Mechanical Engineering, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2011 Mar;17(1):171-94. doi: 10.1007/s11948-009-9178-6. Epub 2009 Oct 2.
This article describes the education portion of an ongoing grant-sponsored education and research project designed to help graduate students in all engineering disciplines learn about the basic ethical principles, rules, and obligations associated with engineering practice in the United States. While the curriculum developed for this project is used for both domestic and international students, the educational materials were designed to be sensitive to the specific needs of international graduate students. In recent years, engineering programs in the United States have sought to develop a larger role for professional ethics education in the curriculum. Accreditation requirements, as well as pressures from the private sector, have helped facilitate this shift in focus. Almost half of all engineering graduate students in the U.S. are international students. Further, research indicates that the majority of these students will remain in the U.S. to work post-graduation. It is therefore in the interest of the profession that these students, coming from diverse backgrounds, receive some formal exposure to the professional and ethical expectations and norms of the engineering profession in the United States to help ensure that they have the knowledge and skills--non-technical as well as technical--required in today's engineering profession. In becoming acculturated to professional norms in a host country, international students face challenges that domestic students do not encounter; such as cultural competency, language proficiency, and acculturation stress. Mitigating these challenges must be a consideration in the development of any effective education materials. The present article discusses the project rationale and describes the development of on-line instructional materials aimed at helping international engineering graduate students acclimate to professional engineering ethics standards in the United States. Finally, a brief data summary of students' perceptions of the usefulness of the content and instructional interface is provided to demonstrate the initial effectiveness of the materials and to present a case for project sustainability.
本文介绍了一个正在进行的资助教育和研究项目的教育部分，该项目旨在帮助所有工程学科的研究生了解与美国工程实践相关的基本道德原则、规则和义务。虽然为本项目开发的课程同时适用于国内和国际学生，但教育材料的设计考虑到了国际研究生的特定需求。近年来，美国的工程专业课程一直在寻求在课程中增加职业道德教育的作用。认证要求以及私营部门的压力，都有助于推动这一重点的转变。在美国，几乎一半的工程研究生都是国际学生。此外，研究表明，这些学生中的大多数人毕业后将留在美国工作。因此，从多元化背景中培养出来的这些学生，需要接受一些正式的专业和道德期望和规范的培训，这符合专业的利益，以确保他们具备当今工程专业所需的知识和技能（非技术和技术）。在融入东道国的专业规范时，国际学生面临着国内学生不会遇到的挑战，例如文化能力、语言能力和文化适应压力。在开发任何有效的教育材料时，都必须考虑到这些挑战。本文讨论了项目的基本原理，并描述了在线教学材料的开发，旨在帮助国际工程研究生适应美国的专业工程伦理标准。最后，简要总结了学生对内容和教学界面有用性的看法，以展示材料的初步效果，并为项目的可持续性提供依据。
