Professional engineering ethics education: just how effective is it?.

Abstract

Professional engineering degrees that are endorsed through independent protocols, (such as the Washington Accord), must ensure that students are given sufficient background to enable them to practise in an ethically professional manner. Graduates are expected to have a full understanding of the pertinent code(s) of ethics under which they can be expected to function as engineers. Further, they need to be able to appreciate the nuances involved in issues such as 'conflict of interest', sustainability, resource use, quadruple bottom line (the '4Es') as well as 'good practice'. This paper provides a review of the course Ethics and the Professional, currently being offered in four universities in three countries, that was established to directly address the need for professional ethics education. Over the last few years, student satisfaction surveys of this course have been undertaken in Australia, New Zealand and Germany; the results of these are provided herein. In addition to these assessments a further, novel approach, devised to assess the overall effectiveness of the professional ethics course is presented. This assessment provides a valuable tool through which we may monitor any apparent change in student attitudes that developed during the course