LCC 3403 NSF Grant Proposal on STEM Ethics at Georgia Tech Instructor: Dr.

Amanda Madden Submitted by: Melissa Holmes Jeremy Wetherford Philip Ko Kevin Kwon Trang Tu

PROJECT SUMMARY Overview We propose a curriculum that encourages active participation that utilizes the input of working professionals. Our curriculum has several features that aim to increase its effectiveness: The course will be major-specific to account for the varying STEM fields and their respective ethical dilemmas. We want every student to have an equal and ample opportunity to achieve each of the specified outcomes/goals of the curriculum (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). By creating various classes where it is major-specified, each student will have his/her own ethical dilemmas related to his/her own field to work through. A dynamic classroom environment that gears student focus towards learning rather than grades. One of the main problems with a curriculum focused on grades according to Stanford University panelists is that there is a social pressure put on students to prize high grades over education and other values, including creativity and imagination (Palmer, 2005). Furthermore, high levels of stress and anxiety are results from trying to obtain this high grade. This curriculum is intended to deviate away from all of these conflicts listed in order for students to implement their imagination and creativity to obtain the courses goals (Kim, 2014). Projects that simulate real-world ethical situations in order for students to be prepared to act in an ethical manner in industry. A project-based, real world problems provide learning that is superior to the traditional algebra at age nine, Civil War at ten, Great Expectations at eleven sort of structure (Curtis 2001). We want all students to be able to go out into the real world and be fully armed and prepared to take on any challenges that they may come across. To accomplish these goals, we intend to inform undergraduate students of ethical practices in their respective STEM field. We intend to use simulations to model real-world ethical situations, allowing students to get valuable ethical experience. According to Bruce Alberts, a professor at Emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco and a former president at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Project-based learning gives everybody a chance to sort of mimic what scientists do (Curtis 2001). We will teach students to address current issues with present STEM ethics education system, also propose solutions to issues using case studies to illuminate consequences of poor ethical practices in engineering (and discuss potential solutions that could have averted the situation). We will incentivize students to sign up for the course by advertising the relaxed environment and small class size, and well as the convenience of not having written tests to study for. The reason why we implemented a small class size is because it is an integral to this individualization: Teachers should be responsible for a smaller number of students so that they can get to know each student and his or her learning preferences (Wasley, 2002). With

larger classes, this just isnt possible, due to the fact that it takes time in order to learn a students individualization learning experience (Wasley, 2002). Intellectual Merit Our plan to redesign the Georgia Tech ethics curriculum will advance the Georgia Tech community and alumnis intellectual basis by addressing ethical issues that are related to our areas of study. Through our delivery of different interactive modalities of education, students will get industrial knowledge on ethical situations. The knowledge gained from our curriculum will provide a good ethical foundation in the field to our students that will be transferable to the industry. Broader Impact We expect this project to contribute to knowledge by demonstrating new ways to engage students in ethics education environments while also addressing the critical need to strengthen the understanding and implications of ethics in the STEM fields. Our proposed overhaul to the Georgia Tech STEM ethics curriculum will result in a broad impact on the Georgia Tech community and the communities of graduates of this proposed program. By participating in active simulations and performing case studies, students will become more aware of how to behave ethically in a professional setting, leading to fewer design flaws due to poor ethical practices. Furthermore, the dynamic classroom setting experiment will allow for us to gauge its effectiveness in other potential settings outside the area of ethics. We want our faculty members to not only collect data from students about their perceptions to the course and curriculum, but we also want the faculty to use this information to improve the curriculum/course for the future (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION Vision and Goals Strong ethical practices in the engineering industry are vital for progression. However, the current STEM ethics curriculum does not foster proper ethical habits in the students, resulting in potential ethical malpractices. Several majors are not required to take an ethics course, allowing students to be oblivious of ethical standards in their respective fields. Therefore, we propose a drastic overhaul of the current STEM ethics curriculum in order to raise the standard for ethical practices in the industry. We propose the following: a 15-week, 4-credit hour course consisting of 3 hours of standard class time and a 1-hour lab/recitation period per week that is major-specific to each STEM field. Additionally, we intend to create a dynamic classroom environment with less of a focus on grades and more emphasis on active participation in ethical dilemmas. We do not want students to spend a lot of time passively listening to lecture (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). By taking a more active approach to the teaching of STEM ethics, we believe students are not only increasing their awareness of proper ethical practices, but also cultivating their communication skills by being active participants in the classroom. Furthermore, real world applications will also create more motivation in students to finish the assignments and the course, due to active participation throughout the course (Curtis, 2001). Next, we will discuss the justification of our vision, our proposed dynamic classroom environment, and opportunities for STEM ethical learning. From there, we will explain our foundational research questions. Justification Our vision is to create a major-specific STEM ethics curriculum that results in a more ethically aware workforce in the industry by introducing an active take on the modern classroom. As opposed to the standard of quizzes and exams, our course design replaces these with more active components such as in-class simulations of ethical situations, case studies of unethical conduct, and in-class discussions/debates on ethical issues. According to University of Delaware Center for Teaching and Learning, Students stay interested and learn more from class when teachers use many different techniques to involve them in the learning process (2013). Furthermore, these components will cultivate interpersonal skills in addition to reinforcing strong ethical standards, which are crucial traits for any STEM professional. Active learning and participation serves two main purposes: it creates a dynamic classroom environment, where students will have a voice, and it allows students to view teachers as people who are flexible enough to take risks in the classroom (2013). Being able to take risks without having to worry about achieving a high or satisfactory grade will encourage students to take risks, which may bring new ideas and innovations to each individual's mind so he /she may implement it into the course and/or real life applications.

Dynamic Classroom Environment Whereas the stereotypical course revolves around technical assignments in addition to quizzes and exams, our proposed curriculum offers a stark contrast. Ethics course students will complete 2-3 mini-projects or case studies involving scenarios in which the student group will analyze an ethical situation that has occurred in the past and present their solution to the class. These projects will represent common STEM communication challenges in the global workplace, which typically involve group work and group decisions. There will also be weekly 30-minute debates, where the class is split into two groups, each with an opinion to discuss on each side of a chosen ethical dilemma. These debates will be dynamic and students will be required to actively participate in the debates in order to succeed in the course. The classroom environment will also contrast with the typical classroom structure because there will be no exams. However, the midterm and final will be replaced with a fifteen to twenty minute interview conducted by Teaching Assistants and the Instructor. At the beginning of the semester, we will ask each student to write a short essay defining ethics and at the end we will review this paper with them and discuss if their opinions or thoughts on the subject matter have changed. STEM Ethics We believe the classroom environment we will create is particularly suited to the needs and challenges for STEM ethics education in the 21st century, where the environment is shifting to a multicultural and diverse society. According to Joe Savrock, the writer of this article, Ethics training also is important at the college level because it provides students with a set of values that they can eventually carry into the workplace (Savrock, 2007). We want every student to be equipped with a well-rounded set of skills, creativity, and advantage over other counterparts, such as employees working towards the same job. Our proposed project provides a unique experience for STEM students to extend their ethics education, offering communication-rich, real-life experiences for all of the course participants. Furthermore, it will provide students ethics training where this societys environment is becoming more diverse and multicultural (Savrock, 2007). We theorize that active participation in the classroom and recitation will further the students ethical education beyond what could be achieved from a standard lecture-based course. Foundational Research Questions At the core of our proposed curriculum are two foundational research questions that focus on ethics as key to STEM learning and success in the professional practice of the students enrolled in the course. Context for ethics education. How does the course prepare STEM students to become productive and ethical members of society, both within the United States and Globally? The design of our course creates a space that allows STEM field participants to learn and practice ethical situations in a dynamic learning environment. This further prepares the students for the ethical dilemmas and

situations that they will encounter as the graduate and move on to be leaders in the STEM fields globally. Efficacy of dynamic classroom environment. How will the effectiveness of the dynamic classroom environment be measured? We will measure the effectiveness by comparing data gathered from our professionals interview responses to our students interview responses. Each question will elicit certain responses and topics, and we will evaluate the student based on how closely responses from both parties match. Our proposed project offers a stark contrast to the traditional learning environment. Students will interact more completely than they would in a traditional classroom environment. A dynamic learning environment will be created through group-based ethics learning involving 2-3 mini-projects for the case studies, participation in the weekly interactive thirty minute debates, and completing midterm and final interviews with the Teaching Assistants and Professor.

The Innovation Our proposed curriculum offers a unique approach to the teaching of STEM ethics. By developing a system that relies more on the active participation and collaboration of students rather than the standard of individual technical assignments, we believe that students will become more focused on learning sound ethical practices as opposed to earning grades. Furthermore, we intend to ensure the content of the course stays up-to-date through feedback from professionals in the field after each semester. The case studies and simulations will come from up-to-date global ethical issues for the respective major. Although we hypothesize that our curriculum will be effective, STEM-specific ethics education is a relatively unexplored field and we know relatively little about what characterizes a successful STEM ethics educational course. While ethics courses are necessary, many issues still need to be worked out. At present, because of the diverse population of the students of Georgia Tech, we would be implementing this course involving students from all around the globe, many of which do not have the same ethical views as Americans. According to a Penn State researcher, As American society becomes increasingly diverse, instructors of ethics courses must consider an emerging concern (Savrock, 2007). That specific concern is the diverse culture of the students and environment (Savrock, 2007). Because of the different views of many ethical issues around the world, students may not come to an agreement or resolution during their case studies and simulations. Course Design Our proposed project involves a fifteen week four hour major course, which includes a 3hour lecture section and a 1-hour recitation period in which students will do labs, simulations, or attend a variety of outside ethics lectures. Each college major will have their own course. This section defines the basic course objectives, structure, and assignments of the proposed course.

Course Objectives In our proposed course, we intend to educate students of STEM professional ethical practices for each respective major, as well as allow students to explore different aspects of the STEM fields. We will use simulations to model real-world ethical dilemmas, allowing students to get hands-on experience. We will train students to address current issues with present STEM ethics education system, also propose solutions to issues using case studies to illuminate consequences of poor ethical practices in engineering. We will also discuss and implement potential solutions that could have averted the situation. We will incentivize students to sign up for the course by advertising the relaxed environment and small class size, and well as the convenience of not having written tests to study for. Practicing in lab as well as cooperating with school partners projects will further enhance students knowledge. Course Structure The 15-week ethics course will include introductory lectures to the course, guest speakers from relevant fields, simulations training students on real-life ethical issues, as well as miniprojects involving scenarios in which the student group must present their solution to the class. We will also structure some class time around splitting the class into groups and having ethical debates. The class sizes will be small, with room for 20-30 students per section. As a result of this course structure, students enrolled in the ethics classes at Georgia Tech will have the individualized attention afforded in their small, face-to-face classes. Course Assignments Ethics course students will complete 2-3 mini-projects or case studies involving scenarios in which the student group will analyze an ethical situation that has occurred in the past and present their solution to the class. These projects will represent common STEM communication challenges in the global workplace. There will also be weekly thirty-minute debates, where the class is split into two groups, each with an opinion to discuss on each side of a chosen ethical dilemma. There will be no exams, and the midterm and final will be a 15 to 20 minute interview conducted by Teaching Assistants and the Instructor. At the beginning of the semester, we will ask each student to write a short essay defining ethics and at the end we will review this paper with them and discuss if their opinions or thoughts on the subject matter have changed. All ethics participants will be expected to engage in the following activities: Listen to course lectures and read course materials Complete 2-3 mini-projects for the case studies Participate in the weekly interactive thirty minute debates Complete midterm and final interviews Research Plan Discussion of our research plan includes our study design, key outcomes, sample size, study settings and target populations, and data collection.

Study Design Would propose method for study design is to retrieve first hand knowledge from the students through the use of one on one interaction. Our proposed study design has been tailored to help receive as much critical feedback through the students demonstration of knowledge. Through classroom monitoring of activities and in person interviews, we can assess each students knowledge of STEM ethics. We will assess their knowledge and compare it to industry standards. Through previous studies, respondents may not feel encouraged to provide accurate, honest answer (Wyse, 2012). Furthermore, if a survey asks a question that may present the respondent(s) in an unfavorable manor, then the respondent(s) may not feel comfortable providing the answers in truth (Wyse, 2012). We have found that surveys and questionnaires prove to be ineffective at measuring validity. Participants that use surveys tend to rush through it or passively complete the questions (Wyse, 2012), which may result in inaccurate data and/or information. Initially, we will formulate interview questions and activities based off of top tier ethical individuals within the industry, and make sure their peers and co-workers within the industry can appropriately respond to our STEM centered questions. Professionals in different industries will test the questions and activities designed for the Georgia Tech curriculum prior to the start of the semester. The responses and answers provided by experienced professionals will provide basic standard, which we will use to compare to our students at Georgia Tech. Key Outcomes With our study design we will provide students with not only standard STEM ethic practices, but we will provide them with up to date practical real world situations. Since the world is constantly changing and best practices are always evolving, we hope that this study design will evolve simultaneously to continuously fit the need of different areas of the industry. Sample Size Our sample size will be determined by: Students enrolled in the class The number of professionals that help to structure the course materials Professors able to instruct the class Classroom availability Study Settings and Target Populations Our study will be based off of a classroom setting in an engineering type major. The target audience for this type of setting is the STEM students at Georgia Tech. Data Collection Throughout our project, we plan to collect the following data: Demographic data

 Post-course survey data Student network data Interview data and reflections Overall Course Goals We want this curriculum to be consistent with our main objective. We also want this course to flow smoothly for when the topic of the course transitions from one to another. We want the curriculum to allow each student to achieve the main objective(s) for this class and also to reinforce students understanding and knowledge of ethical standards. Descriptions for course curriculum will be in a simplified and understandable language for all students, faculty members, and other users. Monitoring the Quality of the Course/Curriculum There will be simulations and debates during lecture, which will be announced ahead of time in order for students to prepare for it. We hope that these simulations and debates will provide be treated as diverse methods in order to test the students in order to engage the students in the program(s) while trying to reach the desired outcomes. These assessments will provide a variety of techniques that the students will adapt, achieve, and implement into future assignment(s)/project(s). There will be no final; however, there will be an interview at the end of the course in order to see/record any changes or skills that the student(s) adapted during the course. The main goal for this interview is to ensure that the curriculum provides students with knowledge, attitudes, skills, etc. that are described in the course goals. There will be a monthly routine where professors will check up on the students grades to make sure that they are up-to par with the current course load. Extra assignments will be given to those who are not par with the grade/level at which the curriculum requires (par grade requirement will be announced during the beginning of the course). In order to further improve the quality of the course for the future, professors will record and collect data throughout the term of the course. Information such as students opinions, grades, assessments, etc. will all be recorded (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). Education Process We hope that the design of the curriculum will help employ to help students adapt to the course and learn new materials, eventually reaching the courses specified outcomes. This curriculum will provide each student the equal opportunity to reach the specified outcomes. Each student will have the fair opportunity to apply to important issues, situations regarding conflicts, skills, and attitudes in order to reach the intended outcomes (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). We provide speakers and assignments where the students will be able to do the work instead of listening to lectures constantly. This will help students apply their knowledge to real world applications due to the fact that they actually did the work, instead of just listening to traditional, boring lectures.

Other assignments will be provided in order to consistently actively involve the students in activities that will enhance and augment their learning and understanding of the course and the courses objectives. A very detailed syllabus and couple lectures during the beginning of the course will be provided in order to allow students to completely understand/grasp the purpose, structure, and outline of the curriculum. If a student has a question, we encourage him/her to ask any faculty/professor in order to help the student understand these aspects of the curriculum. The curriculum/course will also provide academic advising, extra lecture sessions, and developmental programs outside of class in order for each student to have the opportunities to catch up with anything that he/she has missed. Furthermore, we want these sessions/programs to provide students with a method to allow the students to grasp the specified goals/outcomes of the curriculum with greater ease (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). We also want to provide any assistance to students so that they will be able to complete the curriculum in a timely manner; moreover, we not only want them to finish in a timely manner, but we also want them to complete the curriculum with a full understanding and achievement of the goals/outcomes of the curriculum. Post-Course Analysis Faculty/professors will record the number of students who enrolled in the course and how many actually stayed throughout the entire course until the end. This will provide information as to whether or not the program is attracting an adequate number of students to the course. If not, then they will provide information and analysis as to why there was not an adequate number of a student; furthermore, new plans and incentives will be provided for the students in order for them to stay/enroll in the course (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). Data of the completion rate for the course will also be recorded in order to make sure that the program is running at full efficiency that is not only cost-efficient, but efficient in a way meaning that there will not be many (or any) students who will not pass the course. If there are any dropout/failure throughout the course, then the possible problems will be recorded and these problems will be addressed in a way so that problems like these will not occur in the future (Diamond & Gardiner, 2000). There will be exceptions to where students will be able to turn their failed grade into pass grade at the end of the curriculum, if they are able to prove to their instructor(s) that they reached the courses outcomes/goals all in the final interview. The interview at the end of the course will demonstrate/provide information and details about whether or not the students found this curriculum useful. Furthermore, new skills and information achieved throughout this course from the students will be recorded in order to gain data and information to improve the curriculum for the future. Potential Limitations Ethics education isnt a well-explored field so there arent many resources as to how to teach ethics in STEM fields. Limitations that may arise are: We have had to create an ethics education course from scratch and there is no certainty that the dynamic learning environment will be successful.

 It is also more difficult to make objective assignments because all ethical situations are not cut-and-dry. There are some ethical grey-areas, especially in STEM fields. Grading debates and case studies will also be more difficult and limited than traditional technical classroom courses because of the nature of subjectivity of ethics. It is difficult to quantify data observed during the course in order to examine student engagement, participation in the debate processes, and responsiveness to peers opinions in debates. We are interested in engaging students in reflections about their ethics educational experiences, which is one of the factors that distinguishes this proposed course from existing ethics education courses or lack thereof. There is not just one professional that will fit the mold to give this course structure and feedback. Finding the right team of professionals without concrete standards will take time and resources. Broader Impact We expect this project to contribute to knowledge by demonstrating new ways to engage students in ethics education environments while also addressing the critical need to strengthen the understanding and implications of ethics in the STEM fields. Our proposed overhaul to the Georgia Tech STEM ethics curriculum will result in a broad impact on the Georgia Tech community and the communities of graduates of this proposed program. By participating in active simulations and performing case studies, students will become more aware of how to behave ethically in a professional setting, leading to fewer design flaws due to poor ethical practices. Furthermore, the dynamic classroom setting experiment will allow for us to gauge its effectiveness in other potential settings outside the area of ethics.

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