
"Catastrophic Failure Is Not An Option:" Reconsidering Post-Secondary Engineering Ethics Education In A Changing World
This praxis re-examines an old question in engineering ethics: effective professional ethics education. Recent ethical misadventures in industry have drawn attention to the need for further advancement of engineering ethics education. These developments occur at a time when great waves of change are occurring across the higher education organizational field. In this work, three distinct research questions are examined.
The first question relates to conceptualizing change in engineering ethics education from an organizational perspective in a Research 1 institutional context. The result from that work is the development and articulation of a multi-level theory of change for engineering ethics education called the 5M Theory of Change for Engineering Ethics Education.
The second question relates to considering what engineering students and their engineering faculty think about present-day issues in professional engineering ethics. To that effect, a mixed-method survey-based research study was conducted with engineering students and engineering faculty at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). Notably, the study revealed disconnects between the views of engineering students and their engineering faculty regarding present-day issues in professional engineering ethics. These disconnects further extended to the subjects’ perceived views of industry. Considered collectively, these findings have significance for and suggest a continued need for sociological disenchantment in engineering education.
The third question related to how to leverage the voices of multiple constituents to effect organizational change in engineering ethics education. To that end, the 5M Theory of Change was operationalized in the conceptualization and development of a micro-credential on professional engineering ethics. A novel curricular development approach, centered on a three-way partnership between an engineering student, an engineer in industry, and an engineering educator, was utilized to execute the micro-credential creation.
The work concludes by considering questions for future attention, including future iterations of the 5M Theory of Change for application to new professional engineering skill contexts, possible follow-on work in the engineering ethics study, workforce development considerations, game theoretic advances, and the future role of general education in engineering ethics education.
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Work Title | "Catastrophic Failure Is Not An Option:" Reconsidering Post-Secondary Engineering Ethics Education In A Changing World |
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License | In Copyright (Rights Reserved) |
Work Type | Professional Doctoral Culminating Experience |
Publication Date | June 21, 2024 |
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Deposited | June 21, 2024 |
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