The Formation of Ethics Crossroads and the Construction of Science and Engineering Ethics

1. Objective

2. Date/Place

3. Program

March 3rd, 2005
10:30-10:35 Opening Remarks
Yukio Hori, Vice President, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, and Senior Advisor to the Applied Ethics Center for Engineering and Science
10:35-11:20 What is Ethics Crossroads?: What are we going for with this workshop and the project?
Jun Fudano, Professor and Director, Applied Ethics Center for Engineering and Science, Kanazawa Institute of Technology
11:25-11:35 Introduction of speakers, project members, and participants (Jun Fudano)
11:35-12:00 Q & A on the Ethics Crossroads Project
12:00-13:00 Working lunch
13:00-14:00 The development and use of Agora, an electronic tool for teaching engineering ethics
Ibo van der Poel, Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology
14:00-15:00 Assessing Our Students' Abilities to Recognize and Resolve Ethical Dilemmas
Larry Shuman, Associate Dean/Professor, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
15:00-16:00 IIT's Workshops for Integrating Ethics into Technical Courses: Some Lessons Learned
Michael Davis, Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology
16:30-18:30 Resection

March 4th, 2005
10:15-11:00 The RosE Portfolio and Assessment of Student Learning
Scott Clark, Associate Professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
11:00-12:00Recent Situation of Engineering Ethics Education in Korea/Engineering Ethical Values of Ancient Asian Engineer Motsu(468?-396B.C.)
Tae-Cheon Rho, Professor, Chungnam National University
12:00-13:00 Working lunch
13:00-14:00 The Special Character of Engineering Ethics in New Zealand
Alastair Gunn, Associate Professor, University of Waikato
14:00-15:00 Toward a Global Code of Engineering and Science Ethics
Heinz C. Luegenbiehl, Professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
15:00-15:55 Discussion, Q & A session
15:55-16:00 Closing Remarks (Jun Fudano)

Summery and Profiles of Lecturers

What is Ethics Crossroads?: What are we going for with this workshop and the project?

Jun Fudano, Professor and Director, Applied Ethics Center for Engineering and Science, Kanazawa Institute of Technology

This project "The Formation of Ethics Crossroads and Construction of Science & Engineering Ethics" is funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). This project will be completed in three years from Dec.2004 to Nov. 2007. I will have a presentation of the objective of the project and what we will research.

The objective of the project is to form an Ethics Crossroads, where people from various social sectors, academic disciplines, organizations, and cultures can meet and discuss the values and moral issues having to do with science and engineering. Through Ethics Crossroads activities, we will clarify values in science and engineering and construct practical models of ethics programs.

The project consists of 2 parts: theoretical study, and practice of science and engineering ethics education.
[Theoretical study] We will consider a code of conduct for scientists and engineers for the 21st century by examining existing codes of ethics in various countries historically, sociologically, and philosophically. We will study the characteristic values that underlie engineering and science practice in Asia.
[Practice of SEE education] We will design, develop and implement an engineering ethics program based on the "ethics across the curriculum" model. We will develop means and tools for outcomes assessment for engineering ethics. We will develop ways of capacity-building for researchers, educators, administrators, and leaders in SEE. We will have a feedback cycle system for this study project: theoretical study, development of education / training program, practice of the program, evaluation, improvement.

The expected outcomes of our project are: 1)Model of International Code of Ethics that reflects Japanese and Asian Values, 2)Establishment and Vilification of EAC program and model, 3) Evaluation of ability for moral decision making (computerized method), 4)Model of Business Ethics which emphasis on CSR, 5) Establishment and Vilification of program and model of ethics education in higher education, 6) Human recourses of SEE education as social engineering.

We would like to build a base on which Japan can play a leadership role in International SEE world.

Jun Fudano is Director of the Applied Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT), which is probably the first of its kind in Japan. At KIT, he also holds a position as Professor of the History of Science and Technology, and of Science and Engineering Ethics.

He has been instrumental in promoting engineering ethics education in Japan and taught at various universities, research institutes, and companies. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Air, Japan's national broadcasting university, where he designed and developed a TV course on engineering ethics. He is also an Advisory Research Fellow at the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo.

He has been involved in planning and implementing an ethics program in the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, which is one of the largest technical societies in Japan. He also serves as member of ethics-related committees of various organizations, including the Science Council, Japan, the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, and the Japanese Society for Engineering Education. He is also a founding board member of the Japanese Society for Science and Technology Studies and serves as associate editor of its journal.

Fudano received a B.A. in Liberal Arts (Physics) and M.A. in Education (Science Education) from the International Christian University, Tokyo. He holds a doctorate in the history of science from the University of Oklahoma.

The development and use of Agora, an electronic tool for teaching engineering ethics"

Ibo van der Poel, Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology

The three technical universities in the Netherlands c in Delft, Eindhoven and Twente - have developed a web-based computer program called Agora (see www.ethicsandtechnology.com). This program makes it possible for students to practise their ethical understanding and skills. Students are motivated to engage in moral reflection and argumentation, and to develop the moral competencies that are needed in their later professional practice. The developers of the program have tried to avoid two traps. Firstly, they rejected, from the outset, a cookbook style of dealing with ethical problems that applied ethics is often taken to be and, secondly, they wanted to design a flexible program that respects the student's as well as the teacher's creativity, and that tries to engage students in moral reflection. The resulting program meets this requirements and make it possible to share teaching materials among different teachers.

Ibo van de Poel is assistant professor in ethics and technology at Delft University of Technology. He studied philosophy of science, technology and society, with a propaedeutic exam in mechanical engineering. In 1988, he obtained his PhD in science and technology studies (STS) with a dissertation on the dynamics of technological development; his supervisor was prof. dr. A. Rip. Since 1997, he is lecturing in ethics and technology for several engineering course programs at Delft University of Technology. He has been involved in several educational innovations in this area, including the development of the web-based computer program AGORA (developed by the three technical universities in the Netherlands, see www.ethicsandtechnology.com) and the first Dutch textbook on ethics and technology. During the last few years, he has done research and published in the following areas: the dynamics of technological development, codes of conduct and professional ethics of engineers, the moral acceptability of technological risks and ethics in engineering design. He receives regularly invitations for international conferences and workshops and contributions to encyclopedias in these areas. For more information, see www.tbm.tudelft.nl/webstaf/ibop

Assessing Our Students' Abilities to Recognize and Resolve Ethical Dilemmas

Larry Shuman, Associate Dean/Professor, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh

The landmark change in US engineering accreditation criteria (which occurred in 1996) has among its effects provided a much-needed impetus for preparing engineering graduates to “understand their professional and ethical responsibilities," one of eleven outcomes now required of graduating engineers. The criteria also requires the country's over 1600 engineering programs to assess the extent that students have achieved this outcome. We propose that understanding of responsibilities may be only a minimum; students also must acquire the ability to recognize and resolve those ethical dilemmas that that may arise in the workplace. How to do this is one question; how to assess it is another. While we are concerned about the former, it is the latter issue that is addressed here. To date, methods to perform such assessments of students' ability to resolve ethical dilemmas remain largely undeveloped. As part of a joint study at the University of Pittsburgh and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), we have been developing a measurement tool for assessing students' abilities to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas. A foundation of that tool is an analytic scoring rubric that can be used to assess students' written responses to posed cases. It consists of five components: ability to recognize and frame the dilemma(s); use of information (both known and unknown, i.e., facts or concepts needed to resolve the problem but not included in the case text); analysis of the scenario; perspective taken; and suggested resolution. The rubric has been validated and used to evaluate the capabilities of 160 students, ranging from freshman to graduate levels using a test consisting of three ethical dilemmas for which a written analysis is provided. The rubric has allowed us to classify the student's level of achievement along the five dimensions. We will provide an overview of the rubric and its development, present the results of these tests and discuss the lessons learned from this experiment. We will also discuss our long-term objective of developing a web-based assessment instrument similar to CSM's Cogito system for assessing intellectual development that eventually could be used by engineering faculty to assess students' ability to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas. Pilot data will be presented that demonstrates the feasibility of developing such a computer based system.

[This research has been supported in part by NSF Grant DUE 01-27394. The author acknowledges the contributions of his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh (Mary Besterfield-Sacre, Harvey Wolfe, Rose Pinkus and Mark Sindelar) and at the Colorado School of Mines (Ronald L. Miller, Barbara Olds and Carl Mitcham).

Education B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Cincinnati, 1965
Ph.D. Operations Research, Johns Hopkins University, 1969

Professional Experiences

• Academic Dean, Semester at Sea, Institute, Institute for Shipboard Education, Spring, 2002.
• Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, April, 1985 to Present.
• Interim Dean, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, May 1993 to August 1994.
• Professor of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, September, 1977 to present.
• Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, September, 1972 to August, 1977.
• Associate Professor of Operations Research, Department of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, January 1, 1974 to June, 1976.
• Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, September, 1969 to September, 1972.
• General Chair (with Cynthia Atman), Frontiers in Education 1997, 27th Joint meeting sponsored by ASEE (Education Research Methods) and IEEE (Computer Society and Education Society), Pittsburgh, PA, November 1997.
• Guest Editor (with Cynthia Atman), Special Issue - Best of Frontiers in Education 1997, Journal of Engineering Education, Fall, October 1998.
• Editor (with Harvey Wolfe), Journal of the Society for Health Systems, 1993 to 1998.
• Board of Directors, Actronics, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, 1982 to 1997.
• Health Care Technology Study Section, National Center for Health Services Research, (now Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) 1976 - June, 1980.
• Research Assistant, Operations Research Group, Hospital Division, Johns Hopkins University, 1967 to 1969.
• Operations Research Analyst, Molecular Electronics Division, Westinghouse Corporation, Summer, 1966.
• Electrical Engineer (Antenna Design), DECO Electronics, Leesburg, Va., June -September, 1965.
• Engineering Aide/Co-op (Electrical Power Design) David Taylor Model Basin, Naval Ship Research and Development Center, 1960 to 1964.

IIT's Workshops for Integrating Ethics into Technical Courses: Some Lessons Learned

Michael Davis, Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology

After more than a decade of workshops on how to integrate ethics, I have learned some lessons anyone considering doing something similar should consider (though local conditions, including budget, may require modifications large and small). 1. Be prepared to expand workshops to satisfy demand. 2. Length of workshop is not so important as leaving with something that can be used in class. 3. Look for formal ways to have "graduates" of the workshop teach others. 4. Look for ways to change the system, not just individuals, for example, by revising textbooks.

Michael Davis is Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions and Professor of Philosophy, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Before coming to IIT in 1986, he taught at Case-Western Reserve, Illinois State, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. For 1985-86, he held at National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. Since 1991, he has heldtamong other grantstthree from the National Science Foundation to integrate ethics into technical courses.

Davis has published more than 120 articles (and chapters) and authored seven books: To Make the Punishment Fit the Crime (Westview, 1992); Justice in the Shadow of Death (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996); Thinking Like an Engineer (Oxford, 1998); Ethics and the University (Routledge, 1999); Profession, Code, and Ethics (Ashgate, 2002); and Actual Social Contract and Political Obligation (Mellen, 2002); and also co-edited three other books: Ethics and the Legal Professions (Prometheus, 1986); AIDS: Crisis in Professional Ethics (Temple, 1994); and Conflict of Interest in the Professions (Oxford, 2001) and edited one other, Engineering Ethics (Ashgate, forthcoming).

He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan in 1972.

The RosE Portfolio and Assessment of Student Learning

Scott Clark, Associate Professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

RosE Portfolio is an online, digital system developed at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. It is designed to allow students, faculty, and administrators to archive, assess, and evaluate student work for the purpose of class, department, program, and institutional assessment. In addition, the RosE Portfolio offers features like the Showcase Resume, the Curriculum Map, and customizable Assessment Outlines." This statement from the RosE Portfolio website (http://www.roseportfolio.com/) states succinctly the purpose and capabilities of the program. This assessment system is an important tool that Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology utilizes to assess the level of achievement of its educational objectives and is a fundamental means to meet the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the North Central Association (NCA) regional accrediting agency requirements. In addition several departments within Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology have and are continuing development of assessment processes for their particular objectives using the program. The RosE Portfolio assesses many types of student learning outcomes, including ethics. An important feature of the system is its flexibility that can meet the needs of a department, a program (such as an across the curriculum ethics program), and an institution. Currently several educational institutions use or are examining the RosE Portfolio. Because of the online archiving of materials and online assessment, the program could also be used as an assessment system by a consortium of programs with assessors in several locations. This paper outlines how student work may be collected, assessment tools developed and applied, reports generated, and assessment and evaluation accomplished.

Education PhD, Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. 1989
Positions

• 1997-Present Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana
• 2003 Visiting Associate Professor, Kanazawa Institute of Technology
• 1999-2000 Fulbright Senior Researcher
• 1996-1998 Director of International Programs and Global Studies, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana
• 1993-1997 Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana
• 1993-1999 Director, Engineering Alliance for Global Education (EAGLE) Japan
• 1990-1993 Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana
• 1989-1990 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin

Recent Situation of Engineering Ethics Education in Korea / Engineering Ethical Values of Ancient Asian Engineer Motsu (468?-396B.C.)

Tae-Cheon Rho, Professor, Chungnam National University

1)Education of Engineering Ethics in Korea
In Korea, education of Engineering Ethics was started by Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea:ABEEK fonded in 1999. I would like to have a presantaiton on the results of surveys on situation of engineering education in 14 Institutes of Technology that are designated or applied to be designated by ABEEK.

2)Value of Micius (468?-396B.C.) as eastern classical engineer from engineering ethics point of view.
How to apply the oriental or Asian value to the engineering ethics is one of the hot issues in engineering ethics education in Korea after universities of engineering began to introduce engineering ethics as a part of general education. I have studied oriental value in engineering since several years ago. I would like to show the ways of thinking of Korean classical Confucisianists such as Confucius, Mencius, Micius, and so on.

• Born in 1950
• 1973:Graduated from Seoul University(electrotechnics)
• 1973-1979: professor, Seoul Technical High School
• 1979-1982: professor, Ota Institute of Technology
• 1982-2005: professor, Chungnam National University(Korean History of Science and Technology, History of Engininering, Enginieering and Society, Science and Engineering Ethics
• 2000: Phd(Literature)
• 2005: President of Korean Association of Engineering Education

The Special Character of Engineering Ethics in New Zealand

Alastair Gunn, Associate Professor, University of Waikato

Engineering, the world's oldest profession, also has the oldest code of ethics of any profession. Around the world, professional engineering societies have developed codes to deal with issues including obligations to clients, employers and employees, fellow professionals and society. Codes usually cover specific issues such as whistleblowing, confidentiality and privacy, conflict of interest, and so on. More recently, concern for future generations and the environment has found its way into some codes.

New Zealand and Australian engineers are as aware as any about all these issues, and are leading the field in environmental awareness, as reflected in the Code of Ethics of the Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) and its Australian equivalent.

One reason for this is that in general New Zealanders and Australians have a high level of awareness of and concern for environmental issues. Although they are two of the most urbanized nations on earth, their inhabitants are mostly lovers of the outdoors and despite historical loss of biodiversity and habitat are keen to preserve and restore what is left. Engineers, as relatively conventional citizens, reflect this.

Two further factors are unique to New Zealand. First, protecting the natural environment (of which they see themselves as part) is important to the indigenous Maori, who make up 16% of the population and are increasingly represented in business, parliament, government departments and education.

Second, New Zealand is geologically unstable and prone to extreme weather events. As well, 90% of New Zealanders live close to the sea, and New Zealand has the most dynamic coastline of any large landmass in the world. Civil and environmental and structural engineers in particular are therefore constantly aware of environmental issues.

Many Asian engineers live and work in countries that are in some ways similar to New Zealand, though the effects of extreme events can be much more catastrophic than in New Zealand.

New Zealand engineers were not in the forefront of environmental concern in New Zealand. To a large extent, they were led to appreciate the importance of environmental issues by non engineers. It s respectively submitted that Asian engineers could take a leading role in raising awareness of environmental issues in their own countries, and in proposing innovative solutions to problems.

QUALIFICATIONS

• D. Phil Waikato. Dissertation title: Species Protection and Environmental Protection: Some Ethical Issues.
• BA (Hons.) Sussex in European Studies, majoring in Philosophy.

• Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Waikato.
• Tutor, Sussex University, Visiting Lecturer/Scholar positions at Griffith, North Carolina State and Duke Universities.
• Assessor for US National Science Foundation proposals, 1991 - present.
• Anonymous referee, for various journals including Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, Health Care Analysis and Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
• Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Environmental Ethics, 1987 - 1997
• Chair, Department of Philosophy, 1997 c 2003
• Associate Dean E-Learning, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 2002 cpresent

Toward a Global Code of Engineering and Science Ethics

Heinz C. Luegenbiehl, Professor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Increasingly rapid developments in technology and changes in the nature of the global workforce make evident the need for an engineering and science ethics which is genuinely global in its reach. Yet, the teaching of applied ethics continues to have a primarily national character, with attention to cross-cultural and international concerns being seen only as something which is to be superimposed on preexisting national perspectives. This approach is both confusing to students and professionals and fails to do justice to the need for a consensus based conception of an international ethics which takes into account a variety of differing cultural practices and ideals. The currently commonly adopted alternative is a global framework dominated by peculiarly American concerns. Both of these methods are inadequate as a basis for an internationally justified perspective on ethics. In response, this paper therefore lays out some of the most significant themes which should be included in a truly global approach to technology focused ethics education and, in particular, in an international code of engineering and science ethics. Such a code could then serve as the foundational document for a globally unified approach to the teaching and implementation of ethical injunctions.

The discussion divides the applicable themes into two categories: those which have been part of American codes of ethics, but which need some reinterpretation for an international context, and those which have been neglected in current formulations of American engineering ethics codes, but which should be included when engineering is seen as a global activity. Among the former are a dominant concern for public safety, competence, the qualities of honesty and objectivity, avoidance of conflicts of interest, the need to maintain appropriated confidentiality, and making decisions which are fair and based on merit. The latter include respect for human rights, ensuring rights of practitioners, preservation of the natural environment, intellectual property, concern for the implications of technology, and a public role for engineers and scientists. Given the confluence of science and engineering in current practice, guidance for the conduct of research also requires special attention. In addition, requirements for awareness of the varieties of national character and local conditions, as well as possibilities for implementation of a code, will be discussed.

Heinz C. Luegenbiehl is Professor of Philosophy and Technology Studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, a private engineering and science college of 1750 hundred undergraduates and 150 graduate students. Its focus is on innovation in undergraduate engineering education, having been ranked first in the United States in that area by the influential U.S. News and World Report for the past five years.

Luegenbiehl received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University in 1976. He also studied at Texas Christian University, UCLA, and the University of Heidelberg. Besides his 27 year career at Rose-Hulman, he has held visiting appointments at the U.S. Air Force Academy and Nanzan University and Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Japan.

Luegenbiehl's primary research interests are in professional ethics, technology and value studies, and Asian religions. He wrote his dissertation on the work of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. His more than 50 publications are primarily in the areas of engineering ethics, the role of the liberal arts in engineering education, and the use of case studies. Most recently he co-edited a book on Liberal Education in Twenty-first Century Engineering and gave several televised lectures in Japan on engineering ethics. In addition, he has presented more than 90 conference papers and given numerous invited presentations, including a number of workshops on engineering ethics throughout the United States.

Luegenbiehl has received multiple fellowships and grants, including ones from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Lilly Endowment, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Fulbright Program, the Matchette Foundation, and the Matsushita Foundation. He is President of the Humanities and Technology Association, has served as chair of the Liberal Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education, and on the program committee of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. In 1998 he was recognized with the American Society for Engineering Education's Olmsted Award for his contributions to liberal education in engineering education.