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One of my interests is in improving ethics education of scientists and engineers. This involves curriculum development as one facet, including several case studies that integrate ethical issues within an Industrial Engineering or Operations Management context.
However, assessment is also important. We have developed several tools for use in assessing the impact of ethics education in science and engineering. We encourage others to use these tools in their pedagogical efforts and add to the knowledge base.
Many of these efforts are interdiscplinary, involving scientists or engineers collaborating with philosophy or public policy faculty. The efforts have also resulted in a Focused Research Proposal grant for a Center for Ethics and Technology, which is the Georgia Tech home for some of these activities. The website for the center is under development.
Case Studies (Cases and Notes available upon request)
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M. Drake, P. Griffin, and J. Swann (2004), “The Groundhog's New Clothes”, case study and teaching notes. (The case was selected as a Finalist in the 2004 Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS) case competition and as a Finalist for the 2007 Decision Sciences Institute Best Case Study Award .)
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This case integrates professional ethical dilemmas in the context of a quantitative production planning problem. The pedagogical objectives are for students to increase their awareness of ethical dilemmas, understand outcomes and trade-offs of the decisions, and develop the reasoning ability to justify a final solution to the situation while simultaneously practicing their optimization and modeling skills. The case was initially implemented in 2004 in 3 sections of ISyE 3104 (Supply Chain Modeling: Manufacturing Systems), ~120 students in all and has been used in other classes since.
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M. Drake, P. Griffin, and J. Swann (2005), “Keeping Logistics under Wraps”, case study and teaching notes. (The case was selected as a Finalist in the 2006 INFORMS case competition.)
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This case integrates ethical dilemmas such as contract agreements in the context of a logistics network design/mode selection problem. The case was initially implemented in ISyE 3103 (Supply Chain Modeling: Transportation and Logistics) in Fall 2005, ~50 students and has been distributed for use in other classes and universities.
Tools for Assessment (ESIT and TESSE tools available upon request)
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J. Borenstein, R. Kirkman, and J. Swann (2006), “Engineering and Science Issues Test (ESIT)”, Center for Ethics and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology.
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This test measures moral reasoning ability specifically applied to professional dilemmas in science and engineering.
This is the first tool of its kind in science and engineering. Tool was implemented in IRB-approved experiments in multiple classes on Georgia Tech campus (Fall 2005 – Summer 2006), with both written and electronic versions tested (about 300 students). More information is contained in the associated paper.
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J. Borenstein, R. Kirkman, and J. Swann (2006), “Test of Ethical Sensitivity in Science and Engineering (TESSE)”, Center for Ethics and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology.
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This test measures moral awareness, or sensitivity to whether ethical issues exist.
This is the first tool in science and engineering that is scaleable for large classes. Tool was implemented in an IRB-approved experiment in Spring 2007 (about 380 students).
Analysis of experimental results is currently underway.
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In initial efforts, we measured general moral reasoning with the Defining Issues Test-2, which is an existing assessment tool with decades of experimentation.
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