Estrada

Spring2015

Phil 344: Engineering Ethics

Syllabus

Instructor:Dr.DanielEstrada
Email:estrada@njit.edu
OfficeHours:Tuesday45pmLocation:CKB222
Lectures:
Sec002TuesdayandFriday,2:303:55pm,CentralKingBuilding222
Sec102Tuesday6:009:05pm,Tiernan105
Studentsfromonlinesectionsareencouragedtoattendanylectureforextracredit.

CourseDescription:Thiscourseexaminesofthenatureofengineeringpracticeandapplied
technologytodiscussthemanyethicalchallengesthatmayarise.Weconsidersuch
questionsas:Howdothesocialrolesofengineersandthepracticalapplicationoftheir
technologiesrelatetobasicmoralandintellectualvalues?Whatmoralobligationsareimplied
bytheusesandcreationoftechnology?Whataretheethicaldutiesofengineersto
themselves,theiremployersandclients,andtothegeneralpublic?
Allassignments,discussions,andgradingwilltakeplaceonthisMoodle.Detailedcourse
informationcanbefoundbelow.
Texts:Mike.W.MartinandRolandSchinzinger,EthicsinEngineering,fourthedition
(McGrawHill,2005).Amazon.

Allothertextswillbemadeavailableonline.

AssignmentsandGrading:Thiscourseconsistsof15lessons.Lessonsconsistsof:
Alectureandselectionofreadingmaterial
Ashortreadingquiz
Adiscussionforum
Youarerequiredtocompleteeachlessonsquizbytheassignedduedate.Youarealso
requiredtocompleteawritingassignmentandengageindiscussionontheweeklyforums.
Thesearetheonlyassignmentsforthecourse.Therewillbenomidtermsorfinals.
ReadingQuizzeswillcovercoursematerialforthatlesson.Theywilltypicallybemultiple
choicequestions,butmayrequireshortanswersorlightresearch.Anytexts,videos,and
casestudiesassignedforthatlessonmayshowuponaquiz.Quizzesaredesignedtomake
sureyouarekeepingupwiththecoursecontenttheyshouldbeeasyifyouvereviewedthe
assignedmaterial.Quizzeswillaccountfor40%ofyouroverallgrade.
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Discussionforawillbewhereyoupostyourwritingassignmentsandengageindiscussion
withclassmates.Foreachlessonyouarerequiredtowriteashortessay,whichyou
shouldpostasanewthreadforthatlessonsdiscussionforum.Youarealsorequiredto
leavethreeshortrepliestoyourclassmatesposts.Discussionwillaccountfor60%of
youroverallgrade.
Onlinediscussionisdesignedforyoutocriticallyengagethecoursematerialandyourpeers,
toexpressyourownthoughtsandconsiderthethoughtsofothers,andtoraisequestionsand
challengestothevariousphilosophicalpositionscoveredinclass.Imayoccasionallysuggest
writingpromptsbut,unlessotherwisenoted,studentsshouldconsidertheirweekly
postingassignment'opentopic'andareencouragedtoengagewithanyissueor
examplecoveredinthatweeksreading.Thatincludesintroducingnewsourcesand
examplesthatyouindependentlyresearch.Wecoveralotofmaterial,sopickatopicyouare
motivatedtowriteabout!Themoreinterestedyouareinyourtopic,thebetteryouressaywill
be,andthemorepeoplewillwanttodiscussitwithyou.Doingindependentresearchto
supportyourposttopicandintroducingnewsourcesandexamplesintothediscussionis
stronglyencouragedbutnotrequiredforapassinggrade.
Postsshouldbeatleast500words,orroughlya1.5doublespacedpagesoftext.
Responsesonpostsshouldbeatleast100words,orashortparagraph.Yourresponses
topeopleinyourownthreadcounttowardsyourthreereplies.Highqualitypostsmayfall
undertheminimumwordcount,butlowqualitypostsunderthewordcountwillbepenalized.
Iwillhaveahandsoffapproachtothediscussionforums.IllpokeinifIthinkitisnecessary,
butthepointisfortheclasstotalkamongstitselfthroughpeerengagementandselfguided
research.Theseopenformatdiscussionsaredesignedtoletyouexploretheseissuesina
studentledgroupenvironment.Dontthinkofyourrepliesasachore,itisanopportunityto
hearfromlotsofdifferentperspectivesandengagedifferentpointsofview,whichis
absolutelycriticalforatopiclikeethics.
PostsandquizzeshaveduedateslistedonMoodle.Latepostsandquizzeswillnotbe
acceptedunlesspriorarrangementsaremadeorthereisdocumentationofextreme
circumstances.Assignmentsaremadeavailablewellinadvanceofthedeadlines.Youhave
plentyoftimetocompletetheassignments.Repliestoanydiscussionwillbeacceptedfor
credituntilthelastdayofclass.Pleasecontinuehavingdiscussionsonpreviouslessons!
Attendancewillbegivenextracredit,availabletostudentsfromanysection(including
onlinesections).Noteveryclassperiodwillbegiventhesameattendancecreditdistribution
ofextracreditisatmydiscretion.Therewillbesomeadditionalopportunitiesforextracredit
throughwrittenassignmentsannouncedlaterinthecourse.

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Plagiarismofanyformwillnotbetolerated.Copyingandpastingfromthewebis
plagiarism.Anyworkyouuseshouldincludeadequatecitation,identifyinganysupporting
material.Ifyouuseanysource,evenifyoudontquoteit,provideacitation.Suspected
casesofplagiarismwillbegivenzerocreditfortheassignmentandreportedtotheDeanas
aviolationoftheStudentCodeofAcademicIntegrity,whichcarriesamaximumpenaltyof
expulsion.Considerthisyourwarning.
Grading:Thisisanethicsclass,andyourwritingassignmentswilloftenbeexpressionsof
yourownthoughtsandbeliefsonethicalissues.SoIwanttobeclearthatyourgradewill
notdependonwhetheranyoneagreeswithyourviews.Youareencouragedtothink
independently,andtobringyourownvaluesandintereststoshedlightonourdiscussions.
Ifyoudisagreewiththeviewsbeingpresentedordiscussed,youareencouragedto
(respectfully)saywhy.
ManystudentsatNJITstrugglewithabstractwritingassignments,andmanystudentsdo
nothaveEnglishastheirfirstlanguage.Yourwritingwillnotbegradedongrammaror
spelling(unlessitmakesyourwritingincomprehensible).Thepointofthiscourseisnotto
writetheperfectessayorperformextensiveresearch.
Instead,yourgradewilldependonmyimpressionofhowseriouslyandthoughtfullyyou
haveengagedwiththecoursematerialandyourclassmates.Meaningful,thoughtfulposts
andreplieswillbegivenmorecreditthanhalfbakedorlastminutepostsandrepliesthat
aresuperficialattemptstomeettheminimumwordcount.Todowellinclassyouneedto
demonstratethatyouarethinkingcriticallyabouttheissues,thatyouretakingthetimeto
expressyourthoughtscarefullytolistenandrespondtothethoughtsofyourpeers.
Thegradingsystemisdesignedtoemphasizeyourcriticalengagementintheclass
discussionforum.Eachlessonisworthamaximumof100points:
Quiz:40pts
Discussion:60pts
Post:30pts
Replies:10ptsx3
Repliestootherreplies,eveninyourownthread,countasareplyandwillreceivefull
credit.Youneedatleastonepostandthreerepliesperlessonforfullcredit.Youcanleave
morethanthreerepliesineachlesson,butcannotreceivemorethan60discussionpoints
perweek.Remember,postsandquizzeshaveduedates(checkMoodle!)butreplies
canbesubmittedonanylessonuntiltheendofthesemester.

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Therearefifteenlessonsinthiscourse,butnoquizzesforthefirstandlastlessons.So
yourgradecanbecalculatedasfollows:
13quizzesx40pts=520quizpoints
15discussionsx60pts=900discussionpoints
1420totalpointspossible
Finalgradesarecalculatedonastraightscale.:

A<=90%(1278pts)
B+<=87%(1235pts)
B<=80%(1136pts)
C+<=77%(1093pts)
C<=70%(994pts)
D<=60%(852pts)
F=below60%

QuizzesaregradedbyMoodleunlessotherwisenoted.Postsaregradedasfollows:
Bydefault,postsreceive24ptsandrepliesreceive8pts(=80%)
Postscangainandlostpointsfromthedefault.
Waystogainpointsinposts(halfforreplies):
+2pts:references,links,orvideosthatsupportyourclaims
+2pts:anecdotesfromyourownexperiencethatpertaintothetopic
+2pts:raisestrong,criticalobjectionstolecture,readings,orotherposts
+2pts:supportingcriticalobjectionswithcrediblelinkstocontraryevidence
+1pt:drawconnectionsbetweenmultiplereadingswithinalesson
+1pt:drawconnectionsbetweenlessons
Waystolosepointsinposts(halfforreplies):
2pts:failuretoprovidereferences,links,orvideosthatsupportyourclaims
2pts:undertheminimumwordcount(500words)(atinstructordiscretion)
4pts:mereagreementverylightengagement
4pts:significantlyundertheminimumwordcount(morethan100words)
6pts:completelysuperficialengagementwithmaterial,nosubstantive
discussion
10pts:unnecessarilymeanspiritedattacksonreadingmaterialor
individuals(bothinsideandoutsideofclass)
10pts:offtopicpostthatinnowayengageswithlesson
Nocreditforcasesofplagiarism.Anysuspectedcaseswillbereportedtothe
AcademicDean.
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Tentative Schedule and Readings

Unit1:Theorganizationofhumansocialsystems

Lesson1:
Technologyandhumansocialsystems

Lesson2:
Engineeringsocialsystems

Lesson3:
Collectiveactionandresponsibility

Lesson4:
Engineering,thepublic,andthescopeofethicalconsideration

Unit2:EthicalTheories

Lesson5:
Ethicsandconsequences

Lesson6:
Ethicsandobligations

Lesson7:
Ethicsandvirtues

Lesson8:
HonestyandIntegrity

Unit3:CaseStudies

Lesson9:
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TheFordPinto

Lesson10:
DeepwaterHorizonOilSpill

Lesson11:
CaseStudiesFreeForAll

Unit4:ArtificialIntelligence

Lesson12:
Theethicsofthinkingmachines

Lesson13:
Autonomousvehiclesanddrones

Lesson14:
TechnologicalUnemploymentandthefutureofAI

Lesson15:
Wrapup