Topics of Professional Responsibility
Jack D. Hart
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The Topics of Professional Responsibility project is a continuation of the Ethics Modules Development Project initiated in fall 2003 and supported by Chair of Free Enterprise funds in AY 2003–2004 and AY 2004-2005. Two instructional modules featuring ethics issues in Biomedical Engineering were delivered under the AY 2003-2004 project, and two additional modules have been delivered under the AY 2004-2005 project. Each instructional module developed with Chair of Free Enterprise funds will be available through the UT College of Engineering Faculty Innovation Center (FIC), and will also be incorporated into the VaNTH Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Bioengineering Educational Technologies.
The ultimate objective of the proposed project is to merge the cross-disciplinary knowledge base of engineers and learning scientists to develop and implement innovative and highly effective learning materials that focus on bioengineering ethics and professionalism. To meet this objective, three primary initiatives will be completed. First will be the continued development of the ethics-based learning modules that will be included with the current online inventory for dissemination via the FIC and the VaNTH ERC. Second, an emphasis will be placed on the collection and assessment of student learning data obtained from the implementation of the ethics-based modules. Information gleaned from analysis of the assessment data will be used to further improve the ethics module development and classroom implementation. And the third initiative of the proposed project will be to develop a general teaching guide that specifies effective implementation techniques for the ethics modules.
Under the proposed project, three tasks will be performed. In Task 1, one new ethics-based How People Learn module will be prepared for implementation into the VaNTH ERC and the College of Engineering Faculty Innovation Center. This module will be similar in format to the modules previously developed with Chair of Free Enterprise funds. The module will be prepared for adaptation into a broad range of courses, as consistent with the VaNTH ERC philosophy. In Task 2, student learning data collected from implementation of the ethics-based learning modules at universities and high schools will be assessed and pertinent learning characteristics will be identified, documented, and published. The critical learning information obtained from the assessment process will be used to further improve the ethics module development and implementation. In Task 3, a comprehensive Teaching Guide will be developed that includes complete sets of assessment materials for each module. The Teaching Guide will provide pertinent information to faculty members for efficient classroom implementation of the learning modules.
In addition to these three tasks, a paper will be prepared and submitted to
the Journal for Engineering Education that presents results from use of the
Stem Cell Research module at UT Austin, Kirby Hall High School in Austin, and
Vanderbilt University. There also will be a major focus on ethics module dissemination
during the ’05-’06 project period.