Analyzing the perception, judgment and understanding of Ethics among Engineering students in Higher Education

The Royal Academy of Engineering, which is Britain’s national academy for engineering, identifies and stresses the importance of personal and professional commitments and obligations of professional engineers to enhance the wellbeing of the society. These can be attained by adopting the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity which are now commonly represented as ‘Engineering Ethics’. The engineering profession requires the exploitation of knowledge, resources and innovation and in the process; engineers face different complex situations and scenarios that regularly test their ethical judgment and understanding. A lot of emphasis is therefore placed today on familiarizing engineers with the ethical standards and moral codes of conduct involved in an organization as part of their commitment towards their roles. However, there is very little research conducted so far on the influence of Ethics Education on the moral growth of engineering students. Some recent studies suggest a growing concern among universities on the issue of increasing the ethical knowledge among their students and produce ethically responsible engineers or business leaders. Can Engineering Ethics Education reinforce students’ inclination to act ethically and give a strong foundation to their ethical decision making skills? Some researchers seem to imply that students who attend an ethics based course or module are more likely to recognize the core of a moral issue in a given complex situation than students who haven’t had any such prior experience. Other researchers seem to disagree on that context. There is also a degree of uncertainty and inconsistency as to how Ethics related courses can be incorporated and delivered as part of an Engineering curriculum. It is also not clear at what stage should engineering students be exposed to ethics courses? This study aims to bring clarity in some of these areas by examining the perception and decision making skills among two groups of students: one which has attended a course on ethics and the other which hasn’t. It uses the example of the MSc Engineering Management Programme at York where a session on Engineering Ethics is delivered every year. This study will analyze the potential of Ethics Education in boosting a student’s ethical responsibility, awareness and decision making skills

A Student Perspective of Ethics in the Zambian Construction Industry

The importance of ethical considerations in the construction industry is acknowledged. This is particularly the case that the industry plays a significant part in a nation’s development. The Zambian construction industry has seen an increase in activity due, in part, to massive infrastructure development programs adopted by successive governments, increase in foreign direct investment and housing development. The Zambian construction industry, like any other, is not immune to unethical behaviour. This study investigated students’ perception of the prevalence of unethical practices in the Zambian construction industry. A review of literature demonstrated that a number of contextual factors including location can influence the perception of unethical practices. A focus on Zambia was therefore considered necessary. One hundred and twenty one students took part in a questionnaire survey to examine their perception of the extent to which unethical practices were prevalent in the Zambian construction industry. The findings suggest that students perceived bribery/corruption and political /societal influences as the two most common unethical practices, while the least prevalent unethical practices were perceived to be alcohol/drug abuse and workplace violence. The findings are largely consistent with previous studies investigating the ethical perception of professionals in the Zambian construction industry. In addition, the findings suggests that when year of study and program of study is taken into consideration, the differences in perception of unethical practices, is evident for these demographic groups. This study provided an added dimension to the understanding of ethical issues in the Zambian construction industry as it was the first of its kind involving students’ perceptions. This paper therefore contributes to the list of countries where similar studies have been undertaken

5th Annual Symposium of the United Kingdom & Ireland Engineering Education Research Network: Time for change

The proceedings of the 5th symposium of the UK & IE Engineering Education Network set about challenging the status quo in all areas of engineering education. Over two days colleagues discussed and debated a number of issues ranging from engineering in schools and attracting young people into engineering, to innovative engineering pedagogies. The highly contentious question of whether ‘maths’ is, or is not, a vital prerequisite to studying engineering at university was debated whilst an expert panel asked the question “Are engineering educators fit for purpose?”.Needless to say the Symposium proved to be a lively event. In an attempt to provide the engineering education community with a taste of the debates the short Symposium Papers presented here represent ‘the tip of the iceberg’ with regards to the wide range of problems and solutions discussed and proposed. Divided into three main sections this publication shows that the Symposium did indeed achieve its objective of ‘challenging the status quo’. The papers presented in the first section argue the case for change in engineering education. Whilst the second section turns to look at engineering education practice and pedagogy, with an additional section included to assure non-expert researchers are given a voice. The final section brings the document to a close with a number of papers that look at how colleagues across the UK are beginning to innovate change in the engineering classroom and beyond

Deliberate Practice Makes Perfect! Developing Logbook Keeping as a Professional Skill through CDIO

Deliberate practice, including focused practice time by students, feedback from experts, mentors, educators or peers, and student reflection[1] is needed in order to develop and excel in any skill. This study looks at whether deliberate and directed practice can be used to develop professional engineering skills in a CDIO teaching setting, using logbook keeping as a key example

Supporting Trailing and Failing Students: Timing and Awareness

A continuation of the ‘Changing Futures Project’ this work aims to directly tackle student failure in engineering education at Higher Education. This stage of the project focuses on the experiences of 88 Engineering and Applied Science students who were classified as ‘failing’ in one or more modules during the Summer Term. A comparison of findings is made between the first stage (conducted during the Autumn Term) and the current findings of this research. Whilst the mental health findings of the initial stage of the project were present in the second stage, they were not as pronounced and the emphasis for the students appeared to have shifted to practical concerns and a need for information about the ‘next steps’. All students were offered individual support, including signposting to the support facilities available to them. The initial findings surrounding the students’ experiences indicate that many students do not initiate contact with the university and lack awareness of the channels of support and communication available to them. To counter this finding, a series of informative workshops are being devised for students to take place during the 2017-18 academic year

A New Curriculum to Train Chemical Engineers to Solve 21st Century Grand Challenges

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield is embarked on a curriculum change project with roll out starting with level 1 in September 2017. The drivers behind the change included the need to modernise the curriculum both in terms of content, structure and delivery. The main objective was to develop a modern Sheffield Chemical Engineer. The study is primarily about investigating the efficacy of the change efforts that have been introduced, to track progress and to determine whether we are meeting our stated objectives. The objectives are in relation to student success, student experience, curriculum coherence and student and staff well-being. Specifically, the new curriculum will be coherent, embedded in design and practice with an emphasis on critical thinking, problem solving, professionalism, ethics and sustainability. It will offer flexible learning environments and pathways to facilitate deep engagement. It will promote and facilitate industry involvement by focusing on both process and product engineering to develop industry ready practical graduates with hands on experience. It will produce graduates who are integrators, change agents and self-directed learners to lead multidisciplinary teams, and be at the forefront of innovation. It will provide exposure to niche research areas built on a strong core in engineering fundamentals. Lastly, it will produce graduates capable of Engineering from molecules by applying systems level thinking at many length scales. We have identified a third year module process design as a significant check point to determine whether some of our curriculum objectives are being met (Patwardhan et al, 2017)