Ethics Across the Curriculum
Dr José A. Cruz
Dr. William J. Frey
Dr. Halley D. Sánchez
University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez
Center for Ethics in the Professions
Centro Para la Ética en las Profesiones
College Board – October 11, 2002
© 2002 by Cruz, Frey & Sanchez
Our agenda for today


Present EAC (ethics across the curriculum) as an
effective way to integrate ethics across the
university curriculum
Model two successful ethics integration modules



Introductory Ethics Integration Exercise or Pre-test
Gray Matters (loosely based on the game of the same
name)
Discuss our exercise and case development efforts
What is EAC?


Ethics Across the Curriculum
“One of the leading trends in ethics
pedagogy today is to have an ethical
component or module incorporated into the
actual professional or occupational
course to supplement the freestanding
ethics course.”
EAC is holistic

EAC requires establishing an overall plan that
coordinates a series of activities:
A. Freestanding Course (Required or Elective)
B. Ethics Integration Projects for mainstream
courses
C. Special Activities
A. Freestanding Course



Course in Practical and Professional Ethics
taught by an ethicist, practical specialist, or
both
Repository of Research, Knowledge, and
Innovation
Viable option for career-oriented students
who want to study ethical issues in more
depth
B. Ethics Integration Activities


Today’s Two Examples:
Introductory Ethics Module for Introduction to
Computers (Dr. Cruz’s exercise)



Introduces students to ethical issues in computing
Introduces students to ethics cases and basic ethical frameworks
Gray Matters (Module that Frey uses in
Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Class)

Promotes integration of ethical issues into a rational decisionmaking process
C. Special Activities




These activities occur outside the the main
curriculum, for example:
Special Presentations (Three UPRM
engineering professors—industrial,
mechanical, civil—present on superaqueduct accident in Puerto Rico)
Student Activities (UPRM students revise
CIAPR code of ethics for Co-Op students)
Competitions (APPE’s Ethics Bowl)
EAC is Interdisciplinary



EAC recognizes that ethical problems in PPE must be
approached from an interdisciplinary standpoint
Makes use of cases and exercises that integrate
ethical, technical and mathematical components
Our goal:


To get 15% of our faculty committed to and empowered in
EAC through various activities including yearly ethics
retreats.
Through this 15% (and the ethics integration projects they
sponsor), we hypothesize that it is possible to empower
ethically 85% of our students.
Ethics Across the Curriculum:
A Module for Introduction to Computers
José A. Cruz-Cruz
Exercise Outline

Individually react to some short scenarios

Discuss one of the scenarios

Introduce the “The 3 Tests”

Discuss another scenario using “the 3 tests”

Concluding Remarks
Ethics-Related Scenarios

For each scenario briefly react to the following three
questions, for example:
An employee uses his/her computer at work to
send e-mail to friends and relatives.

1. Do you think this situation is Common/Realistic?


2. Do you consider this situation Ethical or not?


Yes or No
Ethical or Unethical
3. Do you think someone may disagree with you?

Yes or No
Our Students’ Comments









“I don’t want to be treated as a slave or robot.”
“These people get paid well to work.”
“Some work hard, while others surf the Internet?”
“As long as my boss doesn’t see me …”
“I minimize the browser …”
“Maybe someone opens an e-mail with a virus …”
“Maybe the person doesn’t have a PC at home?”
“Isn’t this similar to using the phone to call a friend?”
“Everybody does it!”
Ethical Decision Making Tests‡
‡
1.
REVERSIBILITY
2.
PUBLICITY
3.
HARM
Based on handouts from the Ethics in BSE Retreat, “A Guide for Ethical Decision
Making” (Dr. Vivian Weil and Dr. Michael Davis)
REVERSIBILITY

Would I think this is a good choice if I
where among those affected by it?


“Put yourself into the other person’s shoes”
Students bring up this issue, for example:



As an employee … “I’m not a slave/robot” …
As an employer … “I pay these people well” …
As a colleague … “I work hard, others surf?” …
PUBLICITY


Would I want or mind if this choice is
published in the newspaper?

“Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente”

“What the eyes don’t see is not heartfelt”
Students bring up this issue, for example:


… early in the morning before the boss arrives
… I toggle between e-mail & the task at hand
HARM


Does the action cause harm? Does it do
less harm than the alternatives?

“El remedio es peor que la enfermedad”

“The remedy is worst than the illness”
Students bring up this issue, for example:



Does it interferes with other’s work?
Some take advantage … others don’t!
Ban the use of e-mail and Internet?
Revisit the Scenarios

Re-evaluate a scenario using the 3 tests:




REVERSIBILITY, PUBLICITY & HARM
Did your perception of the situation change?
How might we avoid similar situations in the
future?
For Example:


Promote awareness of Institutional Policy or Guidelines
Provide Training and Helpdesk
Why is Ethics Important?



Our awareness of ethics affects our behavior.
If we incorporate ethical considerations early
in the decision-making process we can avoid
difficult ethical choices later on.
“It’s everybody's responsibility.” †
†Ernest A. Kallman and John P. Grillo, Ethical Decision Making and Information
Technology, 2nd ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996. (p. 19)
Where to go from here?






Take a course in Engineering or Business Ethics
Study Professional & Corporate Codes of Conduct
Seek and read ethics-related articles
Take the time to read ethics related chapters and
excerpts available in many textbooks
Discuss ethical issues with your colleagues & friends
Internet Sites (www.onlineethics.org,
www.computingcases.org & many others)
Conclusion

Be Ethical, be WISE!
Thank you!
Any Questions?
Moral Minimum
A non-Philosopher teaching Ethics?
Definition of Ethics




Ethics: the systematic and critical study of social
practices
Example: Engineering ethics is the systematical and
critical study of the social practice of engineering.
Systematic: employs principles and logical
argument in assessing the norms of a practice.
Critical: Systematic examination may show that
practical norms fail to meet ethical criteria and need
to be revised.
The Moral Minimum





The minimum basis from which we can start the
process of ethical reflection in a given practice.
It is composed of the three ethics tests: Harm,
Reversibility, & Publicity
These help us to find common ground between
different political, ideological, and cultural views.
It, thus, provides the basis for a dialogue on the
ethical issues that arise in a given practice.
It does this without forcing consensus or agreement.
Partial Encapsulation




Each of these tests provides us with an initial access
to one or more major ethical approaches:
Harm: harm minimization is an essential
component of utilitarian theory
Reversibility is an essential component of respect
for others which is shared by deontology and rights
theory
Publicity reveals aspects of virtue theory if we
assume that the actions with which we are publicly
associated provide others with windows through
which they can view and evaluate our characters.
Grounding



These ethical approaches cover different
dimensions of the human action.
These different dimensions (or perspectives)
must be integrated in a moral decision
Trading them off, selecting one and setting the
others aside, creates blind spots in one’s
judgments.

Crucial aspects of the moral worth of an action are
omitted in a decision that considers the act from
only one of these dimensions.
Schematic Summary
Dimension of Ethical
Action
Approach
Aspect
Emphasized
Intuitive Test
Outer
Consequentialism or
Teleology
Results or finalities
Harm (Does this
action minimize
harm?)
Inner
Deontology
Formal
Characteristics:
Reversibility (Is
act still acceptable
after agent shifts
places with
subject?)
Dispositions and
traits that form
Publicity (Would I
want my action
made public?)
universality, logical
consistency,
necessity
Agent
Virtue Ethics
character of agent
Gray Matters: An Ethics
Integration Module
Teaching decision-making
Description of Gray Matters





Lockheed/Martin game
Scenario designed to elicit a decision
Scenario is followed by a series of possible
solutions
Multiple choice test format—one of the
solutions represents company policy
Goal—Acquaint employees with company
policy concerning common ethical problems
Gray Matters—Our Version

Origin:


Objective


Developed to highlight cases we designed in NSF-SBR9810253 and UPR-Central Administration grants
Teach decision-making by emphasizing ethical awareness,
ethical evaluation, and ethical integration
Form


Decision scenario followed by possible courses of action
“Right” answer not necessarily included because the right
answer is what both optimizes ethics tests and can be
implemented over real world constraints (that are
embodied in a feasibility test)
A Disclaimer on the Cases




Some might think that they recognize in the following
cases certain real world companies or individuals.
But these cases are designed to develop moral
imagination, not practice real world journalism
The truth is, these cases are composites and have no
real world correlate.
Those who are convinced of a real world correlate
will “deconstruct” according to their own designs.
But their deconstructions of our cases are as fanciful
as those of the French philosopher, Derrida.
Pacemaker Case

A pacemaker manufacturing company (PACE Inc.) located in a
small town in Puerto Rico provides jobs to about 80% of the
town’s workforce. Profit margins are thin in this competitive
field which includes larger U.S. companies. You are on an
R&D team for PACE that has studied two options for the
circuitry: BULK CMOS and SOI. The team favors BULK CMOS
because the manufacturing process is simpler and cheaper.
But the chips will be larger and consume more energy; this
means more surgery for the patients to replace the batteries.
Overall, the use of BULK CMOS would reduce patient life
expectancy by 15%.
Given this knowledge, what should you do?
Alternatives





1. Go along with the team and advocate the
simpler and cheaper process.
2. Oppose the team and advocate the more
complex, more expensive, but safer process. Try
to persuade the team members to opt for safety.
3. Oppose the team. Force agreement by
threatening to blow the whistle.
4. Resign from PACE, Inc.
5. Design your own solution.
Instructions for Gray Matters





1. Read the scenario and solutions.
2. Choose from the solutions offered the one
you think is the best and the one you think is
the worst
3. Using the ethics tests, explain why these
solutions are your choices for best and worst.
4. What would you do in this situation? Why?
5. Meta-Thinking: think about the questions
and problems that arise as you work with the
ethics tests framework
Inkjet Case

You are a UPRM engineering graduate from a small town in
Puerto Rico and have started working in your first job as a
member of a research and development team charged with
designing a new generation of printers for a market leader
in this area. The company you work for wants to maintain
its leadership. It also wants to respond to the emerging
environmental problem caused by the disposal of the inkjet
cartridges used in its current model. However, these inkjet
cartridges are made in your hometown. If the new
generation of printers does not use disposable cartridges,
then this plant will close, putting friends and family out of
work. Your company is a leader in empowering its
employees. But what should you do with this newly
found power?
Inkjet Solutions





1. Resign from the R&D team because you have a
conflict of interest.
2. Use your position on the team to argue that the
company does not need to develop a new
generation of printers. In this way guarantee that
your friends and family will keep their jobs.
3. Sit back and see what the senior members of the
team want. Then enthusiastically embrace this.
4. Advocate designing a recyclable cartridge that
could be manufactured in the hometown plant.
5. Design your own solution.
Cases and Scenarios
Results:
50 cases with NSF SBR-9810253
40 cases with ABET workshops
Teaching and Writing Cases





Case Discussion helps students learn ethics.
Discuss Real World cases that portray everyday
situations rather than focus exclusively on big
news/bad news cases.
Students will modify their moral views in response
to arguments by teachers and peers.
Closure in the sense of reaching the definitive right
answer is not necessary
Case discussion allows students to practice decisionmaking and to integrate ethical frameworks into
decision-making.
Writing your own cases:
Guidelines

Choose your topic so that it integrates nicely
into your class


Choose the perspective or voice of the case



Sources: codes of ethics and textbook exercises
Judge perspective if the goal is to evaluate
Participant’s perspective if the goal is to practice
decision making
Choose when to end the case

At a moment of decision or after the action has
been taken
Building Solutions For Gray Matters






Build solutions around five generic
options:
(1) give in
(2) get more information and document
(3) oppose—negotiate
(4) oppose—confront
(5) resign or exit
What You Can Do?
Integration Projects
Integration Project

Project Modeled (By José A. Cruz)





Course: Introduction to Computer Data Processing
(Required)
Exercise Title: Introduction to Ethical Issues (Ethics PreTest)
Objectives: Ethical awareness and evaluation
Outcomes: students will be able to pick out cases that raise
ethical issues and evaluate scenarios using ethics tests
Mode of Assessment: test questions, syllabus, sample
writings, and General Module Evaluation Form
Integration Project





Course: INEL 4151 & 4152 (Required Course in
Electromagnetic)
Exercise Title: Healthy/Safety Case (Mayagüez
Land-Fill)
Objectives: Ethical Evaluation
Outcomes: Students will evaluate scenario using
ethics tests of harm, reversibility, and publicity after
solving numerical problems.
Mode of Assessment: test questions and class
discussion
Integration Project
(Recognized)





Course: INEL/ICOM (By Luis Jiménez)
Module Title: “Ética e Ingenieria: Modulo de
Ética para cursos de INEL/ICOM
Objectives: ethical awareness, evaluation and
integration (ABET 3f, 3h, and 4)
Outcomes: learn utilitarianism, deontology,
virtue, codes, global and environmental impacts
of engineering
Assessment: students develop virtue and duty
lists for professors and students
Integration Project





Course: FILO 3185 - Computer Ethics (Elective)
Exercise Title: Social Impact Statement
Objectives: Ethical awareness, evaluation,
integration, prevention, value realization
Outcomes: students will select a real world
computer system, describe its logical and physical
components, identify hidden ethical problems, and
develop feasible counter-measures to problems
Mode of Assessment: Presentation, written report
graded with rubric
Manuals

Manual on Introductory Ethics
Integration Exercise

www.uprm.edu/ethics/


Click on “Pedagogical” and then on “An
Exercise in Ethical Empowerment”
www.uprm.edu/ethics/

Click on “Publications and Conferences”, then
“Ethics across the Curriculum”, then below
“General Description of Module” on “Goals,
Description, and Source of Activity”
Online

NSF Project for cases in computer ethics:


Online Format for complex cases






www.computingcases.org
Therac-25
Machado Case
Hughes Aircraft
Gray Matters Exercises
Instructor’s Materials (Explanation of Ethics
Tests)
Student Exercises and Evaluation Matrices
How to get started …


Take inventory of what you are already doing.
(Recognition Projects)
Identify likely courses for integration exercises (Pilot
Projects)




Required courses and popular electives
Target different years (Fr., Soph., Jr., & Sr)
Identify an intervention point (where an ethical issue
naturally arises in the course).
Design the exercise to fit the context (Pre-test
and/or Gray Matters)
Let’s keep in touch …




Create you own exercise (We will help you!)
Experiment in your classes
Document and assess it
Share your results & let us know what doing




w_frey@rumac.uprm.edu
jacruz@uprm.edu
hsanchez@stahl.uprm.edu
Visit www.uprm.edu/ethics
Thank you for participating!

Any Questions?