Title: Ethics in Engineering Education, Research,
1Ethics in Engineering Education, Research,
Practice
- Applications for Agricultural and Biological
Engineering
2Accountability ForStudent Learning
Outcomes(SLOs)
- Accreditation of educational programs required
for granting degrees and professional licensure - We collect data in courses and other student
activities to document achievement in meeting SLOs
3SLO 7 for Ph.D. and M.S. students in BAE
- Understanding of professional and ethical
responsibility.
4NSPE Fundamental Canons
- Engineers, in the fulfillment of their
professional duties, shall - Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of
the public. - Perform services only in areas of their
competence. - Issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner. - Act for each employer or client as faithful
agents or trustees. - Avoid deceptive acts.
- Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly,
ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the
honor, reputation, and usefulness of the
profession.
5Background
- Participated Ethics Education in Science and
Engineering (ESEE) Workshop - Main presenters
- Dr. Richard DeGeorge KU Distinguished Professor
of Philosophy - Dr. Douglas May KU Professor of Management
- Dr. Dan Bernstein Director, KU Center for
Teaching Excellence and Professor of Psychology - Materials based on their notes
6Purpose
- Discuss how ethics can fit into engineering
instruction - Discuss alternative ethical decision-making
frameworks - Apply theory to case studies
7Definition
- ethics noun 1. the study of moral standards and
how they affect conduct.
8Science/Engineering Ethics
- Compliance
- Legal Rules
- Codes of Conduct
- Ethics
- Rules
- Decision framework
9Relation of Ethics Science
- Ethics begins before science and research
- Ethics informs and is informed by science and
research - Ethics continues after research ends
10Ethics Begins Before Science and Research
- Researcher as human being with moral
responsibilitygeneral moral rules apply - Human subjects as moral beings with rights
- Moral limits on certain kinds of research
- Moral evaluation of aims of research
- Moral evaluation of research methods
11Ethics Continues After Research Ends
- Responsible for dissemination of results
- Responsible for uses to which research is put
- Responsible for commercialization of research
- Responsibility of science and engineering as
professions
12Aims of Ethics Education Re Science Engineering
Students
- Teach pertinent laws and rules
- Sensitize students to ethical issues
- Give students the tools necessary to think
through ethical issues vocabulary techniques - Enable students to take part in ethical
discussions about policy - Making philosophers is not an aim of ethics in
engineering education.
13Codes Rules (I)
- Re Human and animal subjects
- Institutional Review Boards
- National Institutes of Health Policy
- Nuremberg Code
- World Medical Associations Declaration of
Helsinki - Others
14Codes Rules (II)
- Re Academic Misconduct
- Dept. of Health Human Services (Conflict of
Interest) - Federal Policy on Research Misconduct
(Fabrication, plagiarism) - Kansas State University Honor Code
- Re Professions and Societies
- National Society of Professional EngineersCode
of Ethics for Engineers - The Chemists Code of Conduct
15Codes Rules (III)
- Necessary but not sufficientneeds interpretation
- Necessarily incompletenew issues
- Gives false impression that what is not covered
is allowed or not required - Can be morally evaluated
- Creates impression that ethics is imposed from
without, and dependent on rule maker (why accept
them?)
16Ethics A Two-Edged Sword
- Positive aspect reinforces rules and codes
- Critical aspect questions rules and codes
17Whose Ethics?
- Start with
- Personal ethical base
- Conventional morality
- Rules of scientific research
- Move to
- Inconsistencies
- Uncovered areas
- Open questions
18Ethical Relativism
- There are no universal ethical norms. All norms
are relative to ones society. - There are no universal ethical norms. All norms
are relative to the individual. - Any individuals or any societys norms are as
valid as any other.
19Difficulties With Ethical Relativism
- It is inconsistent
- It is not clear in a pluralistic society what the
societys view is on many issues - If it is right
- No one judges actions, simply report ones
feelings or what ones society says - No two societies (or individuals) can disagree
- No society (or individual) can be mistaken
- One can change the morality of an action by
changing ones feeling about it.
20Ethical Relativism
- Ethical relativism is often confused with
- Reluctance to judge others
- Uncertainty about the morality of an action
- Tolerance of differences
- Differences in social customs
- Aversion to absolutism.
21Key Ethical Terms
- Good and bad consequences
- Fairness and justice
- Rights
- Duties (obligations)
- Ideals
- Moral imagination
- Responsibility, blame, shame, guilt
22Sources of Ethics
- Scientific method as a source of ethics in
research - Ethical theories as a source of ethics in research
23Scientific Method as a Source of Ethics in
Research
- Moral traits demanded of the scientist/engineer
- Honesty
- Truthfulness
- Accuracy
- Intellectual integrity
- Objectivity
- Patience
- Intellectual courage
- For the scientist/engineer
- Freedom to pursue research
- Freedom to publish
24Issues
- External to Science
- e.g. embryonic stem cell research
- Issues of informed consent
- Patients rights
- Internal to science
- e.g. truth in reporting results
- Accuracy in record keeping
- Plagiarism and proper citation
25Ethical Theories as a Source of Ethics in Science
and Research
- Aim
- Make sense of moral experience by finding
principles that explain (and/or correct)
conventional morality on basis of reason and
human psychology - Techniques
- Evaluate consequences
- Understand basis for duties
- Develop a logic of rights
- Consider demands of justice
- Develop traits of character
26Three Methods of Ethical Reasoning
- Utilitarianism consequence based approach
- Deontological Approachduties-, rights-,
justice-based approach - Consequences not considered
- Virtue character based approach
27Ethics as Freedom
- Free vs. slave mentality
- Free to engage intelligently in debate, e.g.,
embryonic stem cell research - Free to evaluate rules
- Free to take part in creating rules
28If We Have Those Aims, How Can We Achieve Them?
- Teach pertinent laws, rules, codesthroughout the
curriculum - Sensitize to ethical issuesthroughout the
curriculum - Give students the tools necessary to think
through ethical issuesstand-alone course - Enable students to take part in ethical
discussions about policystand-alone course
29Ethical Analysis of Policy Practice
- Get all the pertinent facts
- Whose rights, if anyones are affected?
- Are issues of justice or fairness involved?
- Who is affected by the policy and what are the
costs benefits for each and all? - Weigh the various factors
- Imaginatively consider alternatives
- Consider and answer objections to the policy
- Decide
- Act