Professional Ethics And Human Values(Unit I)

Ethics

Ethics: Code of conduct in upholding values

Profession

Form of work involving advanced expertise, self regulation and concerted service to the public good

Example: engineering, medical, teaching

Engineering Ethics

It is the study of the decisions, policies and values that are normally desirable in engineering practice and research

Engineering Ethics: Code of conduct for engineers in their professional lives

Ethical Theories Based on Philosophical Scholarship

Utilitarianism

Duty Ethics

Rights Ethics

Virtue Ethics

See Fleddermann, Engineering Ethics, pp 33-38

Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

Considers a balance of good & bad consequences for everyone affected (society)

Actions are good that serve to promote human well-being

Cost-Benefit analysis is an application

Consideration of most benefit to the most people outweighs needs of a few individuals

Duty Ethics Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

There are duties that should be performed (e.g.. Duty to treat others fairly or not to injure others) regardless of whether these acts do the most good or not.

Rights Ethics John Locke (1632-1704)

People have fundamental rights (like life, liberty, & property) that others have a duty to respect.

Virtue Ethics

Actions are considered right if they support good character traits (virtues) and wrong if they support bad character traits (vices)

Closely tied to personal honor

Integrity

Honesty (truthfulness) and the ability to do or know what is morally right

A person of great integrity

Dishonesty – example

Cheating – copying in exam

Fabrication – cooking up the lab experiment result (written)

Misrepresentation – lying about late coming (verbal)

Plagiarism – Using others work (intellectual) as one’s own with out giving due credit

Work Ethics

Ethical traits of employees in carrying out

work that is expected by employers:

Attendance

Character

Team work

Appearance

Attitude

Productivity

Organization skills

Communication

Cooperation

Respect

Professional Ethics And Human Values(Unit I)

Values – definition

Global beliefs that guide actions and judgment across a variety of situations – Milton Rokeach

Global beliefs about what is right and wrong, and what is most important in life

Values generally influence the behaviour of people

Values – determinants

Family factors

Parental love and affection

Social factors

Interaction with peers, teachers, religious, economic and political institutions in society

Personal factors

Intelligence

Ability

Appearance

Educational level

Values – Types

Theoretical - to gain knowledge

Economic – to accumulate wealth

Aesthetic – to enjoy beauty and harmony

Political – to gain power and influence people

Morals

Moral (values): Values in personal contexts (relationship with persons)

Professional Ethics And Human Values(Unit I)

Ethical Issues are Seldom Black and White

Conflicting demands:

Loyalty to company and colleagues,

Concern for public welfare,

Personal gain, ambition

Ethical standards are usually relative and personal, there is seldom an absolute standard

Root cause of project problems/failures

Un-acceptable behavior and actions of individuals

Root cause of behavior

Our behaviors or actions are most often a reflection of our values

Why We Need Values?

Thus, we need values to:

Guide for right decision

Inspire and motivate

Professional Ethics And Human Values(Unit I)

Moral Dilemmas

Kickbacks

An Engineer demanded 25% kickback in secret payments for highway work contracts he issued. In 1967, he made such an offer to Allan, a 32 year old civil engineer who was vice president of a young and struggling consulting firm greatly in need of the work. Allen discussed the offer with others in the firm, who told him it was his decision to make. Finally Allen agreed to the deal, citing his concern for getting sufficient work as a main reason to his employees.

Waste dumping

“On a midnight shift, a spoiled solution of sodium cyanide, a reactant in an organic synthesis, was temporarily stored in drums for reprocessing. Two weeks later, the day shift foreman could not find the drums. Roy, the plant manager, found out that the batch had been illegally dumped into the sanitary sewer. After investigation, he finds out that no apparent harm has resulted from the dumping.”

Should Roy inform government authorities, as is required by law in this kind of situation?

I have a wife and kids...

Older engineers, in particular, find job security in competition with ethical dilemma. I recall the dilemma of an older PE, approaching retirement, was confronted by a new GM of the plant in which the older PE was employed as a facilities engineer. For a plant expansion, the GM insisted that the PE reduce footings and structural steel specifications below the approved standards. The PE was told to choose between his job and his seal on the plans. Did he really have a choice?

Professional Ethics And Human Values(Unit I)

Why this subject?

We can see that engineers have a key role to play in the development of society. Their decisions affect the safety, health and welfare of people. They are frequently subjected to moral dilemmas in their profession. Understanding professional ethics helps to overcome those dilemmas and take the right decision for the benefit of the society.

Why this subject? – situation

A bridge was constructed 3 months back, collapses suddenly killing 30 school children in the bus.

Investigation reveals that the construction is of poor quality

Design norms were violated

Inferior materials used

Inspection report fabricated

Software piracy

Expense account padding

Copying of homework or tests

Income taxes

“Borrowing” nuts and bolts, office supplies from employer

Copying of Videos or CD’s

Plagiarism

Using the copy machine at work

DISRUPTING CLASS

In 2011, the weak economy that has bogged down the United States for the past two years will continue to propel online learning innovations in both K-12 and postsecondary education. Here are six trends to watch for in the new year:

1. Just under 40 percent of all U.S. postsecondary students will enroll in at least one fully online course this fall. The number has continued to grow year over year; in the fall of 2008, just under a quarter of students were taking at least one fully online course. In the fall of 2009, 29 percent of students did. Don’t expect this to slow down.

2. Public school budgets will continue to shrink, so more districts will do more business with online learning providers to fill in the gaps. Just as technology has made virtually every other sector in society more productive, the same will happen in K-12 education out of necessity. As the U.S. falls further behind other nations in educational achievement, doing less is not an option.

3. An increasing number of suburban schools will adopt online learning. In K-12 education, online learning has made its biggest impact to date in rural schools that cannot afford to offer breadth in their curriculum, as well as in credit recovery and dropout recovery programs in urban districts. This will change for two reasons. First, suburban schools feeling the pinch of tighter school budgets will jump on the online learning bandwagon out of necessity. Second, suburban parents will begin to see children in other suburban schools accelerate ahead of their peers thanks to online learning. What was formerly a group that prevented changes in education will begin to be a force for innovation. The full impact of this won’t be felt for a few more years, but the early signs will be increasingly visible in 2011.

4. Education entrepreneurs will create high-quality chartered schools that make use of online learning. They will do so by pioneering “blended-learning” schools, in which online learning is knit together with a supervised brick-and-mortar environment outside the home, so that they can scale faster—for less money and with better outcomes.

5. User-generated online content will begin to explode in education. The emergence and success of education rock stars like Sal Khan of the Khan Academy, which received a large grant from Google for its free online videos that teach math and science concepts,, will drive both growth and awareness of user-generated online content. The initial impetus for Khan was simple: he was trying to help his cousins with their homework, so he created the videos from home and posted them to YouTube. More will follow suit. Some Fortune 500 companies are already seeing dramatic savings by turning to user-generated learning content—with no tradeoff in the quality of outcomes.

6. Mobile learning, the subject of increasing hype in the United States, will make its impact in the developing world first. Roughly 70 million children worldwide do not have access to primary school. Over 200 million do not attend secondary school. In the countries and regions where this is the reality, mobile learning will offer education for people who historically have not had access to it.

Education UK 2011 Exhibition

Beat the queue and pre-register early for the Education UK 2011 Exhibition. The annual exhibition, organised by the British Council, is back next week. It will be held on Tuesday, January 25 from 1-7pm at the Sutra Hall, fourth floor of the Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong.

By pre-registering early, not only can visitors beat the queue on the day but one lucky visitor also stands a chance to win an iPod Touch while others may win cash vouchers throughout the exhibition time. Interested individuals can pre-register at http://bn.edukexhibitions.org/.

Some 22 British educational institutions will take part in the exhibition, offering advice and guidance on not only the course or subject but also fees, accommodation and other issues related to studying. Besides representatives from the exhibiting institutions themselves, various other experts will be on hand to offer advice.

Brunei Darussalam National Accreditation Unit representatives will be present to help with queries on the accreditation of courses. Staff of the Scholarship Unit, the Ministry of Education, will tie on hand to offer advice on MoE scholarships, as well as the Public Service Department for Brunei government's in-service officers. CfBT Education Services (B) Sdn Bhd will also be there.

The UK has so much to offer. UK qualifications are among the best accredited and respected by international employers, and the UK is also one of the most diverse and multicultural societies in the world -as thousands of Bruneians have already discovered. Apart from the exhibition, there will be four important seminars running alongside:

* 2.30 - 3.15pm - Succeed in IELTS - this seminar is designed to help future candidates enhance their knowledge and understanding of the IELTS test as proof of ability to follow studies in English is likely to become an important new
requisite in the visa process. The aim is to provide an overview of the exam, tips and
techniques for maximising one's potential;

* 3.30 - 4.15pm - Choosing the right course and the right institution - the chosen university and course of study can play a major role in the rest of one's life. This talk outlines the key differences between institutions in the UK and important elements to assess when choosing a degree course and institution. It will provide guidance on resources available to help one choose, and information to help make a strong application;

* 4.30 - 5.15pm - Writing Personal Statement - This is suitable for students beginning the difficult task of writing up the application for undergraduate study in the UK. Many of the UK's universities are now over-subscribed with international applications and are as such ever more selective in their choices. The personal statement (PS) is the main factor, beyond academic performance, that will determine if an offer is made or not. Knowing what to include in the PS and how to be selective in the information is crucial if applying to the top universities; and lastly

* 5.30 - 6.15pm - Applying to UK universities: Guide to parents - Designed to give parents all the necessary information to support their son or daughter with their choices and application to university or college. It also includes guidance on key decisions and the UCAS system, as well as provides useful information about the costs associated with going to university or college. For those in the Belait District and nearby areas, a similar exhibition will take place the day after, on Wednesday January 26 from 10.30am to 2:30pm at the Multipurpose Hall of SM Sayyidina Ali in Belait. Only 15 UK education institutions will take part on that day. For further enquiries, contact Cecile Dasal, Education Promotion Officer, British Council on 2237742 or 8735302.