Collaborative Research: Engineering Ethics Education for Social Justice

该项目旨在通过帮助工程专业学生了解他们工作的社会意义来服务于国家利益。工程伦理是指导工程师职业行为的标准。工程伦理的正式教学在本科工程课程中经常缺失。此外，这些道德标准通常被视为软技能，不算作工程。新泽西理工学院（New Jersey Institute of Technology）与佛罗里达大学（University of Florida）合作，旨在教授学生在社会正义背景下的工程伦理。他们计划开发并教授一门新课程，帮助学生了解如何利用工程的力量造福社会。新课程将在两所院校实施，并将收集初步数据，以检验该课程对工程伦理教育的效果。该项目旨在实现以下目标：1)设计一门以正义和社会影响为重点的工程伦理课程；2)在两种不同的机构设置中实施课程；3)收集初步数据，以确定工程伦理教育新课程的效果。新的工程伦理课程的预期成果包括提高学生看到不同观点的能力和提高学生做出伦理决定的能力。该项目将检验一个假设，即从公正和社会影响的角度教授工程伦理比其他方法产生更好的结果。项目团队包括一位具有15年伦理学教学经验的哲学家和一位具有22年工程教育经验的工程师，他们完全有资格承担这项研究。一个由人类学、社区参与和科学技术研究专家组成的多元化顾问委员会将在整个项目中提供反馈。鉴于伦理教育在技术创新收益管理中的关键作用，本研究有助于推动为美国公众福利服务的研究。工程师有潜力在许多方面造福社会，特别是如果他们认为工程与社会影响有着内在的联系。通过开发专注于正义和社会影响的课程，该项目有可能改变工程教育，培养专注于利用工程力量造福社会的工程师。本项目由美国国家科学基金会改善本科STEM教育：教育和人力资源计划支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by helping engineering students understand social implications of their work. Engineering ethics are the standards that guide the professional conduct of engineers. Formal teaching of engineering ethics is often missing from undergraduate engineering programs. In addition, these ethical standards are often regarded as soft skills that do not count as engineering. The New Jersey Institute of Technology, in collaboration with the University of Florida, aims to teach students engineering ethics within a social justice context. They plan to develop and teach a new course that will help students understand how to use the power of engineering to benefit society. The new course will be implemented at both institutions and preliminary data will be collected to examine the efficacy of the course for engineering ethics education.The project intends to accomplish the following goals: 1) design an engineering ethics course focused on justice and societal impact; 2 ) implement the course in two different institutional settings; and 3) collect preliminary data to determine the efficacy of the new course for engineering ethics education. Expected outcomes of the new engineering ethics course include improved student ability to see alternative perspectives and enhanced student capacity to make ethical decisions. The project will test the hypothesis that teaching engineering ethics in terms of justice and societal impact yields better outcomes than other approaches. The project team includes a philosopher with 15 years of experience in teaching ethics and an engineer with 22 years of experience in engineering education, making it well-qualified to undertake this research. A diverse advisory board, which includes experts in anthropology, community engagement, and science and technology studies, will provide feedback throughout the project. Given the pivotal role of ethics education in the management of the benefits of technological innovations, this research contributes to the advancement of research in service of the welfare of the American public. Engineers have the potential to benefit society in many ways, especially if they see engineering as inherently connected to societal impact. By developing courses focused on justice and societal impact, this project has the potential to transform engineering education to produce engineers focused on using the power of engineering to benefit society. This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.