2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Concern for teaching ethics in engineering has existed for some time, with research supporting that active learning strategies are useful instruction methods for teaching ethical reasoning in STEM fields. Active learning approaches, such as case studies or problem-based learning (PBL), are shown to increase student exam scores and decrease student failure rates when compared to instruction using lecture methods alone. However, there is not sufficient information to show that active PBL is effective for teaching ethical reasoning and decision making in college-level engineering courses. The guiding question for this project is: Is PBL an effective pedagogy to teach ethical reasoning in support of social responsibility to freshman electrical and computer engineering (ECE) students during their primary introduction to the discipline?

To answer this research question, the introductory course for electrical and computer engineering at XXX has been redesigned to center ethics as a core feature in electrical and computer engineering. This course has an accelerated delivery with 15, 1-hour classes delivered over a 5-week period. For the redesign, it was offered in two styles, a PBL style and the other a traditional lecture focus. To date, three sections (two PBL and one lecture style) were delivered in the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. Across these three sections, 135 (PBL = 70, Lecture = 65) enrolled students participated. To evaluate students ethical reasoning and changes in ethical reasoning a pre-course survey, post-course survey and submissions for ethics focused assignments were collected. The pre/post course surveys used the Engineering and Science Issues Test (ESIT) to measure moral judgement and decision making in technical dilemmas and the Engineering Professional Responsibility Assessment (EPRA) to evaluate student attitudes towards different dimensions of engineering. Scoring of student work was done by 3 study personnel (with backgrounds in electrical engineering, education, and information science) using the Pittsburgh-Mines (PM) Engineering Ethics Assessment rubric which evaluates the recognition of dilemma, information, analysis, perspective, and resolution aspects of the assignment.

This work will provide an overview of the introductory course (course-structure, topics, assignments), differences in the PBL and lecture styles, comparison pre/post ESIT and EPRA scores between groups, comparison of PM scores between groups, and lessons learned during the first year of the program that informed revisions for the second iteration.