RATIONALE AND TEACHING OBJECTIVES FOR A CANADIAN ENGINEERING ETHICS GAME

Abstract

This paper uses Tyler’s rationale as a framework for analyzing the teaching objectives surrounding the design of a video game to teach Canadian engineering ethics.The two keys challenges in this area are defining what should be taught in engineering ethics and then how it is evaluated in order to demonstrate improved understanding. Traditionally, engineering ethics courses are taught as either codes of conduct, or based on case studies with very constrained courses. The evaluation that follows then uses the Defining Issues Test (DIT) or an instructor’s evaluation.However, the above methods could be improved by focusing on engineering ethics as a situated, embedded, and applied discipline. That is, one in which decisions are made as part of a team, embedded in a workplace whose goals will likely be in conflict with the engineers, and whose outcomes are unknown at the time decisions are made.By using a serious game in which the players are protagonists affords us the opportunity to present thick cases with multiple decision points and opportunities for players to demonstrate their ethical bias. Additionally, the progress of players and their interactions with non-playing characters can reveal information on their assumptions and ethical bias.