2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work in Progress: Implementing an Orbital Debris Macroethics Lesson in a Junior-Level Spacecraft Dynamics Course

Presented at AERO 1: Rocketry and Space Education

Current engineering education not only disconnects students from their social influence as practicing engineers but perpetuates injustices by denying them within a meritocratic culture (Cech, 2013). Aerospace engineering is not exempt from its social responsibility, as is seen through the issues of space resource mining, space debris pollution, military-industrial complexes, and space territorialization. Engineering education research in the United States is exploring ways to foster engineers’ socio-technical expertise through the introduction of macroethics into their undergraduate learning (e.g. Andrade & Tomblin, 2018). Macroethics considers how engineers’ decisions influence humanity and the societal responsibility of the engineering field (Benham et al., 2021; Gupta, 2017; Palmer et al., 2022), and is in contrast to microethics about individual decisions such as faking data. Macroethics education is a tool to reshape engineering education from logical positivist perspectives to those rooted in justice.

In this work in progress, this paper reviews how a macroethics lesson was piloted within a junior-level spacecraft dynamics course in an undergraduate aerospace engineering program at the University of Michigan. The lesson introduces students to one macroethics topic, orbital debris, that directly connects to the “technical” topics of the course. We believe this socio-technical integration will stress to students that engineering cannot be separated from its societal impact. This paper reviews the lesson’s learning goal, class structure, and results of its execution, and provides a reflection on how this contributes to an overarching research project. We also assess students’ response to the lesson through closed- and open-ended survey questions.

Building off of a prior macroethics lecture-based intervention at the University of Colorado Boulder, the goal of the lesson is for students to gain the confidence and tools to discuss macroethics in aerospace engineering. More specifically, the goal is to understand that there are a variety of perspectives on any given issue and that power and positionality affects how people think about these issues. As the dominant aerospace engineering culture is created by those with power, this lesson gives an opportunity for marginalized viewpoints to be acknowledged and respected. To achieve this learning goal, the lesson alternates between discussing and lecturing. Orbital debris is used as an example to introduce macroethical discussion as well as the concepts of stakeholders, positionality, and ethical lenses.

The goal of our overarching research project is to restructure aerospace engineering to incorporate macroethics throughout students’ undergraduate career, and this intervention is a stepping stone toward changing classroom ‘cultural spaces’ (Cech, 2013). Integrating discussions of power within technical aerospace courses draws engineering out of a positivist and meritocratic mindset and can help move toward a reconstruction of science and engineering that is founded in justice.

Authors

Megan Ennis University of Michigan [biography]

Megan Ennis is a master’s student in aerospace engineering and a research assistant with the SHUTTLE Lab at the University of Michigan. After completing a B.S. in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, she spent a year at University of Cambridge for a master’s in gender studies. She returned to Michigan and is now enjoying her time as a graduate student instructor. Beyond being involved in the lab’s macroethics work, Megan's research interest is to apply feminist theories to engineering education.
Ms. Elizabeth Ann Strehl University of Michigan [biography]

Elizabeth is a graduate student at the University of Michigan studying Engineering Education Research under doctoral advisor Aaron Johnson. Her research focuses on weaving macro ethics into existing aerospace engineering curricula and institutional support methods for working class engineering students. Elizabeth earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2019 with foci in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics.
Dr. Aaron W. Johnson University of Michigan [biography]

Aaron W. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department and a Core Faculty member of the Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan. He believes in a strong connection between engineering education research and practice, and his research leverages his experience teaching engineering science courses to bridge the gap between theoretical, well-defined coursework and ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering practice. Aaron holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from U-M, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to re-joining U-M, he was an instructor in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Dr. Corin L. Bowen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0910-8902 California State University, Los Angeles [biography]

Corin (Corey) Bowen is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, housed in the Department of Civil Engineering at California State University - Los Angeles. Her engineering education research focuses on structural oppression in engineering systems, organizing for equitable change, and developing an agenda of Engineering for the Common Good. She teaches structural mechanics and sociotechnical topics in engineering education and practice. Corey conferred her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in April 2021; her thesis included both technical and educational research. She also holds an M.S.E. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and a B.S.E. in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University, both in the areas of structural engineering and solid mechanics.
Oliver Jia-Richards University of Michigan [biography]

Oliver Jia-Richards is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, and received his Sc.D. in Space Propulsion and Controls from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests lie in the domain of space systems, with particular attention on the applications of electric propulsion devices and related technologies for space exploration.

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