Ethics in Engineering Education, Research, &

Practice Applications for Agricultural and

Biological Engineering

Accountability For Student 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

SLO # 7 for Ph.D. and M.S. students in BAE

 Understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.

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.

Background

  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

Purpose

  Discuss how ethics can fit into engineering instruction

  Discuss alternative ethical decision-making frameworks

  Apply theory to case studies

Definition

ethics noun 1. the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct.

Science/Engineering & Ethics

  Compliance   Legal Rules   Codes of Conduct

  Ethics   Rules   Decision framework

Relation of Ethics & Science

  Ethics begins before science and research   Ethics informs and is informed by science and

research   Ethics continues after research ends

Ethics Begins Before Science and Research

1.  Researcher as human being with moral responsibility—general moral rules apply

2.  Human subjects as moral beings with rights 3.  Moral limits on certain kinds of research 4.  Moral evaluation of aims of research 5.  Moral evaluation of research methods

Ethics Continues After Research Ends

1.  Responsible for dissemination of results 2.  Responsible for uses to which research is put 3.  Responsible for commercialization of research 4.  Responsibility of science and engineering as

professions

Aims of Ethics Education Re Science & Engineering Students

1.  Teach pertinent laws and rules 2.  Sensitize students to ethical issues 3.  Give students the tools necessary to think

through ethical issues: vocabulary & techniques

4.  Enable students to take part in ethical discussions about policy

Making philosophers is not an aim of ethics in engineering education.

Codes & Rules (I)

Re: Human and animal subjects   Institutional Review Boards   National Institutes of Health Policy   Nuremberg Code   World Medical Association’s Declaration of

Helsinki   Others

Codes & 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 Engineers—Code of

Ethics for Engineers The Chemists Code of Conduct

Codes & Rules (III)

1.  Necessary but not sufficient—needs interpretation 2.  Necessarily incomplete—new issues 3.  Gives false impression that what is not covered is

allowed or not required 4.  Can be morally evaluated 5.  Creates impression that ethics is imposed from

without, and dependent on rule maker (why accept them?)

Ethics: A Two-Edged Sword

1.  Positive aspect: reinforces rules and codes

2.  Critical aspect: questions rules and codes

Whose Ethics?

  Start with:   Personal ethical base   Conventional morality   Rules of scientific research

  Move to:   Inconsistencies   Uncovered areas   Open questions

Ethical Relativism

1.  There are no universal ethical norms. All norms are relative to one’s society.

2.  There are no universal ethical norms. All norms are relative to the individual.

3.  Any individual’s or any society’s norms are as valid as any other.

Difficulties With Ethical Relativism

  It is inconsistent   It is not clear in a pluralistic society what the society’s

view is on many issues   If it is right:

  No one judges actions, simply report one’s feelings or what one’s 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 one’s

feeling about it.

Ethical Relativism

Ethical relativism is often confused with: 1.  Reluctance to judge others 2.  Uncertainty about the morality of an action 3.  Tolerance of differences 4.  Differences in social customs 5.  Aversion to absolutism.

Key Ethical Terms

  Good and bad consequences   Fairness and justice   Rights   Duties (obligations)   Ideals   Moral imagination   Responsibility, blame, shame, guilt

Sources of Ethics

1.  Scientific method as a source of ethics in research

2.  Ethical theories as a source of ethics in research

Scientific 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

Issues

  External to Science   e.g. embryonic stem cell research   Issues of informed consent   Patient’s rights

  Internal to science   e.g. truth in reporting results   Accuracy in record keeping   Plagiarism and proper citation

Ethical 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

Three Methods of Ethical Reasoning

  Utilitarianism – consequence based approach

  Deontological Approach—duties-, rights-, justice-based approach   Consequences not considered

  Virtue – character based approach

Ethics as Freedom

1.  Free vs. slave mentality 2.  Free to engage intelligently in debate, e.g.,

embryonic stem cell research 3.  Free to evaluate rules 4.  Free to take part in creating rules

If We Have Those Aims, How Can We Achieve Them?

1.  Teach pertinent laws, rules, codes—throughout the curriculum

2.  Sensitize to ethical issues—throughout the curriculum

3.  Give students the tools necessary to think through ethical issues—stand-alone course

4.  Enable students to take part in ethical discussions about policy—stand-alone course

Ethical Analysis of Policy & Practice

1.  Get all the pertinent facts 2.  Whose rights, if anyone’s are affected? 3.  Are issues of justice or fairness involved? 4.  Who is affected by the policy and what are the costs

& benefits for each and all? 5.  Weigh the various factors 6.  Imaginatively consider alternatives 7.  Consider and answer objections to the policy 8.  Decide 9.  Act