2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Assessing Students’ Understanding of Virtues and Ethics through Stories and Case Studies

Presented at Engineering Ethics Division (ETHICS) Technical Session 3

This research paper describes students’ understanding of virtues and ethics in an undergraduate engineering course. Prior research has shown that virtue ethics can help students find alignment between moral values and scientific or career values, which establishes the connection between virtues and engineering ethics. However, within the field of engineering ethics, currently only limited studies have been done on virtue-based character education in undergraduate engineering courses. In this study, we developed stories from traditional culture of different countries into weekly modules to help engineering students identify virtues present in the stories and make connections to engineering ethics. One of the stories that resonated the most with students was also developed into a pre-post assessment. Additionally, students were asked to apply the virtues they learned from stories when analyzing an engineering ethics case study. Preliminary findings from the pilot study in a capstone design course at a large public university in the US show that students are able to identify important virtues from stories and explain how the virtues are exemplified in the stories. Students also reflected on the virtues in the analysis of the engineering ethics case study. Results from course surveys suggest that students are engaged and interested in our approach. A qualitative analysis of students’ written responses also suggest that the stories help students with ethical decision-making. Our study will advance knowledge in the field of engineering ethics by investigating how stories from traditional culture help students understand engineering ethics and inform students’ ethical decision-making. The teaching modules developed in this study will also be useful resources for other engineering faculty who are interested in incorporating engineering ethics in their courses.

Authors

Olivia Kramer University of California, Riverside [biography]

Olivia Kramer is a fourth year undergraduate Computational Mathematics student minoring in Data Science at the University of California, Riverside.
Meera Vasishta University of California, Riverside [biography]

Meera Vasishta is a fourth year undergraduate Data Science student with a minor in Operations and Supply Chain Management at the University of California, Riverside.
Prof. Hsin-Ling Hsieh http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5604-2918 Northern Michigan University [biography]

Dr. Hsieh earned her Ph.D. in Economics at UCLA. Her fields of research are Labor and Demographic Economics, International Economics, and Economic Development. She has published research works in various journals. Her 2008 publication in Contemporary Economic Policy analyzed how National Health Insurance in Taiwan raised the probability of retirement among elderly workers lacking an adequate traditional “safety net.” Her 2015 coauthored publication in Demography, the flagship journal of the Population Association of America, measured the impact of National Health Insurance on intergenerational living arrangement in Taiwan. Dr. Hsieh is also interested in Cultural Economics. She is currently doing research about the effects of virtue-based education focusing on traditional culture in different countries.
Prof. Dena Plemmons University of California, Riverside [biography]

Dr. Plemmons is the Director of the Research Ethics Education Program at the University of California, Riverside. Her interests are in research on research integrity and curriculum development for integrity and leadership. She has consistently been funded, as PI and Co-PI, through NIH, NSF, and ORI for her research and curriculum development in research ethics, and investigations into common and best practices in areas of scientific practice, both nationally and internationally. She has served as Chair of the Executive Board of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, and is the former Editor in Chief of the SpringerNature journal Science and Engineering Ethics. She is an expert consultant to the National Center for Principled Leadership and Research Ethics, and in that capacity works on STEM-focused professional development programs.
Prof. Jiamin Zhang http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-2982-3417 University of California, Riverside [biography]

Jiamin Zhang received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara. After completing a postdoc in physics and engineering education at Auburn University, she joined the department of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of California Riverside as an assistant professor of teaching. Her teaching interests include fluid mechanics, soft matter, and engineering design. Her research focuses on developing assessments to measure problem-solving skills of students and incorporating virtue ethics in engineering education. She is also interested in understanding how students learn most effectively.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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