Social and Ethical Implications of Engineering Design: A Learning Module Developed for ECE Capstone Design Courses

The School of Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM), has developed a module to integrate ethics into capstone design courses in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department. This module entitled, "Social and Ethical Implications of Engineering Design," helps students to reflect on issues and challenges associated with technological education that include (i) professional integrity, (ii) engineering, industry and social responsibility, and (iii) technological impact, societal and global awareness. This paper will describe this module and show how it has been implemented in ECE design courses in Digital Signal Processing, Power Systems, Applied Electromagnetics, and Electrical Systems Design. It also discusses student response by reporting student-based assessment results.