2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In this paper, active learning strategies (role-playing) are employed to teach ethics to electrical engineering students for a holistic understanding of ethics violation and the moral responsibilities associated with seeking justice. An unconventional teaching method is explored that bridges the gap in applying ethical theory to case studies by enacting them. This approach enables students to understand the ethical dilemmas encountered in the profession and encourages them to seek support from authorized personnel rather than remaining bystanders. The research aims to empower students across various engineering programs to positively contribute to ethical responsibility by reevaluating their individual perceptions and embracing new perspectives for making moral judgements. The research outcome is evaluated based on a student survey collected over an academic year, which compares traditional teaching methods with active learning methods in terms of ethical understanding and team collaboration. The survey indicates that 92% of students strongly agree that learning ethics through role-playing leads to a better understanding of ethical responsibility, the impact of biased perceptions and social upbringing. Additionally, the survey suggests that to enhance students’ ethical awareness, a student-centered active learning workshop focusing on the NSPE and IEEE code of ethics would be more effective than quizzes or case studies assignments.