Collaborative Research: Ethics Education in Life Cycle Design, Engineering, and Management

合作研究：生命周期设计、工程和管理中的伦理教育

• 批准号: 1338687
• 负责人: Matthew Eckelman
• 金额: $ 24.77万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-15 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1338687&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Ethics; Education; Life

In addition to being taught that engineering practice requires assuming liability for the direct performance of one's designs; students must also be trained to consider the ethical dimensions of their indirect obligations and liabilities. The indirect effects of a product, project, or policy can be characterized and quantified using life cycle assessment (LCA), which is a formal modeling method that utilizes a comprehensive "cradle-to-grave" approach to evaluate environmental and social impacts. LCA is in wide use by designers, scientists and engineers, and businesses, primarily for use in product design and management, and is also employed in policy spheres to quantify the systemic impacts of large-scale engineering and technology decisions. While the use of LCA is widespread, the modeling structure and the interpretation of results involve ethical and value judgments that must be navigated carefully both by the analyst and by the receiver of the results. This EESE project centers on the integration of ethical training into life cycle courses and the development of life cycle-based educational materials for general ethics training in engineering and science. Hypothetical and real-world cases are being developed that address a range of life cycle-oriented ethical challenges, with relevance for multiple disciplines. Instructional materials and video footage presenting each case, as well as shorter versions for younger audiences, are also being created and hosted at the Northeastern Ethics Institute as an additional teaching resource. Case studies are being submitted to ethics, engineering, science, policy, and business case study clearinghouses as well as additional dissemination through structured tutorials at national and international conferences. One of these case studies is being converted into a three-hour workshop format at the University of Notre Dame and offered subsequently at one of its HBCU partner institutions.This project aims to achieve broad impacts inside and outside of the classroom. Most importantly, this project directly affects the professional development of students who will carry the insights, perspectives, and behaviors instilled by this ethics training into the workforce, to the ultimate benefit of society. The cases developed address fundamental ethical principles and macroethical issues; they will therefore be of value for ethics education in the engineering classroom even at universities without existing courses in LCA or science policy, including those who have adopted a workshop approach to graduate-level ethics education. Under-represented groups are being included both as participants on the project team and in several case-based ethics workshops. While the full cases are being designed for university students, shorter versions for secondary school students raise awareness of life cycle issues and environmental ethics early in formal STEM education. Ultimately, this project advances ethics education for a diverse range of students in a way that reflects 21st century progress toward sustainable engineering and technology.

除了被教导，工程实践需要承担责任的直接性能的一个人的设计;学生还必须接受培训，以考虑他们的间接义务和责任的道德层面。产品、项目或政策的间接影响可以使用生命周期评估（LCA）来表征和量化，LCA是一种正式的建模方法，利用全面的“从摇篮到坟墓”的方法来评估环境和社会影响。 LCA被设计师、科学家和工程师以及企业广泛使用，主要用于产品设计和管理，也用于政策领域，以量化大规模工程和技术决策的系统影响。虽然LCA的使用是广泛的，建模结构和结果的解释涉及道德和价值判断，必须由分析师和结果的接收者仔细导航。 这个EESE项目的核心是将道德培训融入生命周期课程，并为工程和科学领域的一般道德培训开发基于生命周期的教育材料。正在开发假设和现实世界的情况下，解决一系列面向生命周期的道德挑战，与多个学科的相关性。介绍每个案例的教学材料和视频片段，以及针对年轻观众的较短版本，也正在东北伦理研究所制作和托管，作为额外的教学资源。案例研究正在提交给伦理、工程、科学、政策和商业案例研究信息交流中心，并通过国家和国际会议上的结构化教程进行额外传播。 其中一个案例研究正在圣母大学转化为三小时的讲习班形式，随后在其HBCU伙伴机构之一提供，该项目旨在课堂内外产生广泛影响。最重要的是，这个项目直接影响学生的专业发展，他们将通过这种道德培训灌输的见解，观点和行为融入劳动力，最终造福社会。开发的情况下，解决基本的伦理原则和宏观伦理问题，因此，他们将在工程课堂上的道德教育的价值，即使在大学没有现有的LCA或科学政策的课程，包括那些谁通过了研讨会的方法，研究生水平的道德教育。代表性不足的群体被纳入项目小组和几个基于案例的道德操守讲习班。虽然完整的案例是为大学生设计的，但为中学生设计的较短版本在正式STEM教育的早期就提高了对生命周期问题和环境伦理的认识。 最终，该项目以反映21世纪可持续工程和技术进步的方式，为不同类型的学生推进道德教育。