Prof Terry Speicher - Penn State Berks

Dr Chuck Gaston - Penn State York

Dr Joe McCormick - Penn State York
Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration
Orlando, Florida
01 February 2012

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection
Student Assessment

Presentation Outline

Curricular Background
ABET-TAC Accreditation Criteria
Science, Technology, and Society GenEd

Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection
Student Assessment

ABET-TAC Accreditation Criterion

2i - An engineering technology program
must demonstrate that graduates have
an ability to understand professional,
ethical, and social responsibility.
2j - An engineering technology program
must demonstrate that graduates have a
respect for diversity, and a knowledge of
contemporary professional, societal, and
global issues.

2006-07 Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Technology Programs

Science, Technology, and Society

General Education Courses

S T S 200 (GS) Critical Issues in Science, Technology,

and Society (3)
An overview of interactions between science,
technology, and society from social sciences and
humanities perspectives.
S T S 233 (GH) (PHIL 233) Ethics and the Design of
Technology (3)
Ethics and individual and group decision-making in the
design of technology including design projects and
specific attention to institutional ethics.
S T S 245 (GS;IL) Globalization, Technology, and
Ethics (3)
An investigation of technology and ethics in the globalized
world from contemporary, socio-cultural, and historical
perspectives.
Pennsylvania State University Bluebook course descriptions

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery

Campus Locations
Course Instructors

Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection
Student Assessment

Campus Locations

http://www.et.psu.edu/graphics/maps/b_emet.gif

Course Instructors

One at Berks, Professional Engineer,

Project Management Professional, &
Assistant Professor of Engineering with
experience in telecommunications industry
and teaching engineering design.
Two at York, Assistant Professor of
Engineering with industrial experience and
Associate Professor of Political Science
with multi-discipline teaching experience.

Ethics and the Design of

Technology

Berks Campus STS 233 offerings:

Fall 2009, 2010, & 2011 - two afternoons per week
Third semester associate & baccalaureate students
Engineering technology majors

York Campus STS 233 offerings:

Fall 2010 one evening , Fall 2011 - two afternoons
First through seventh semester 2-yr & 4-yr students
Engineering technology and non-ET majors

Course Management Platform

Distribution of syllabus, assignments,
rubrics, and supplemental material
Submission of student reports
Group participation in discussion forums
On-line quizzes
Team communication and file exchange
Permanent record of student preparation
and participation

ANGEL https://cms.psu.edu/

Learning Environment
Individual station computer lab
Course Management System access
Internet access
Socratic method
Lively discussions
Expository writing
Critical thinking

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools

Ethical Frameworks
Dilemma Paradigms
NSPE Fundamental Canons
Personal Threshold

Case Selection
Student Assessment

Ethical Frameworks

Aristotle's Virtue-based ethics

Individual character
Golden Mean

Kants Duty-based ethics

Organizational responsibility
Golden rule

Utilitarians Consequence-based ethics

Societal happiness
Cost-benefit analysis
Martin & Schinzinger, Ethics in Engineering

Dilemma Paradigms
Truth versus Loyalty - honesty, candor, or
integrity versus commitment, responsibility, or
promise-keeping
Short-term versus Long-term - immediate
needs or desires run counter to future goals or
prospects
Individual versus Community - us versus them,
self versus others, or the smaller versus the
larger group
Justice versus Mercy - fairness, equity, and
even-handed application of the law often
conflict with compassion, empathy, and love

Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices

NSPE Fundamental Canons

Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties,
shall:
1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of
the public.
2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner.
4. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or
trustees.
5. Avoid deceptive acts.
6. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly,
ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor,
reputation, and usefulness of the profession
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html

Personal Threshold
Public safety and welfare
Data integrity and representation
Trade secrets and industrial espionage
Gift giving and bribery
Principle of informed consent
Conflict of interest
Accountability to clients and customers
Fair treatment

Baura, Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection

Engineering Ethics
Functional Responsibilities
Organizational Culture

Student Assessment

Engineering Ethics

Social Experimentation
Design process is iterative
Tasks accomplished with uncertainty
Final outcome is unknown

Informed Consent
Information disseminated in understandable

form
Proxy group represents individual interests
User has limited knowledge of product risks
Martin & Schinzinger, Ethics in Engineering

Functional Responsibilities
Engineer - Decision involves technical
matters requiring engineering expertise
or falling within ethical standards of
codes.
Manager - Decision involves cost,
schedule, marketing, and employee
welfare but not forcing professionals to
compromise their standards.

Harris, Pritchard, & Rabins, Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases

Organizational Culture

Engineering-Oriented Companies
Safety and quality top priorities
Consensus negotiations

Customer-Oriented Companies
Business considerations over quality
Conflicting points of view

Finance-Oriented Companies
Centralized control of information
Engineers seen as advisors

Harris, Pritchard, & Rabins, Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases

Baura Cases: Cost v. Safety

Ford Explorer development tests of
vehicle rollover stability
Guidant Ancure Endograft regulatory
reporting of medical device effectiveness
Hospital Biomedical Engineer - preventative
maintenance of critical medical equipment

Baura, Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

Harris et al. Cases: Cost v. Safety

Cartex - product enhancement for
military application
Highway Safety Improvements funding
limitations for intersection improvements
Pulverizer - legal liability of chipper
operator accidents

Harris, Pritchard, & Rabins, Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection
Supplemental Resources

Berks Reading Materials

York Reading Materials

Student Assessment
Lessons Learned

Berks Reading Materials

Manning & Stroud, A Practical Guide to

Ethics: Living and Learning with Integrity.
Virtue, duty, and consequence ethics
readings.
Martin & Schinzinger, Ethics in
Engineering. Engineering and safety
ethics readings.
IEEE, professional employment guidelines
ISO and ANSI, industrial standards
material

York Reading Materials

NSPE, PE: The Magazine for Professional

Engineers. On Ethics, regular feature of
a real case ethical scenario with Board of
Ethical Review ruling.
2010 BP Gulf Oil Spill: team project on
ethics, tradeoffs, key decisions, & deep-sea
drilling technology.
First group focused on period before explosion.
Second group focused on immediate disaster

and efforts to stop oil flow.

Third group focused on long-term effects and
changes to prevent reoccurrence.
PBS Frontline, The Spill. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/bp-troubled-past/

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection
Student Assessment

Mean Values Plot

Outcome Statements
Stacked Percentage Plot

Mean Values Plot

Ethics Outcome Statements

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

I have a clear understanding of why ethics is important to me as an

engineer.
I can write a clear definition of engineering ethics.
I can give more than two examples of ethical issues related to my field of
engineering.
I can clearly explain at least one ethical framework, for example: virtuebased, duty-based, or consequence-based ethics.
I can apply different ethical frameworks to analyze an ethical problem.
I can apply an engineering code of ethics to analyze an ethical problem.
Engineers frequently encounter ethical problems as they do their work.
Ethical considerations are more important than financial and time
considerations involved with engineering projects.
I have heard of a code of ethics for engineers.
I know where to find a code of ethics for engineers.
I can list the six fundamental canons of the code of ethics for professional
engineers.

Stacked Percentage Plot

Mean Values Plot

Professionalism Outcome
Statements
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.
6.
7.

8.
9.
10.
11.

I have the ability to understand social responsibilities.

I can clearly explain at least one technology, for example: construction,
manufacturing, information, transportation, or health.
I can explain at least one case study in design failure, for example: Hyatt Regency
Skywalk Collapse, Ford Explorer Rollover, Northeast 2003 Blackout, Exxon Valdez
Oil Spill, or Guidant Ancure Endograft System.
I have a respect for diversity.
I can give more than two examples of member diversity related to participating on a
team project.
I have knowledge of contemporary societal issues.
I can clearly explain at least one contemporary societal issue, for example:
robustness of building codes, effectiveness of traffic safety, reliability of electrical
grid, sustainability of environmental resources, or hazard of medical devices.
I can clearly explain at least one societal transformation, for example: structures,
machines, networks, processes, or organisms.
I can list the safety requirements to design a robot for use in a home environment.
I have knowledge of contemporary global issues.
I can clearly explain at least one global issue, for example: energy, ecology, health,
population, or war.

Stacked Percentage Plot

Presentation Outline
Curricular Background
Course Delivery
Pedagogical Tools
Case Selection
Supplemental Resources
Student Assessment
Lessons Learned

Instructional Recommendations
Whats an ethical issue?

Instructional Recommendations
Detailed assignment rubric for grading
Mixture of individual and group
assignments
Instructor determines group members
Exchange information on Course
Management System
Peer evaluation of low-stakes exercises
Solicit student feedback throughout
semester

Whats an ethical issue?

The things engineers do have consequences,
both positive and negative, some
unintended, often widespread, and
occasionally irreversible.
engineering has a great deal to do with
ethics, and most of the engineers whom I
have seen get into trouble on ethical
matters did so not because they were not
decent people but because they failed to
recognize that they were confronting an
ethical issue.
Norm Augustine, retired Chairman & CEO of Lockheed Martin, 2002,
Ethics and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Bridge 32(3):4-7.

Thank you!
Questions?

Paper

is in the proceedings