ENGR 482 Ethics and Engineering: Summer II 2018

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8 am in CHEN 106, plus Recitations

PHIL Faculty ENGR Faculty

Mr. Curry O’Day Ms. Shayla Rivera
YMCA 305 | 979-845-5660 EABC 106 | 979-458-8447
[email protected] [email protected]

** Office hours are by appointment to maximize flexibility: please call or email to set a time **

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Development of techniques of moral analysis and their application to ethical problems encountered
by engineers, such as professional employee rights and whistle blowing; environmental issues;
ethical aspects of safety, risk and liability, and public welfare; conflicts of interest; emphasis on
developing the capacity for independent ethical analysis of real and hypothetical cases.

LEARNING OUTCOMES AND MAJOR OBJECTIVES

As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, students will:
• Know some common methods for identifying, analyzing, and resolving ethical
problems.
• Develop the capacity to think analytically, critically, and creatively about ethical issues
in engineering.
• Know some of the classic cases in engineering ethics and some of the typical ethical
and professional issues which arise in engineering.
• Know the NSPE code, the code of one’s own professional society, and the major
professional societies and organizations in engineering.
• Develop a basic understanding of ethical theories and how they inform engineering
codes of ethics and common engineering practices.
• Improve oral and written communication skills.

To achieve these outcomes and objectives, students are given the opportunity and encouragement
to participate actively in class discussions. Students are required to do a substantial amount of
writing in response to the material presented in the course. They are expected to write clearly and
concisely. Students will receive frequent feedback on their submissions, and they have access to a
suite of writing instruction lessons on eCampus.

PREREQUISITES: Junior classification

REQUIRED TEXT: Charles E. Harris, Michael S. Pritchard, Ray W. James, Elaine Englehardt,
and Michael J. Rabins, Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases, 6th ed. (Boston: Cengage, 2017).
Electronic versions are acceptable.

Additional materials are available on the course website, which can be accessed through
eCampus at http://eCampus.tamu.edu. Select the Ethics and Engineering course.
STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE
For each lesson, students will complete a 25-minute online session and attend two meetings, a 75-
minute face-to-face (F2F) meeting, and a one-hour-fifty-minute recitation. These meetings will be
supplemented with other online content and readings delivered through eCampus.

TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Laptops, cell phones, and other media devices, except those used as assistive technology, should
not be used in the F2F meetings. The use of prohibited devices may result in the student being
marked absent for the F2F meeting. The technology policy for each recitation is set by the TA.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

Attendance is required for F2F meetings and recitations. The best way to master material for this
class is to prepare properly, listen attentively, participate in activities, and ask questions when a
topic is unclear. Students who arrive late, leave early, or are clearly unprepared may be counted as
absent based on an assessment made by their TA. Proper preparation includes bringing a copy of
assigned texts to the meeting. Students must attend the F2F meeting for which they are registered
unless they have coordinated in advance with their TA or their absence was such that prior planning
was not possible. Students can miss three meetings without penalty, and no make-up assignment
is required. Further absences each result in a 2.5% deduction from the student’s course grade. The
attendance record in the eCampus Grade Book is considered final two weeks after the date of the
activity.

A NOTE ON E-MAIL COMMUNICATION

As preparation for writing effectively in their careers, students are expected to communicate
professionally with instructors and TAs using email. Professional style includes an appropriate
salutation and closing and reasonable care in the construction of the message. Emails to instructors
should always include the student’s course, their section number, and the name of the student’s
TA.

GRADED COMPONENTS

Exams
There will be three exams. They may include multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions.
The exams are cumulative.

Online Quizzes
Students will take graded quizzes as part of their online work. In the online sessions students will
be asked two kinds of questions. Knowledge Checks are ungraded questions that are interspersed
in each session. They are intended to prepare the student for the concluding Quiz, which is graded.
Students are responsible for completing these quizzes before the deadlines listed on the course
schedule. The lowest three quiz grades will be excluded from the calculation of this portion of the
course grade.
*** Note: for technical issues related to online content, email Mr. Ryan von Ness at [email protected]. ***
(Please allow two business days for a response)
 In-class Presentation
Students will work in groups of four or five on an in-class presentation. Groups will be assigned
by TAs. Presentations must include visual aids. Students are expected to prepare their presentations
outside class. Each student in the group must give part of the presentation in class. More detailed
instructions will be provided during the semester.

Writing Assignments
Writing assignments are an opportunity for students to gain fluency with the theories, ideas, issues,
and cases presented in the class and to develop their own thoughts on these topics. Students will
write one Short Paper and one longer Essay. The Short Paper may be a short report or a longer
response over material covered in the class. The Short Paper should be between 750 and 1000
words in length. The Essay gives students the opportunity to develop a more extensive argument
over the material covered in the course. It must be at least 2000 words in length.

The Short Paper is worth 10% of the course grade. Students can revise the Short Paper. To earn a
better grade, the resubmission should be substantially better than the first submission and should
respond to relevant TA comments. It will be due a week after the paper has been returned to the
student. The maximum score that a revision can earn is 20 points above the grade given the initial
submission.

The Essay assignment consists of several parts. The first step is a submission of a short (250 word)
proposal. The second step is an Initial Submission of the paper, which is a full-length paper
completed to the best of the student’s abilities. It is worth 5% of the course grade. Students will
then participate in a Peer Review. Failure to provide substantive feedback to their peers will result
in a penalty of up to 10% on the grade for the initial submission. Students will then prepare a Final
Submission that responds to relevant comments from their peers and their TA. It is worth 20% of
the course grade. Students who do not submit a final submission or who submit a revision that is
not reasonably improved compared to the initial submission will receive a zero for the assignment.

Detailed requirements for the Short Paper and the Essay will be distributed via eCampus. All
papers must be submitted to the appropriate turnitin.com link on eCampus. Failure to submit your
essay to turnitin.com will result in a zero (0) for the assignment. Your TA may also require you to
turn in a hard copy (paper copy) of your essay. A standard penalty of five (5) percentage points
per day is assessed to papers submitted after the deadline, either electronically to turnitin.com or
the hard copy to the TA, though the penalty may be modified based on the TA’s discretion.
Students are encouraged to use the supplemental resources posted on eCampus to improve their
writing mechanics and the coherence, conciseness, and clarity of their papers.

A Helpful Writing Resource

The University Writing Center (UWC), located in 214 Evans Library and 205 West Campus Library,
offers one-on-one consultations to writers. Help is available with brainstorming, researching,
drafting, documenting, revising, and more; no concern is too large or too small. UWC consultants
will also help you improve your proofreading and editing skills. If you visit the UWC, take a copy
of your writing assignment, a hard copy of your draft or any notes you may have, as well as any
material you need help with. To find out more about UWC services or to schedule an appointment,
call 458-1455, visit the web page at writingcenter.tamu.edu, or stop by in person.
COMPONENT WEIGHTING
Online Quizzes 15% Presentation 5%
First Exam 15% Short Paper 10%
Second Exam 15% Essay–Initial 5%
Third Exam 15% Essay–Final 20%

GRADING
A 90% - 100%
B 80% - <90%
C 70% - <80%
D 60% - <70%
F <60%

This is a Writing Intensive (W) course. To pass this course, you must pass the writing component.
According to University guidelines, failure to earn an average of at least a D on the writing
assignments (Short Paper and the Essay) will result in a grade of F in the course, regardless of
other grades.

AGGIE HONOR CODE & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

“An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.” The Honor Code and the Honor
Council Rules and Procedures can be found at http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/.

University rules concerning scholastic dishonesty will be rigorously enforced in this class.
Plagiarism is defined in the TAMU Student Rules as the “appropriation of another person’s ideas,
processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.” You should credit your use of
anyone else’s words, graphic images, or ideas using standard citation styles. Moreover, you may
not submit your own work from another course. Ignorance of the rules does not exclude any
member of the TAMU community from the requirements or the processes of the Honor System.
A single incident of cheating may lead to an F* in the class.

Submitting an assignment late is far better than plagiarizing. The standard penalty for late
submission is a 5% deduction (for the paper, not the course) for each day the paper is late.

GRADE COMPLAINTS
We are happy to discuss and possibly change grades provided two conditions are met. First, the
student must have waited at least 24 hours after he or she received the graded assignment. Take
this time to carefully review all the comments given by instructors. Second, the student must bring
a written statement that explains the discrepancy he or she sees between the quality of the work
and the grade it received. The appeal must be made within 7 days from the time the student received
the graded assignment.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) POLICY STATEMENT

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides
comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that
provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability
requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability Services, currently located in the Disability
Services building at the Student Services at White Creek complex on west campus or call 979-
845-1637. For additional information, visit http://disability.tamu.edu.

SUMMER II 2018 AT A GLANCE

Date Topic

July 6 Introduction & Egoism

Moral Theory

July 9 Virtue Ethics

July 11 Duty Ethics

July 13 Utilitarianism

Microethics

July 16 Risk (Exam 1 in recitation)

July 18 Engineers in Organizations

July 20 TEPA, NSPE Code of Ethics, Engineering Societies (Short Paper due)

July 23 Engineering Professionalism

Macroethics

July 25 Ethics & Technology (Exam 2 in Recitation)

July 27 Technology & Society (Essay-Initial Submission due)

July 30 Computing Ethics

Aug 1 Intellectual Property

Aug 3 Environmental Ethics & Sustainability

Aug 6 International Engineering (Exam 3 in recitation)

Aug 7 Essay-Final Submission due

* The instructors reserve the right to alter this schedule and will provide due notice if any
changes occur.