Assessing a Scaffolded, Interactive, and Reflective Analysis Framework for Developing Ethical Reasoning in Engineering Students

Abstract

Purdue University) examines organizing and communicative practices in sociotechnical contexts, particularly collaboration in engineering design teams, spatial and material influences on organizing, and gendered practices in technological settings. She has backgrounds in communication, human performance, and computer science, and over twenty years experience designing and supporting learning environments in academic settings. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (an Ethics in Science and Engineering project to develop frameworks for developing ethical reasoning in engineers, and a Cyberlearning project to develop collaborative design environments for engineers), and by corporate foundations, the Department of Homeland Security, Previously, we have demonstrated that ethical reasoning scores of engineering students increase significantly as a result of participating in our SIRA/RP courses. In this paper, we explore the research question: "Which characteristics of the SIRA approach contribute to changes in ethical reasoning." To assess our framework we designed a SIRA assessment scale that uses student reported ratings of effectiveness of the scaffolding, interactivity, and reflective analysis characteristics of the course. After pilot-testing and refinement, the 12-item scale and sub-scales were found to be highly consistent (α = .847). To determine which SIRA characteristics contributed to increased ethical reasoning scores we ran a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with satisfaction and SIRA efficacy scores as predictors. Controlling for GPA, course semester, and native language, we modeled pre-course satisfaction with the quality of ethics education and ethical concepts taught, and the SIRA subscales for scaffolding, interactivity, and reflectivity. The model was statistically significant in predicting ethical reasoning scores, accounting for 32% of the variance in the data. The strongest predictor was the reflectivity component of our framework (ß=.433), indicating that reflectivity elements of the course are significantly important to ethical reasoning change. We also analyzed student rankings of activities associated with the learning framework. Findings indicate that our integration of novel multimedia presentations of the case studies and the case study discussions were the two most important activities contributing to engagement, understanding, critical thinking, and guiding decision-making.These findings suggest that a coherent pedagogical framework grounded in reflexive principlism and emphasizing interactivity and reflectivity can effectively enhance the ethical reasoning of future engineers in a cyber-enabled delivery of just four cases, in as little as eight weeks. We contribute an evidence-based solution to address curricular needs of engineering ethics, and extend understanding of contributing factors to ethical reasoning development. ASSESSING SIRA FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING ETHICAL REASONING

The Development of Empathic Perspective‐Taking in an Engineering Ethics Course

“…This study investigates the potential causes of changes in the perspective‐taking of graduate‐level engineering students who participated in a pedagogical intervention designed to enhance their ethical reasoning abilities by exposure to and repeated application of the Reflexive Principlism approach (Beever & Brightman, ). The intervention was designed and grounded in the Scaffolded, Interactive, and Reflective Analysis (SIRA) framework (Kisselburgh, Hess, Zoltowski, Beever, & Brightman, ).…”

“…This study builds directly on our team's work (Hess, Kisselburgh, Zoltowski, & Brightman, ; Kisselburgh et al, ) by providing an in‐depth, qualitative exploration into how the specific features of an engineering ethics course promoted changes in perspective‐taking.…”

“…The course approach was designed based on a SIRA framework (Hess, Kisselburgh, et al, ; Kisselburgh et al, ). Table presents the sequential stage model of the SIRA framework.…”

“…These cases were presented to students in the following sequence: Case 1. Development and distribution of tissue engineered heart valves (see Merryman, 2008) Pedagogical framework The course approach was designed based on a SIRA framework Kisselburgh et al, 2016). Table 1 presents the sequential stage model of the SIRA framework.…”

Enhancing engineering students' ethical reasoning: Situating reflexive principlism within the SIRA framework

“…The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which an integrated approach of applying reflexive principlism (Beever & Brightman, ) within a structured pedagogical framework of scaffolded, interactive, and reflective analysis (SIRA, Kisselburgh et al, ) could be effective in developing ethical reasoning abilities and empathic perspective‐taking tendencies of engineering students. To test the effectiveness of this approach, this study was guided by the research question: “What are the impacts of introducing reflexive principlism grounded within the SIRA pedagogical approach on the development of graduate‐level engineering students' ethical reasoning?”…”