The Foundations of Research Ethics for Engineers: A Proposal to Develop a Curricular Package for Graduate Engineering Programs

尽管过去20年关于研究道德的文献越来越多地关注研究不当行为的调查和定义，但这些工作很少涉及如何教导新兴研究人员--我们的研究生--负责任的行为和研究传播。 媒体和学术界对研究和出版不当行为的指控比比皆是。 随着研究和出版手段每天都因新发现的数字能力而成倍增加，知识产权的对错问题变得越来越复杂。 这种困惑因持续不断的争论而加剧，这些争论包括剽窃或数据呈现的规则在不同领域之间有何不同;以及互联网如何改变知识产权的边界。 有些人认为，现在是彻底重新审视我们的版权和合理使用概念的时候了。 因此，研究生对学术研究的挑战毫无准备也就不足为奇了。 在这个项目中，PI将建立在最近为其成功的专业责任模块工程（PRiME）项目开发的基于网络的框架之上，该项目支持灵活，吸引人和引人入胜的模块交付。 与来自UT Austin和三个外部机构的工程伦理和工程教育领域的专家和从业者合作（北卡罗来纳州州立大学、华盛顿大学和弗吉尼亚理工大学），PI将开发、评估、并传播一个统一的课程包，为工程专业研究生做好准备，以应对他们作为学术和专业研究人员可能面临的道德冲突和困境。开展研究以及出版和传播数据。 最终，该项目将产生四个基于网络的学习模块：关于伪造和捏造研究、关于剽窃、关于提交数据和关于知识产权。 这些模块可以作为离散单元纳入现有课程，也可以作为工程师研究伦理基础的短期课程一起教授。 这些模块将专门针对研究生受众，并由教师指南提供支持。 它们将促进研究生和教师对研究中涉及的复杂伦理问题有更深入的理解，并提高他们分析、综合和判断这些问题的能力。更广泛的影响：该项目将对研究生阶段工程研究伦理教学方法产生重大而实质性的影响，提供目前很少的材料。 高级教员将在几所大学教授和传播这些材料，并开始更广泛传播的进程。 此外，由于拟议材料的许多目标受众本身正准备进入学术界，该项目将产生深远的影响。 首先，课程包将有利于所有接触它的研究生。提高对研究挑战的认识和理解是学生获得研究生学位后带来的好处。 那些成为学术研究人员和教师的人将把这种增加的理解带给下一代学生。 作为教师，他们也可以利用该项目的可定制的教育材料，当他们介绍他们的学生研究伦理。

Although the literature of the past 20 years on research ethics has focused increasingly on investigation and definition of research misconduct, little of that work has addressed how to teach emerging researchers - our graduate students - about responsible conduct and dissemination of research. Charges of research and publication misconduct abound in the media and in academia. Questions of what is right and what is wrong with respect to intellectual property become increasingly complicated, as the means of research and publication are multiplied every day by newfound digital capabilities. The confusion is compounded by ongoing debates over questions such as how do the rules of plagiarism or presentation of data differ between different fields; and how does the Internet change the boundaries of intellectual property. Some argue that the time has come for a complete re-examination of our notions of copyright and fair use. So it is no wonder that graduate students are unprepared for the challenges of academic research. In this project, the PIs will build upon the web-based framework recently developed for their successful Professional Responsibility Modules for Engineering (PRiME) project, which supports flexibile, appealing and engaging module delivery. In collaboration with experts and practitioners in the fields of engineering ethics and engineering education from UT Austin and three outside institutions (North Carolina State University, University of Washington, and Virginia Tech), the PIs will develop, assess, and disseminate a unified curricular package that prepares graduate engineering students for the ethical conflicts and dilemmas they are likely to face as academic and professional researchers in the conduct of research and in publication and dissemination of data. Ultimately, the project will result in four web-based learning modules: on falsification and fabrication of research, on plagiarism, on presentation of data, and on intellectual property. These modules can either be incorporated as discrete units into existing courses, or taught all together as a short course on Foundations of Research Ethics for Engineers. The modules will be specifically aimed at a graduate audience, and supported by an instructor's guide. They will foster a deeper understanding by graduate students and faculty of the complex ethical issues involved in research, and increase their ability to analyze, synthesize, and judge for themselves as such issues arise.Broader Impacts: The project proposed will have significant and substantial impact on approaches to teaching research ethics in engineering at the graduate level by providing materials where currently there are few if any. Senior faculty will teach and disseminate the materials in several universities and begin the process of wider dissemination. Moreover, because many of the target audience of the proposed materials are preparing to enter careers in academia themselves, the project will have far-reaching impact. First of all, the curricular package will benefit all graduate students exposed to it. The increased awareness and understanding of research challenges are benefits those students will carry with them after they receive their graduate degrees. Those who become academic researchers and faculty themselves will carry that increased understanding to the next generation of students. As faculty, they too can avail themselves of the project's customizable educational materials when they introduce their students to research ethics.