Initiatives, experiences and best practices for teaching social and ecological responsibility in ethics education for science and engineering students

Børsen, Tom; Serreau, Yann; Reifschneider, Kiera; Baier, André; Pinkelman, Rebecca; Smetanina, Tatiana; Zandvoort, Henk

doi:10.1080/03043797.2019.1701632

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…It is suggested that "a quantum awareness or concepts course" on the undergraduate level, if possible in the first year, "to introduce students to the field early" would be beneficial [83] (p. 18), and that new courses are already being developed [84]. At the same time, it is recognized that the teaching of technical students on the 'social' aspects of technologies is lacking [85][86][87][88][89][90]. Techno-determinism and techno-optimism are recognized as biased forms of reporting within the STEM education literature [91][92][93][94], as is evident as well within statements such as "the need for quantum workforce and a well-educated society with knowledge and attitudes towards the acceptance of QT is imminent" [95] (p. 1).…”

Section: Education and Quantum Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, given that students have different interests [96], adding the 'social' might broaden the interest into quantum. The mapping exercises might counter the recognized problem that the teaching of technical students in 'social' aspects is lacking [85][86][87][88][89][90] and that techno-determinism and techno-optimism are recognized as biased forms of reporting within the STEM education literature [91][92][93][94], which also seems to be evident in quantum policy views on education, as evident from statements such as "the need for quantum workforce and a well-educated society with knowledge and attitudes towards the acceptance of QT is imminent" [95] (p. 1). It is suggested that "a quantum awareness or concepts course" on the undergraduate level, if possible in the first year "to introduce students to the field early" would be beneficial [83] (p. 18).…”

Section: Quantum Technologies and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Auditing the ‘Social’ of Quantum Technologies: A Scoping Review

Wolbring

2022

Societies

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Various phrases such as “social implications”, social impact” and “ethical, legal and social implications” are used to indicate the impact of a given scientific or technological advancements on the ‘social’. The impact on the ‘social’ is one focus of science and technology governance discussions. Many terms and phrases can be used to audit the engagement of a given technology (such as quantum technologies) with the ‘social’. Marginalized groups are particularly impacted by the ‘social’. Equity, Diversity, and, Inclusion (EDI) and similar phrases are part of discussing the ‘social’. EDI frameworks and phrases are employed as policy concepts to decrease the research, education, and general workplace problems members of marginalized groups such as women, Indigenous peoples, visible/racialized minorities, disabled people, and LGBTQ2S+ encounter at universities and other workplaces. How quantum technologies-focused discussions engage with the ‘social’ can impact EDI activities, and quantum technologies-focused discussions can be impacted in turn by EDI activities. The objective of this study was to map the engagement with the ‘social’ in the quantum technologies-focused academic literature. A scoping review coupled with a manifest coding approach was used to answer three research questions: (1) Which terms, phrases, and measures that can be seen to cover aspects of the ‘social’ are present in the quantum technologies-focused academic literature? (2) To what extent are EDI frameworks and phrases present in the quantum technologies-focused academic literature? (3) Which marginalized groups visible in EDI discourses are covered in the quantum technologies-focused academic literature? Using the academic databases SCOPUS, EBSCO-HOST, Web of Science, Compendex, Inspec Archive, and Knovel, 362,728 English language abstracts were obtained for the manifest coding using 62 Quantum-related technical phrases and 1062 English language abstracts were obtained using 17 non-technical Quantum-related phrases. Within the 362,728 abstracts of the 200 terms and phrases (which did not have to contain the term “social”) used to answer the research questions, 87 were not mentioned in any abstracts, 47 were mentioned in less than 10, 30 were mentioned in between 10 and 100, and 29 were mentioned in over 100 abstracts. Within the 1062 abstracts, 164 terms and phrases were not mentioned at all, 19 were mentioned in over 10, 8 were mentioned in between 10 and 100 (all false positive), and one was mentioned in over 100 abstracts (false positive). The term “social” or phrases containing “social” appeared in only 867 of the 362,728 abstracts and only 10 of the 1062 abstracts. EDI frameworks and phrases were not present in the 362,728 abstracts and 1062 abstracts, and many marginalized groups engaged with in EDI discussions were not present in the 362,728 and 1062 abstracts either. The results reveal vast opportunities to engage with the ‘social’ of quantum technologies in many different ways, including through EDI frameworks and concepts and by engaging with marginalized groups covered under EDI.

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Section: Education and Quantum Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quantum Technologies and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auditing the ‘Social’ of Quantum Technologies: A Scoping Review

Wolbring

2022

Societies

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“…2.1.2. Goals oriented towards stakeholders Another goal is raising awareness of the perspectives of different stakeholders (Haws 2001;Beever & Hess, 2016;Dempsey, Stamets, and Eggleson 2017;Bowe 2018, 2019;Børsen et al 2021;Herkert, Borenstein, and Miller 2020). According to Haws (2001, 227), case instruction needs to facilitate students' understanding of engineering outcomes from the perspective of the larger community.…”

Section: Goals Of Engineering Ethics Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using case studies in engineering ethics education: the case for immersive scenarios through stakeholder engagement and real life data

Martin

Conlon

Bowe

2021

Australasian Journal of Engineering Education

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Our contribution is part of a broader study conducted in cooperation with the national accreditation body Engineers Ireland that examined the conceptualisation and education of ethics in engineering programmes in Ireland. The paper is a qualitative examination of the use of case studies in engineering ethics education and includes 23 engineering programmes from 6 higher education institutions in Ireland. The qualitative study aims to determine (RQ1) how cases are selected, (RQ2) the goals envisioned for engineering ethics case instruction, (RQ3) the characteristics of the scenarios employed and (RQ4) the preferred application by instructors. A first finding notes the diverse set of goals and application of ethics case studies. The focus is more on decision-making in professional contexts and less on power relations, equity and the broader societal mission of engineering. The second finding highlights the discrepancy between how instructors employ cases and their preferred application. Engineering ethics cases typically include individualistic, hypothetical and historical scenarios. Nevertheless, instructors favour immersive cases set in real or realistic contexts of practice, containing factual or real-time data, which can provoke students to reflect on broader ethical issues. Considering this aspirational discrepancy, we conclude with recommendations that can guide the development of engineering ethics case instruction.

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“…Yet information about how to teach ethics is seldom a part of instructor training, even though the inclusion of socio-environmental factors into science education has been shown to increase students' motivation for and enjoyment of their studies (Herreid, et al, 2012;McKim, 2010;Steele, 2016). Education in STEM disciplines is needed for discipline-specific ethics (Børsen et al 2020;van den Hoven, 2016), and case studies have long been employed for that purpose (Barden et al, 1997). Practitioners justify teaching ethics through case studies with a range of different rationales, including that 'there are ethical land mines everywhere' and 'many scientists act or speak as if they bear no responsibility for the use of their discoveries-as if their job is to uncover the secrets of the universe irrespective of the consequences' (Herreid et al, 2012, p. 268).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimistic Fiction as a Tool for Ethical Reflection in STEM

Hansen

2021

J Acad Ethics

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Greater emphasis on ethical issues is needed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The fiction for specific purposes (FSP) approach, using optimistic science fiction texts, offers a way to focus on ethical reflection that capitalizes on role models rather than negative examples. This article discusses the benefits of using FSP in STEM education more broadly, and then explains how using optimistic fictions in particular encourages students to think in ethically constructive ways. Using examples of science fiction texts with hopeful perspectives, example discussion questions are given to model how to help keep students focused on the ethical issues in a text. Sample writing prompts to elicit ethical reflection are also provided as models of how to guide students to contemplate and analyze ethical issues that are important in their field of study. The article concludes that the use of optimistic fictions, framed through the lens of professional ethics guidelines and reinforced through ethical reflection, can help students to have beneficial ethical models.

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Initiatives, experiences and best practices for teaching social and ecological responsibility in ethics education for science and engineering students

Abstract: Zandvoort (2021) Initiatives, experiences and best practices for teaching social and ecological responsibility in ethics education for science and engineering students,

Cited by 22 publications

References 30 publications

Auditing the ‘Social’ of Quantum Technologies: A Scoping Review

Auditing the ‘Social’ of Quantum Technologies: A Scoping Review

Using case studies in engineering ethics education: the case for immersive scenarios through stakeholder engagement and real life data

Optimistic Fiction as a Tool for Ethical Reflection in STEM

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