Collaborative Research: The SEED-PA. A Practical Instrument for Assessing Individual Ethics Initiatives

工程伦理是工程教育中的一个重要课题。工程教育界对一种可用于伦理教育的工具有相当大的兴趣。这个合作项目解决了对这样一种工具的需求。项目团队正在建立他们目前基于研究的SEED（工程伦理发展调查）工具，该工具以理论为基础，已由全国19个合作机构的3,914名受访者完成。该项目有四个目标：1)。创建评估个人道德倡议的实用工具（SEED-PA）；2）. 使用SEED-PA进行四项独立的研究，解决重要的研究问题，并展示该仪器的实用性、可靠性和有效性；3）. 开发SEED-PA用户指南，以协助研究设计、管理、数据分析和结果解释；4）. 广泛传播网上SEED-PA和SEED-PA用户指南。该项目正在推进关于评估个人伦理倡议的发现，并有可能改变工程伦理的本科教育。所开发的工具可用于工程项目，以解决ABET在工程伦理方面的学习成果。该项目包括一项多方面的传播计划，具有重点突出的广泛传播机制。合作院校涵盖不同院校类型，学生团体亦各不相同。这些研究很可能产生广泛适用的结果。

Engineering ethics is an important topic in engineering education. There is considerable interest in the engineering education community for an instrument that can be used in ethics education. This collaborative project addresses the need for such an instrument. The project team is building upon their current research-based SEED (Survey of Engineering Ethical Development) instrument which is grounded in theory and has been completed by 3,914 respondents at 19 partner institutions across the nation. The project has four goals: 1). Create a practical instrument for assessing individual ethics initiatives (SEED-PA); 2). Use the SEED-PA to conduct four separate studies addressing important research questions and demonstrating the utility, reliability, and validity of the instrument; 3). Develop the SEED-PA User's Guide to assist in research design, administration, data analysis, and results interpretation; 4). Broadly disseminate the online SEED-PA and the SEED-PA User's Guide.This project is advancing discovery about assessing individual ethics initiatives and has the potential to transform undergraduate education in engineering ethics. The instrument developed can be used by engineering programs to address ABET learning outcomes on engineering ethics. The project includes a multifaceted dissemination plan with focused and broad dissemination mechanisms. The collaborating institutions span a range of institutional types with diverse student bodies. The studies are likely to yield results that are widely applicable.