UNDERSTANDING THE INTERPRETATON, IMPLEMENTATION, AND IMPACT OF ENGINEERING ETHICS EDUCATION IN CANADA

Abstract

Engineers have direct influence on the evolving planet. With the fundamental goal of continually creating a better world, it is essential for engineers to meaningfully understand ethical responsibility and the impact of engineering on society and the environment [4, 15]. Although efforts have been made to identify the objectives of engineering ethics education (EEE), little has been done to thoroughly investigate the impact EEE is having on individuals’ ethical development [6, 7, 13]. Furthermore, there is a large level of uncertainty as to the amount of exposure students have to EEE between programs, as well as the variability of ethics content students experience as a result of diverse interpretation of EEE objectives. The amount of exposure and type of content students are exposed to will affect the impact EEE has on them and hence, it is important to evaluate these aspects of the current implementation of EEE in Canada. This paper will review literature regarding the current state of EEE within Canada and the objectives of EEE, as well as propose a study to investigate students’ experience with EEE throughout undergrad and the impact that engineering ethics education may have on their ethical behaviours within an engineering context.