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. 2017 Aug;23(4):1129-1157.
doi: 10.1007/s11948-016-9814-x. Epub 2016 Oct 17.

Engineering Student's Ethical Awareness and Behavior: A New Motivational Model

Diana Bairaktarova  1 , Anna Woodcock  2
Affiliations

Engineering Student's Ethical Awareness and Behavior: A New Motivational Model

Diana Bairaktarova et al. Sci Eng Ethics. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

Professional communities are experiencing scandals involving unethical and illegal practices daily. Yet it should not take a national major structure failure to highlight the importance of ethical awareness and behavior, or the need for the development and practice of ethical behavior in engineering students. Development of ethical behavior skills in future engineers is a key competency for engineering schools as ethical behavior is a part of the professional identity and practice of engineers. While engineering educators have somewhat established instructional methods to teach engineering ethics, they still rely heavily on teaching ethical awareness, and pay little attention to how well ethical awareness predicts ethical behavior. However the ability to exercise ethical judgement does not mean that students are ethically educated or likely to behave in an ethical manner. This paper argues measuring ethical judgment is insufficient for evaluating the teaching of engineering ethics, because ethical awareness has not been demonstrated to translate into ethical behavior. The focus of this paper is to propose a model that correlates with both, ethical awareness and ethical behavior. This model integrates the theory of planned behavior, person and thing orientation, and spheres of control. Applying this model will allow educators to build confidence and trust in their students' ability to build a professional identity and be prepared for the engineering profession and practice.

Keywords: Engineering ethics education; Ethical behavior; Ethical reasoning; Motivational model.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The theory of planned behavior. Adapted from Ajzen (1991)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
New model to predict ethical awareness and ethical behavior
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Spheres of control. Adapted from Paulhus (1983)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Person and thing orientation configurations of US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM majors by sex. I Generalists, II thing specialists, III non-specialists, IV person specialists Source: Graziano et al. (2012)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Concept map illustrating the connections between the basic concepts
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Alignment between the content, assessment, and pedagogy. Source: Bairaktarova and Evangelou (2011)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Bairaktarova, D., Cox, M., & Sravasvara, M. (2015). A project-based approach professional skills training in an undergraduate engineering curriculum. International Journal of Engineering Education, 31(1) (B).

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