Tecnoetica: Inclusion and Assessment of the Ethical Competence in Engineering Final Degree Projects

Abstract

Ethics is taking a relevant role in this 21st century, in most cases going hand in hand with scientific-technological advances and the social and cultural implications. However, to date, the evidence on which a university in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) can rely to incorporate the ethical perspective in the educational curriculum successfully is still scarce. To increase the body of knowledge in engineering ethics, this article presents and evaluates the initiative called ’Tecnoetica’ implemented at the University of Deusto, Spain. This initiative proposes to include training in ethical principles, dilemmas, and issues from a holistic and participatory standpoint in which lecturers and students are involved. Because of the initiative, an evaluation rubric is presented as the main contribution from which other centers, universities and/or faculties can benefit.