Developing Critically-Conscious Aerospace Engineers through Macro-ethics Curricula

通过宏观伦理课程培养具有批判意识的航空航天工程师

• 批准号: 2236148
• 负责人: Aaron Johnson
• 金额: $ 49.28万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2236148&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Developing; Critically; Conscious; Aerospace; Engineers

This project aims to serve the national interest by significantly sharpening student critical consciousness and sensitivity to injustices within social systems through integration of macro-ethics (ethics of large-scale issues as opposed to individual ethics) into aerospace engineering science curricula. To achieve this aim, a team of multi-institutional faculty is partnering with practitioners in the aerospace industry to design and incorporate transformative one-day macro-ethics curricular modules into traditionally highly technical aerospace engineering courses. Through innovative assessment and continuous revision, the project investigators are exploring how a macro-ethical aerospace engineering curriculum can be effectively implemented to address challenging, society-level ethical concerns that are directly relevant to students' future engineering careers. As a result of the research efforts, students are expected to be better equipped to recognize the potential for aerospace engineering knowledge to contribute toward social good. Additionally, students are likely to become more aware of the agency they possess as engineers to contribute to a better world. Using quantitative and qualitative survey analyses, the research team aims first to establish the level of students' awareness of macro-ethical issues. These findings will then be used to inform the creation of one-day macro-ethics lessons that explore ways to better prepare the students to address these issues in aerospace engineering science courses. A social constructivist theoretical framework is to be employed given that macro-ethical perspectives are largely dependent on social positioning and are socially constructed within collaborative learning environments. Three research questions are posited and a design-based research approach employed to implement and evaluate the impact of the proposed intervention. The first question asks: What are undergraduate students’ current awareness and perceptions of macro-ethical issues in aerospace engineering? Question two seeks to understand the ways students feel their education is or is not preparing them to address macro-ethical issues? Finally, to assess the curriculum the project team asks: How does the curriculum impact students’ perceptions and awareness of macro-ethical issues and their desire to engage with the macro-ethical implications of their future work? Macro-ethics lessons are to be implemented and assessed with faculty partners who teach aerospace-related courses at four different institutions. Through these lessons, students will learn not only the importance of macro-ethics, but its inseparability from the technical content of the aerospace engineering curricula. The project has the potential to impact not only aerospace engineering students (particularly those who are marginalized within the field), but also aerospace industry practitioners and society. Dissemination of findings is intended to be through a website under a Creative Commons license as well as an online seminar series. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在通过将宏观伦理学（大规模问题的道德与个人伦理学的伦理）整合到航空航天工程科学课程中，从而使学生的批判意识和对社会系统内的伤害的敏感性显着提高社会系统的伤害来满足国家利益。为了实现这一目标，一个多机构的教师团队正在与航空航天行业的从业人员合作，通过创新的评估和连续的修订来设计和整合变革性的一日宏观伦理学课程，项目调查人员正在探索宏观伦理学的航空航天工程如何有效地挑战社会范围，以挑战社会的实施，这是对社会的实施，这是在社会上的实施，这是在社会上的实施。由于研究工作，预计学生将有能力更好地认识到航空工程知识有助于社会利益做出贡献的潜力。此外，学生可能会更加意识到他们作为工程师为更美好世界做出贡献的代理机构。使用定量和定性调查分析，研究小组首先旨在确定学生对宏观伦理问题的认识水平。然后，这些发现将用于告知创建为期一天的宏观伦理学课程，这些课程探讨了如何更好地准备学生在航空工程科学课程中解决这些问题的方法。一个社会建构主义理论框架要采用，宏观伦理学的观点在很大程度上取决于社会定位，并且是在协作学习环境中建立的社会定位。三个研究问题是积极的，并采用了基于设计的研究方法来实施和评估拟议的干预措施的影响。第一个问题问：本科生当前对航空航天工程中宏观伦理问题的知识和看法是什么？问题二试图了解学生认为他们的教育是或没有准备解决宏观伦理问题的方式？最后，为了评估项目团队的课程要求：课程如何影响学生对宏观伦理问题的看法和意识，以及他们希望与他们未来工作的宏观伦理含义相关的愿望？宏观伦理学课程将与教师合作伙伴一起实施和评估，他们在四个不同机构教授与航空相关的课程。通过这些课程，学生不仅会学习宏观伦理学的重要性，而且还将学习与航空工程课程的技术内容不可分割的能力。该项目不仅有可能影响航空工程专业的学生（部分是在该领域被边缘化的人），而且还会影响航空业行业从业人员和社会。调查结果的传播旨在通过Creative Commons许可证以及在线准则系列的网站进行。 NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过其参与的学生学习轨道，该计划支持了承诺实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估的评估来支持的。