Should physics students take a course in ethics?—Physicists respond

Abstract

As of this writing, there are few ethics courses available purely for physics students. The authors know of only two-the one taught by Marshall Thomsen at Eastern Michigan University, and one taught at Evergreen State College in Washington. Other courses are in development, as the idea/necessity is catching on, and many other more focused courses exist (e.g. on specific societal issues). One barrier to the development of such courses that has come to the authors' attention (and to the attention of others considering such a course) is the lack of a suitable textbook. The aforementioned grant was written, in part, to begin development of a textbook by holding an ethics workshop, the proceedings from which would become the basis of a text.

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“…Nevertheless, recent work in PER and the engineering education community has built scaffolding for incorporating ethics into the physics curriculum. A 1998 study found that, despite concerns about feasibility given departmental climate, support was strong among physicists in both academia and industry for inclusion of a mandatory or elective ethics courses into undergraduate and graduate physics education [27]. Eastern Michigan University's physics department has offered a successful course on ethical issues in physics since 1988 [28].…”

“…A 1998 study found that, despite concerns about feasibility given departmental climate, support was strong among physicists in both academia and industry for inclusion of a mandatory or elective ethics courses into undergraduate and graduate physics education [27]. Eastern Michigan University's physics department has offered a successful course on ethical issues in physics since 1988 [28]. More recently, PER researchers studied the impact of a 2-week unit on the development of the atomic bomb in a modern physics class on students' development and application of ethical principles, showing that many students apply productive approaches toward the development of ethical arguments and benefit from a strong scaffolding in ethical theory even if they sometimes struggle to correctly apply the theory [29].…”