Virtue and Engineering Ethics - A Pilot Study

Kenneth McDonald

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: EMD Technical Session 1: Captstone, Ethics, and Statistical Methods
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41851
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/41851
Download Count: 261

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Paper Authors

biography

Kenneth McDonald United States Military Academy

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Dr. Kenneth McDonald is a Professor of Engineering Management, Department of Systems Engineering, West Point. His academic focus is on capacity development, planning, and consequence management. He also studies engineering ethics and how it applies in today’s complex world. Dr. McDonald has authored and co-authored over 50 technical publications to include book chapters and refereed publications on infrastructure, capacity development, geotechnical engineering, engineering management, value modeling and ethics. He is also co-author of the recently published book “Pursuing the Honorable – Reawakening Honor in the Modern Military”. During his 28 years as an Engineer officer in the US Army he deployed throughout the world numerous times with his last deployment to Afghanistan in 2010. As an academic, Dr. McDonald has served as Engineering Management Program Director, the Director of the Center for Nation Reconstruction and Capacity Development, and Deputy Department Head in the Department of Systems Engineering, United States Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1985 with a BS in Civil Engineering. He earned Masters in Geography; City and Regional Planning; Environmental Engineering; Information Systems Management; and Ethics. He also has a PhD in Geological Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE), a Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified Professional in Engineering Management (CPEM), and a Certified Planner (AICP). He is a Fulbright Scholar and has worked projects for the Ministry of Education, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kosovo.

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Abstract

How to teach a student to be a technical engineer, regardless of discipline, is well known, understood, and vetted; however, the same does not hold true for teaching students to be ethical engineers. New approaches to teaching engineering ethics range from limited to nonexistent. This paper builds upon prior research with a pilot study to test the potential of implementing a new approach to teaching engineering ethics. A pilot study was conducted that took volunteers through a program which exposed students to virtue education, journal exercises, and reminder techniques to generate a greater awareness of virtue in their daily lives. The intent of the study was to enhance the student’s awareness of virtue in hopes that this exposure would enable the student to be more effective in understanding engineering ethics without necessarily relying on a professional code as a mechanism for ethical behavior. The results of the study are currently being analyzed but there are indications that the approach had positive results in making the students more aware of virtue and how virtue as a mechanism for ethical behavior is effective. There are also indications that “perceiving” the need for ethical decision making was increased. Students benefited from the exercise and indicated that they understand that virtue is an effective driver for ethical behavior.

Citation
Format

McDonald, K. (2022, August), Virtue and Engineering Ethics - A Pilot Study Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41851