Assessing Engineering Students' Abilities to Resolve Ethical Dilemnas

ABET’s accreditation criteria provides addi-
tional impetus for preparing engineering graduates to act
in an ethically responsible manner.  However, methods to
assess the effectiveness of educational efforts to do this re-
main primitive at best.  We describe the first phase of a joint
study at the University of Pittsburgh and the Colorado
School of Mines to develop a measurement tool for assess-
ing students’ abilities to recognize and resolve ethical di-
lemmas.  Pre- and post-tests at the beginning and end of a
semester-long course focusing on engineering ethics are
used to assess students’ comprehension, analysis, and reso-
lution of ethical dilemmas.  Each test consists of two ethical
dilemmas addressed through a response essay that is then
holistically scored using a rubric that classifies students’
level of achievement.  Results are analyzed using statistical
methods to determine if any “shifts” have occurred to indi-
cate a significant positive change in the cohort’s collective
ability.  A second phase will involve the development of a
web-based assessment instrument similar to CSM’s Cogito
that can be easily used by engineering faculty.