Ethics in science and engineering education

The Council for Educational Development at the Faculty of Science and Technology offers a free two-part course on ethics in science and engineering education for everyone with basic pedagogical education and / or solid teaching experience.

In the first part of the course, corresponding to one week of full-time studies, the basics of ethics as well as ethics in disciplines within Science and Technology are discussed. In the second part of the course, corresponding to one week of full-time studies, participants carry out a project that aims to integrate ethics into, for example, a teaching element in a course, an educational program, or a subject area. The project is presented orally as well as in a written report. The course is based on ethical theory and research literature in ethics, and related areas.

Course facts

Omfattning: Kursen motsvarar 1 vecka (del 1) eller två veckor (del 1 och 2) heltid.
Kursintyg: Utfärdas efter slutförd kurs.
Antalet deltagare: Begränsat till 12.
Anmälan: Senast 20 augusti till Pia Westerlund pia.westerlund@uadm.uu.se
Frågor om kursen: Kontakta Maja Elmgren maja.elmgren@kemi.uu.se
Kursansvariga: Maja Elmgren och Björn Victor

Learning outcomes

After concluding part 1 of the course, the participant should be able to:

discuss basic ethical theory, and exhibit a reflected and problematizing approach towards this theory.
discuss and reflect on various ethical aspects of subjects in Science and Technology, in particular within education in the own discipline.

After concluding part 2 of the course, the participant should be able to:

plan, implement, evaluate and reflect on the integration of ethics in a teaching module, in an educational program, or in a subject area with support from research and proven experience of students' learning of the subject.

Course seminars and workshops

Part 1 (always 10:15-12)

Part 2 (different times)

Course content

Part 1: Ethics basics and ethics in specific disciplines (equivalent to one week full-time)

Awareness of ethical issues in science and technology. Why are ethics important to scientists and engineers?
Engineers’ and scientists' responsibility. Avoidance of responsibility.
Models for critical thinking about ethics. Consequentialism and deontology.
Virtue, freedom, and relational ethics.
Justice and environmental ethics.
In-depth discussion of ethics in the participants' different disciplines.

Part 2: Projects that integrate ethics into practice (equivalent to one week full-time)

Discussion on how to integrate ethics into courses, educational programs and subject areas. The participants present project ideas.
In-depth discussion and testing of the participants' ethical elements with the course participants as a test group.
Feedback on completed ethics projects