Engaging Students in Integrated Ethics Education: A Communication in the Disciplines Study of Pedagogy and Students' Roles in Society

In this quasi-experimental study, we investigated two elements of ethics education: (1) how participating in ethics education influenced science and engineering graduate students' views of their roles in society, and (2) what students found most valuable and relevant. Participants were 98 graduate science and engineering students. Qualitative analysis indicated that the most prevalent responses reflected a desire to benefit society. Duty-based responses were more prevalent in pretest than in posttest responses. Participants in experimental conditions indicated more complicated notions of their societal roles than control participants. Participants emphasized the value of class discussions for increasing their awareness of issues, alternative views, and their own positions. Results are interpreted using the engaged communication in the disciplines framework with practical implications for educators.