Microethics and macroethics in graduate education for scientists and engineers: Developing and assessing instructional models

Abstract

While the government and the public look to universities to educate students in research ethics, those who teach ethics to science and engineering graduate students still struggle to find the most effective models for ensuring that their students internalize professional values and make them part of their scientific and technical practices. (1) This paper will report on a four year research project to develop and assess four different instructional models that introduce and educate science and engineering graduate students to the micro-and macroethical issues in their work. Efforts at integrating micro-and macroethics in graduate education of engineers and scientists have been few. To be effective such efforts require incorporation of interdisciplinary concepts and methods drawn from such fields as science and technology studies and applied ethics. The four models included in the project are: 1) a standalone course on societal implications of science and engineering; 2) micro-and macroethics material embedded in a required science course; 3) a hybrid online/face-to-face course on responsible conduct of research; and 4) engaging ethics in the lab. In the paper we discuss development of the course models and assessment results of students' knowledge of relevant standards, ethical sensitivity, and ethical reasoning, as well as student-instructor communication. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.