teams to perform skits acting out designated ethical situations. This introduction to professional ethics becomes the foundation for ethical training received in the upperclassman years. BSE sophomore year: case studies Initial case studies focused on genetically modified, or transgenic, products because they address several key ethical issues, including sustainability, labeling laws, and international controversy. Below is more information on these case studies. Weed overgrowth is a major concern for farmers in large-scale crop production, leading to the production of herbicide-resistant plants. When a plant obtains an herbicide-resistant gene, the herbicide can be applied to the entire field, killing the weeds while retaining the desired crop. This genetically modified crop has the potential to save farmers money because they can spray an entire crop field with herbicide instead of spending precious money and time to tediously spray single areas to avoid the desired crop. The bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been utilized to produce herbicide-resistant versions of soy, canola, corn, sugar beet, and cotton. 4 Crops that have been genetically modified to be herbicide-resistant have been considered a stronger crop than the naturally occurring ones. The balance nature maintains and how the modified crop may potentially alter the ecosystem must then be considered in implementing these altered crops. 5 People opposed to genetically altered crops are afraid the stronger crop will outgrow and overtake the natural version, virtually leading to the extinction of the natural plant. The public wants to know the food it consumes is safe and will not harm the people who ingest it or the environment. As with any new area of biotechnology, positive and negative arguments can be made toward the use of transgenic crops. There is still much to be learned about how the individual genes inserted into different crops will affect the consumer, leading to a common concern in question: allergens. For instance, a company located in the United States, Pioneer Hi-bred developed a process for incorporating a methionine-producing gene found in Brazil nuts into soybean plants. The company performed tests on the altered soybeans to analyze allergen content. Results showed there was a possibility soybean plant consumption could trigger an allergic response in people sensitive to the nut. When presented with this information, Pioneer Hi-bred decided not to sell this particularly genetically altered soybean. 5 Alternatively, Pioneer Hi-bred could have decided to produce the transgenic soybeans but label them. Labeling laws have become a controversy and vary depending on the host country. Labeling laws in the United States are relaxed with the exception of labeling added known allergens. Labeling regulators have reported they do not feel labeling is necessary because no problems with genetically modified foods is predicted. On the other hand, some believe labeling laws are not passed because it is feared labels will scare the public away from genetically altered foods. 6 In contrast, Europeans have much less trust for genetically modified products than Americans. The European Commission has even instated mandatory labeling guidelines through prolonged public and political pressure. 7 Within the last few years, Japan has also made the labeling of genetically engineered foods mandatory. 8 P ge 12854.4 Different labeling laws in each country also have the potential to affect the trade of transgenic crops. Because Europe has strict labeling laws, the United States may not be able to sell its herbicide-resistant corn to Spain. Analyzing ethical case studies Although fundamental moral theories are important, students must also be presented with basic methods for analyzing ethical situations which can be used as important tools throughout life. Similar to flowcharting, a concept map was introduced as one of these analysis tools. A concept map is a diagram connecting concepts with labeled arrows, in a branching structure and relationships between concepts are often expressed utilizing linking phrases. To create a flowchart or concept map, the student analyzes each possible decision that could be made given an example. The student can then observe the concept map to readily see the consequences of each decision. 9 BSE sophomore year: course implementati