Is Covering Ethics In An Analysis Class Effective?

Most engineering educators will agree that engineering ethics is an important component of a complete undergraduate engineering education. There are many approaches as to how to cover ethics in an engineering curriculum. Some programs have elected to cover ethics in a required three credit hour lecture course, sometimes taught by a philosophy department instructor. Many others have a piece-meal method of delivering ethics education to students. In this scenario, the students may have an introductory lecture as part of an intro to engineering class. A one credit hour ethics class may be required or ethics can be touched upon in other classes, where ever it is most appropriate. Finally, ethics is again covered during a senior capstone type of class. Just how effective is this type of delivery? A series of two surveys were given to junior level civil engineering students. The surveys focused on ethical use of computers. Prior to the first survey, all students had taken a one credit hour engineering ethics course or an intro to engineering course. The students then had several weeks of a structural analysis class. Engineering ethics was touched on during several of lectures, with two of those lectures having a computer usage focus. A second survey was given. The results of both surveys were compared. The comparison indicated that this type of delivery is an effective means of covering a specific topic in engineering ethics.