Teaching engineering ethics using BLOCKS game. 2013

Shiew Wei Lau, and Terence Peng Lian Tan, and Suk Meng Goh
School of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Sarawak Malaysia, Sarawak, Malaysia. lau.shiew.wei@curtin.edu.my

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of a newly developed design game called BLOCKS to stimulate awareness of ethical responsibilities amongst engineering students. The design game was played by seventeen teams of chemical engineering students, with each team having to arrange pieces of colored paper to produce two letters each. Before the end of the game, additional constraints were introduced to the teams such that they faced similar ambiguity in the technical facts that the engineers involved in the Challenger disaster had faced prior to the space shuttle launch. At this stage, the teams had to decide whether to continue with their original design or to develop alternative solutions. After the teams had made their decisions, a video of the Challenger explosion was shown followed by a post-game discussion. The students' opinion on five Statements on ethics was tracked via a Five-Item Likert survey which was administered three times, before and after the ethical scenario was introduced, and after the video and post-game discussion. The results from this study indicated that the combination of the game and the real-life incident from the video had generally strengthened the students' opinions of the Statements.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D002616 Chemical Engineering Application of principles and practices of engineering science to the transformation, design, and manufacture of substances on an industrial scale. Engineering, Chemical
D003479 Curriculum A course of study offered by an educational institution. Curricula,Short-Term Courses,Course, Short-Term,Courses, Short-Term,Short Term Courses,Short-Term Course
D003625 Data Collection Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data. Data Collection Methods,Dual Data Collection,Collection Method, Data,Collection Methods, Data,Collection, Data,Collection, Dual Data,Data Collection Method,Method, Data Collection,Methods, Data Collection
D003657 Decision Making The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea. Credit Assignment,Assignment, Credit,Assignments, Credit,Credit Assignments
D004190 Disasters Calamities producing great damage, loss of life, and distress. They include results of natural phenomena and man-made phenomena. Normal conditions of existence are disrupted and the level of impact exceeds the capacity of the hazard-affected community.
D004738 Engineering The practical application of physical, mechanical, and mathematical principles. (Stedman, 25th ed) Engineerings
D004995 Ethics, Professional The principles of proper conduct concerning the rights and duties of the professional, relations with patients or consumers and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the professional and interpersonal relations with patient or consumer families. (From Stedman, 25th ed) Professional Ethics,Ethic, Professional,Professional Ethic
D006126 Group Processes The procedures through which a group approaches, attacks, and solves a common problem. Group Meetings,Group Process,Group Thinking,Group Meeting,Group Thinkings,Meeting, Group,Process, Group,Thinking, Group
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001290 Attitude An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of objects, not as they are but as they are conceived to be. Sentiment,Attitudes,Opinions,Opinion,Sentiments

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