2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Developing Critically-Conscious Aerospace Engineers through Macroethics Curricula: Year 3 (IUSE)

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

Ethics are one of the ABET Student Outcomes required by all undergraduate engineering programs. This education typically focuses on microethics, individual relations within the engineering profession. Common lessons consist of accident case studies focusing on individual professionalism, integrity, and technical due diligence. While discussions about microethics are necessary, at best they paint an incomplete picture of the ethical responsibility of engineers. At worst, they reinforce the pervasive myth that engineering is apolitical, which flings open the door for the accidental or purposeful design and use of engineering technology for harm to people and planet. Our design-based research project addresses this area of concern in engineering education, called macroethics, specifically centered on the discipline of aerospace engineering. We are undertaking integrated research and curriculum development to better understand students’ perceptions of macroethical issues in aerospace engineering and to develop curriculum specifically for engineering science courses that helps students build their ethical awareness. In this paper, we discuss our research on students’ perceptions of aerospace macroethics, specifically focusing on public welfare and campus militarism. We also present our aerospace macroethics curriculum development and discuss implementations in capstone design courses and orbital mechanics courses at two universities. Lastly, we conclude with future work yet to be completed under this NSF award.

Authors

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. His design-based research focuses on how to re-contextualize engineering science engineering courses to better reflect and prepare students for the reality of ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering practice. Current projects include studying and designing classroom interventions around macroethical issues in aerospace engineering and the productive beginnings of engineering judgment as students create and use mathematical models. Aaron holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Michigan and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to re-joining Michigan, 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.
Sabrina Olson University of Michigan [biography]

Sabrina Olson is an aerospace PhD pre-candidate at the University of Michigan. She holds degrees in both aerospace engineering and engineering management, and has taught as a lecturer at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. These experiences have led her to seek out a research pathway at the intersection of macroethics, space systems design, and engineering education. She is jointly advised by Dr. Oliver Jia-Richards and Dr. Aaron Johnson at the University of Michigan.

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