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Lecture: Ethics for High School Presented By: Craig Titus
Ethics and Engineering
Presented by:Carla Zoltowski
EPICS Education AdministratorEPICS High Workshop
July 11, 2012
Lecture: Ethics for High School Presented By: Craig Titus
Goals for Today1. Understand “Ethics” in practical language2. Understand “Professional Ethics”3. Have tools to engage students in learning
ethics4. Have a continuing resource to share
experiences
Your student design team has designed a new Soap Box Derby car that allows children with physical and cognitive disabilities to race by allowing an adult to ride in a backseat and maintain full control of the car. Based on suggestions from the adults, you have added spring tension to the child’s steering wheel in front in order to simulate the feeling of driving and make the child’s experience more realistic and fun. The child will not have the ability to control the car, only the illusion of control. Before the first test run with an adult and a 14-year-old child onboard you hear the child’s parent tell the child to “be careful” and to “drive safely.” The parent turns to you, explains that because of a cognitive disability the child likely won’t understand the difference anyway, and asks you to tell the child that the front steering wheel is actually functional. The request that you lie to the child would take advantage of the child’s disability and it creates the possibility that the child would feel responsible if they were to lose the race or have an accident.
Would you lie to the child? ___ Yes ___ Can’t decide ___ NoWhat are the ethical issues?
ETHICS: • The theory of how we ought to act. • The cohesive set of principles which guide &
evaluate behavior.• The rules of conduct recognized in certain
associations or departments of human life.• Organized in CODES or FRAMEWORKS
MORALITY:• Behavior conforming to accepted moral standards
Lecture: Ethics for High School Presented By: Craig Titus
Virtues Culture
Utility
ContractsRights
Etc.
Friends
Family
Sub-cultures
Partnerships
MORAL LANGUAGE
Right = Agrees with some standard or principle of moral correctness.
Wrong = Deviates from that moral standard.
Good actions = Likely to lead to your intended end (right actions).
Bad actions = Unlikely to lead toward your intended end.
Fact = Scientifically verifiable information about your situation.
Value = Personal opinion or belief.
Professional Ethics
The Attributes of a Profession:
Involves work that requires sophisticated skills, judgment, and discretion. The work is not capable of being mechanized.
Membership requires extensive formal education, not only field work or an apprenticeship.
Self Regulating: Members set standards of admission, conduct, and quality –– and enforce these standards.
Significant public good results from practice
Professionalism
Professionalism involves:oBeing competent in your discipline oTaking on an attitude of “life-long”
learning to enhance your technical knowledge and skills
Lecture: Ethics for High School Presented By: Craig Titus
Virtues Culture
Utility
ContractsRights
Etc.
Profession #1
Friends
Family
Profession # 2
Sub-cultures
Partnerships
Write ten words or statements that complete each of the following:
Good engineers always _________
Good engineers never ___________
Codes of Ethics
Codeso Codes of Ethics are systems of ethics written downo Individuals can have codeso (EPICS) teams can have codeso Professional societies have codeso Most companies have codes
• All codes will be slightly different, depending on what will lead to happiness in each context
• Example: EPICS team codes all differ depending on the students who made them
Professional codes of ethics Psychology:http://www.apa.org/ethics/code.html Educationhttp://www.nea.org/home/30442.htm Audiologyhttp://www.audiology.org/professional/aba/ethics.php Engineeringhttp://onlineethics.org/
Engineers shall:o 1. Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the
performance of their professional duties.o 2. Perform services only in the areas of their competence.o 3. Continue their professional development throughout their Careers.o 4. Act … as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of
interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest.o 5. Build their professional reputation on the merit of their services and
shall not compete unfairly with others.o 6. Associate only with reputable persons or organizations.o 7. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.o 8. Consider environmental impact in the performance of their
professional duties.
List at least 10 specific ethical guidelines that you believe should be followed by high school engineering students engaging in service-learning projects.
Professional codes of ethicsWhat a code of ethics does not do:
oProfessional codes of ethics do not cover all possible situations.
oProfessional codes of ethics do not replace the individuals capacity for moral reasoning and creativity.
How safe is safe enough?
SALUS POPULI SUPREMA LEX(The safety of the people is the highest law.)M. Tullius Cicero
This is a common sentiment found in descriptions of the engineering profession, especially in codes of ethics.
Is this a reasonable standard? E.g., what does a perfectly safe car look like?
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for.”
How do resolve this conflict between usefulness and safety?
Ethical Decision Making
Moral Decision Making
Moral Decision Making --- like designoStating the problem
• Stakeholders• Issues involved
oCheck factsoDevelop list of optionsoTest options
• Different frameworks/perspectives
oMake a choiceoFollow through!
Test Options Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:1. The Utilitarian Approach
o Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm?
2. The Rights Approacho Which option best respects the rights of all who have
a stake? 3. The Justice Approach
o Which option treats people as I want to be treated? 4. The Ethic of Care Approach
o Which option is best for those most in need?5. The Virtue Approach
o Which option leads me to act as a respectable person?
One definition of safety: Something is safe if the risks are judged to be acceptable.• Is this definition sufficient?
Risk: probability of danger, economic loss, or injury; product of likelihood and magnitude of harm.
Is this standard reasonable? What if we over- or underestimate risks?
How is this judgment about risk to be made? Engineers must insure users have reasonable idea of risks of technology.
Compare cars and airplanes. Many people think of flying as more risky, but it is not. Why?
Slide by M. Crane, Purdue University
What is safety?
Evaluation of Risk
How to assess safety and risk?General rules:1. Absolute safety is not available2. Increased safety has economic costs (primary)3. Decreased safety has economic costs (secondary)4. Both (2) and(3) may be in the form of opportunity
costs.
risk
cost
Low safetyHigh safety
TotalPrimary Secondary
Slide by M. Crane, Purdue University
Moral Decision Making
Moral Decision Making --- thinking about safetyoStating the problem
• Stakeholders• Issues involved
oCheck factsoDevelop list of optionsoTest options
• Different frameworks/perspectives
oMake a choiceoFollow through!
Moral Decision Making
Applying it to Soap Box Derby ProblemoStating the problem
• Stakeholders• Issues involved
oCheck factsoDevelop list of optionsoTest options
• Different frameworks/perspectives
oMake a choiceoFollow through!
Moral Reasoning Development (Kohlberg)o Pre-conventional:
• Focused on personal interesto Conventional:
• Emphasizing maintaining norms o Post-conventional:
• More agile perspective-taking• Ability to appeal to ideals that are shareable and non-
exclusive• Expectation for full reciprocity between laws and the
individual
Your project
What ethical issues do you need to consider regarding your project?
