Developing an Engaging Online Engineering Ethics Course for Future Engineers

What Is Ethics?

Of course, answering the question of ‘what is ethics’ becomes one of the most important concepts to address first in any ethics course (online or face-to-face) so that students fully embrace the material at hand and build self-efficacy within the topic. This becomes especially critical in an online environment where students seek to understand the importance of the material they study without the guidance of faculty present. Providing clear, easy to understand modules or pages (depending on the learning management system used and faculty preference) of the defined terms and concepts with examples has proven to be helpful to further engage students in the material.

Ethics, of course, has been defined by many, often in the context of social situations or interactions with others, and in relation to business. A common definition includes the distinction between right and wrong actions; and how we behave toward other people as well as how they behave toward us (Ghillyer, 2014). These definitions offer several thoughts toward ethics as a concept with regard to not only how we conduct ourselves within a business environment, but also in our daily lives, toward others as a behavior. But not only do we consider ourselves as isolated entities within these situations; we also often look at what others may be doing in reaction to the same situation, reflect back on how we were raised (influences), seek counsel with a religion or simply look to society for answers on what is the ethical or ‘right’ answer (Ghillyer, 2014). Relating ethics to students both personally and in their professional lives is helpful in their grasp of the concept.