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Understanding ethical decision‐making in design
Author(s) -
Corple Danielle J.,
Zoltowski Carla B.,
Kenny Feister Megan,
Buzzanell Patrice M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/jee.20312
Subject(s) - ethical decision , beneficence , engineering ethics , autonomy , psychology , economic justice , process (computing) , pedagogy , engineering , computer science , political science , law , operating system
Background Little is known about how students engage in ethical decision‐making, especially when designing in messy, real‐life contexts. To prepare ethically competent engineers, educators need a richer understanding of students' ethical decision‐making throughout the course of the design process. Purpose/Hypothesis This study examines students' intuitive ethical decision‐making as it emerges throughout the design process as well as when and how students engage in ethical reflection. Outlining these processes enables educators to better structure and support students' ethical reasoning. Design/Method We conducted 103 semi‐structured interviews with students in a multidisciplinary service‐learning program. To capture how ethical decision‐making unfolded over time, we sampled 13 students who had participated for multiple semesters on the same projects. The resulting 30 interviews were transcribed, coded, and thematically analyzed. We then explicated when and how students appeared to grapple with the ethical principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. Results The findings trace which ethical principles emerged as salient in each phase of the design process as well as what conditions and activities stimulated students' reflection on their ethical decision‐making. Conclusions Although certain phases of the design process appear to prompt consideration of specific principles, students' interactions with users and project partners appeared to stimulate the most reflection on their ethical decision‐making. We discuss how educators can leverage these and other reflection triggers to better structure and support students' ethical reasoning as well as strategies for making intuitive processes more explicit.