The Ethics Toolkit: A Computer Program for Teaching Ethics to Engineering Students

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry E. Shoup ◽  
Thomas Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Computer Program ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Ethical Problem ◽  
Computer Application ◽  
Teaching Ethics ◽  
Ethical Problems

Abstract This paper describes a new computer application known as the Ethics Toolkit that is useful in enabling engineering students to learn about ethical problem solving. The application runs in a Windows environment and implements five different approaches to ethical problem solving found in the literature. Although the application does not provide absolute answers to ethical problems, it does facilitate the automation, organization and prioritization of solution possibilities.

Cases and Commentaries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kovac
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Ethical Problem ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Industrial Chemistry ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Laboratory Courses ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Life Problems

Just as in chemistry, the best way to learn ethical problem solving is to confront context-rich, real-life problems (Jonsen and Toulmin 1988; Davis 1999, 143–175). The broad variety of ethical problems, or cases, presented here are hypothetical situations, but represent the kinds of problems working chemists and students face. Cases raising similar ethical questions are grouped together. To reach a diverse audience, I sometimes write several variations of the same situation. For example, a question might be posed from the perspective of the graduate student in one version and from the perspective of the research di­rector in another. For important issues I provide cases that are accessible to undergraduates who have very little research experience, usually in the context of laboratory courses. For advanced undergraduates, some cases involve undergraduate research projects. Most of the cases involve situations encountered in graduate research in universities, but some also concern industrial chemistry. Finally, a few cases present ethical problems that arise in cooperative learning, a pedagogical technique that is becoming increasingly important in undergraduate education. Each case, or related set of cases, is followed by a commentary that outlines the important issues and discusses possible solutions. Some of the commentaries are quite extensive and actually present and defend my preferred course of action; others are brief and merely raise questions that should be considered in designing a solution. The commentaries model the ethical problem-solving method presented in Chapter 6. As I have emphasized repeatedly, most ethical problems do not have clean solutions. While some courses of action are clearly wrong, there may be several morally acceptable and defensible ways to proceed. Consequently, readers might disagree with my proposed solutions for good reasons. For example, if I use a consequentialist approach, my assessment of the relative positive and negative weights of the consequences might be challenged, or I simply might have forgotten to consider some factor. Where I have made a definite recommendation, I give the reasons for my choice and contrast it with other alternatives.

scholarly journals Teaching Ethics and Sustainability to Informatics Engineering Students, An Almost 30 Years’ Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5499
Author(s):  
Maria Jose Casañ ◽  
Marc Alier ◽  
Ariadna Llorens
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Teaching Ethics ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Technological Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Social Environmental

A significant number of universities where engineering is taught, acknowledge the importance of the social and environmental impact of the scientific and technological practice, as well as the ethical problems it presents, and the need to provide their students with courses covering this as a subject. This paper presents 29 years of teaching courses with the subject of social, environmental, and ethical issues to students of Informatics Engineering. The table contents and its evolution over the years will be analyzed, plus the different teaching strategies applied, with emphasis on the collaborative learning methodologies to facilitate critical thinking and debate. During the experience, the course incorporated the subject of History of Informatics which proved to fit in the course. While the subject of Ethics and Sustainability is increasingly being regarded as an important matter to learn by future ICT engineers, the courses covering it remain as optional in the curriculums. This should change.

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

Automated argument adjudication to solve ethical problems in multi-agent environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 310-335
Author(s):  
Selmer Bringsjord ◽  
Naveen Sundar Govindarajulu ◽  
Michael Giancola
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Problem ◽  
Propositional Content ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Artificial Agents ◽  
Artificial Agent ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Multi Agent

Abstract Suppose an artificial agent a adj {a}_{\text{adj}} , as time unfolds, (i) receives from multiple artificial agents (which may, in turn, themselves have received from yet other such agents…) propositional content, and (ii) must solve an ethical problem on the basis of what it has received. How should a adj {a}_{\text{adj}} adjudicate what it has received in order to produce such a solution? We consider an environment infused with logicist artificial agents a 1 , a 2 , … , a n {a}_{1},{a}_{2},\ldots ,{a}_{n} that sense and report their findings to “adjudicator” agents who must solve ethical problems. (Many if not most of these agents may be robots.) In such an environment, inconsistency is a virtual guarantee: a adj {a}_{\text{adj}} may, for instance, receive a report from a 1 {a}_{1} that proposition ϕ \phi holds, then from a 2 {a}_{2} that ¬ ϕ \neg \phi holds, and then from a 3 {a}_{3} that neither ϕ \phi nor ¬ ϕ \neg \phi should be believed, but rather ψ \psi instead, at some level of likelihood. We further assume that agents receiving such incompatible reports will nonetheless sometimes simply need, before long, to make decisions on the basis of these reports, in order to try to solve ethical problems. We provide a solution to such a quandary: AI capable of adjudicating competing reports from subsidiary agents through time, and delivering to humans a rational, ethically correct (relative to underlying ethical principles) recommendation based upon such adjudication. To illuminate our solution, we anchor it to a particular scenario.

Alice in the Real World

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 410-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Parker
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Real World ◽  
Mathematical Problem ◽  
Computer Application ◽  
Mathematical Problem Solving ◽  
The Real ◽  
Programming Knowledge

A computer application promotes programming knowledge and allows students to create their own worlds through mathematical problem solving.

Moral Decision Making in Business: A Phase-Model

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aviva Geva
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Problem ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Phase Model ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Moral Decision ◽  
Ethical Problems

Abstract:The traditional model of ethical decision making in business suggests applying an initial set of principles to a concrete problem and if they conflict the decision maker may attempt to balance them intuitively. The centrality of the ethical conflict in the accepted notion of “ethical problem” has diverted the attention of moral decision modelers from other ethical problems that real-world managers must face—e.g., compliance problems, moral laxity, and systemic problems resulting from the structures and practices of the business organization. The present article proposes a new model for ethical decision making in business—the Phase-model—designed to meet the full spectrum of business-related ethical problems. Drawing on the dominant moral theories in business literature, the model offers additional strategies for tackling ethical issues beyond the traditional cognitive operations of deductive application of principles to specific cases and the balancing of ethical considerations. Its response to the problems of moral pluralism in the context of decision making lies in its structural features. The model distinguishes between three phases of the decision-making process, each having a different task and a different theoretical basis. After an introductory stage in which the ethical problem is defined, the first phase focuses on a principle-based evaluation of a course of action; the second phase provides a virtue-based perspective of the situation and strategies for handling unsettled conflicts and compliance problems; and the third phase adapts the decision to empirical accepted norms. An illustrative case demonstrates the applicability of the model to business real life.

scholarly journals Engineering Students’ Experiences of Workplace Problem Solving

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Pan ◽  
Johannes Strobel ◽  
Monica Cardella
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students
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