Using case studies to increase awareness of, and improve resolutionstrategies for, ethical issues in engineering
Clancy, E.A.
Quinn, P.M.
Miller, J.E.
Electr. & Comput. Eng. Dept., Worcester Polytech. Inst., MA;
This paper appears in: Frontiers in Education Conference, 2001. 31st Annual
Publication Date: 2001
Volume: 3,
On page(s): S1E-20-5 vol.3
Meeting Date: 10/10/2001 - 10/13/2001
Location: Reno, NV, USA
ISBN: 0-7803-6669-7
References Cited: 13
INSPEC Accession Number: 7197081
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/FIE.2001.963999
Current Version Published: 2002-08-06
Abstract
Case studies in engineering ethics were integrated into a first
course in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic
Institute with the primary goals of increasing students' awareness of
(1) ethical issues in the workplace, and (2) the number of different
courses of action that one might take to resolve the ethical issues.
During a three-hour "laboratory" period, students read and discussed
four short case studies in engineering ethics. Discussion was guided to
focus on understanding the (often conflicting) viewpoints of individuals
within a case and to look for multiple courses of action for resolving
the issue. The second learning goal was assessed prior to the case study
laboratory and on two occurrences after the laboratory. Assessment
results showed no changes in the number of different courses of action
that students could enumerate to resolve ethical issues. Nonetheless,
this laboratory might still (1) encourage students to take a
full-semester ethics course (which could lead to measurable results),
(2) contribute to progressive learning in this area, and (3) begin (in a
way we have yet to measure) to convince students that ethics is an
important aspect of their career paths
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