Last week, I presented the Routledge Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education at a World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development conference in Krakow.
Today, I get to share it via a presentation to the All-Ireland Architectural Research Group (AIARG).
Below is a synopsis of what I’ll say in my 15-minute presentation to the architecture educators today.
This handbook is a product of the global engineering education research community and the ethics special interest group within the European Society for Engineering Education, known as SEFI.
The engineering education research community considers architecture to be a field of engineering and welcomes participation of architects. They are highly engaged in pedagogical research and in implementing innovation active learning methods. That said, engineering education has historically been more compartmentalized and positivist than architecture education.
I identify first and foremost as an architect and teacher of architecture students and I have been welcomed warmly by this community since I moved to Ireland in 2012. I welcome you to join us!
Today, I’m here to tell you about a new handbook our ethics group has developed that can serve as a resource for you. I hope it will inspire you to draw some new ideas into the education you deliver.
The book was a community effort, with six editors and 99 other authors from all around the world. This map shows where our authors have lived and worked.
We’re working hard to hear and learn from voices outside the areas most active in engineering education research—here you can see the concentrations of activity in engineering ethics education.
We six editors paid for open access so anyone in the world can download the book for free. The QR code below will bring you to the download page, or just click https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003464259/routledge-international-handbook-engineering-ethics-education-shannon-chance-tom-b%C3%B8rsen-diana-adela-martin-roland-tormey-thomas-taro-lennerfors-gunter-bombaerts
So what’s in the book of relevance to an architecture educator? What can you learn? What opportunities do you see for applying or adding to the content? Would you want to create a parallel text for architects? Would you want to join this community of education researchers?
This comprehensive compendium of the state-of-the-art of literature on engineering ethics education is divided into six sections. Most of these have something of interest to architects.
The first section discusses foundations such as ethical theories and the role of professional organization and their codes in helping define and uphold ethics. How we do this as individuals and communities is discussed. Environment and AI are also covered here in the first section.
Section two delves into interdisciplinary perspective that inform ethics and how we think about ethics in engineering and built environment. We discuss philosophy, sociology, decolonization, and critical theory, psychology and moral development, engineering design, law, and the like.
Section three touches on five overarching fields of engineering, with the first chapter on civil engineering holding the most relevance for architects. The areas of focus vary quite widely across the disciplines. Even as an architect, I found reading the entire set fascinating.
Section four on teaching methods can be extremely helpful for any educator wanting to integrate ethics into the modules they teach. We look at case studies, problem- and challenge-based learning, value-sensitive design, humanitarian engineering, arts-based, reflective and dialogical approaches. These aren’t mutually exclusive and as an architecture teacher, I combine these methods daily.
Assessment is perhaps the most challenging topic in the book. What are we seeking to assess in students with regard to ethics? How can we gauge students’ ethical competencies? What is the role of values, of culture?
The final section, on accreditation, is not as confined to engineering as you might expect. It critiques the increasingly globalized approach to education promoted by engineering accreditation bodies and global accords seeking to align engineering practices globally. The section questions whose voices get heard, whose have been ignored, and what we might be overlooking. We look at the history of ethics accreditation, how various cultures define what students should be able to demonstrate (social justice appeared in only Columbia’s documents of 12 countries studied). We end the book with a fascinating critical feminist standpoint analysis and a critique of how to personalize entities education to fit the local context.
Our engineering ethics education community welcomes you to get involved with us in applying and extending the contents of this book.
On behalf of TU Dublin, on March 24-26, I’m hosting an Ethics Spring Symposium about the book in Dun Loaghaire. You’re welcome to join us for a day or more. Just ask me for more info.
