Graduate Pedagogy for Ethical Dimensions of Coupled Natural and Human Systems Research

对人与环境之间相互作用的科学研究需要对与这种相互作用有关的伦理问题有充分的了解。该项目旨在确保科学和工程专业的研究生拥有在研究中解决伦理问题所需的知识和技能。该项目的目标是创建、试点和评估涉及人与环境相互作用的七个课程单元，如生物燃料、水质、转基因、环境毒性、气候预测、原材料的工业选择和可再生能源。研究还将包括制定和评估教师能力建设战略；这将包括培训科学和工程教师有效教授这些主题，以及培训伦理教师与科学和工程教师合作实施此类课程并开发新的或修订的模块。课程和教学法将在宾夕法尼亚州立大学和北卡罗来纳州农工大学进行试点、评估和实施。宾夕法尼亚州立大学是一所主要的研究型大学，拥有顶尖的理工科研究生课程，北卡罗来纳州农工大学是一所一流的历史黑人大学，也是美国理工科少数族裔毕业生的头号生产者。课程将包括在在线研究伦理课程中，通过宾夕法尼亚州立大学世界校园向全国研究生开放。这项研究将促进在人与环境相互作用的研究中发现新出现的伦理问题，并将有助于对科学和工程专业的研究生实施高质量和贴近主题的伦理培训。这项研究还旨在确定如何有效地为科学和工程教师提供将道德培训纳入课堂所需的知识和技能。这项研究的成果将通过教师研讨会、会议报告、出版物和在线分发广泛传播。

Scientific research on interactions between humans and their environments requires a robust understanding of the ethical issues relevant to such interactions. This project is designed to ensure that graduate students in science and engineering have the knowledge and skills needed to address ethical issues in their research. The goals of the project are to create, pilot, and assess seven curricular modules on topics involving human-environment interactions such as biofuels, water quality, genetic modification, environmental toxicity, climate prediction, industrial choices of raw materials, and renewable energy sources. The research will also include the development and assessment of faculty capacity building strategies; this will include training science and engineering faculty to effectively teach these topics, as well as training ethics faculty to partner with science and engineering faculty to implement such curriculum and develop new or revised modules. The curriculum and pedagogy will be piloted, assessed, and implemented at Penn State University, a major research university with top graduate programs in science and engineering, and North Carolina A&T, a premier historically black university and the #1 producer of minority graduates in science and engineering in the U.S. The curriculum will be included within an online research ethics course that will be available to graduate students across the country through Penn State World Campus. This research will advance discovery of emerging ethical issues in research concerning human-environment interactions and will contribute to the implementation of high quality and topically relevant ethics training for graduate students in the sciences and engineering. The study is also designed to determine how to effectively provide science and engineering faculty with the knowledge and skills needed to incorporate ethics training in their classes. The products of this study will be widely disseminated through faculty workshops, conference presentations, publications, and online distribution.