Janel Sutkus - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Janel Sutkus
Assessing the Ethical Development of Students in an Undergraduate Civil Engineering Course Using a Standardized Instrument
2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, 2015
2008 38th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, 2008
When developing surveys, researchers can readily identify the concepts they intend to study, but ... more When developing surveys, researchers can readily identify the concepts they intend to study, but how do they create individual survey items that will most accurately measure those concepts? Here we describe the first year of a four-year NSF project in which the E 3 Team (Exploring Ethical Decision Making in Engineering) prepared to develop a national survey of the curricular and cocurricular activities, events, and experiences affecting the ethical development of engineering undergraduates. As this survey is likely to be the most comprehensive assessment of ethical development -both in content and scope -ever administered to engineering undergraduates, it is critical the development process includes rigorous and thorough educational research methods. By using such methods, we greatly increase the probability our survey instrument will appropriately measure the determinants of ethical behavior in engineering undergraduates.
2009 39th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2009
Ethics education and the drive to produce ethical professional engineers is an important focus of... more Ethics education and the drive to produce ethical professional engineers is an important focus of one body of research on engineering education. This research often defines the positive outcome of ethics education as students and professional engineers choosing not to engage in unethical behavior. This paper discusses a portion of a larger research project and details efforts to identify and validate a definition of ethical behavior that includes the decision to engage in a positive behavior, defined as a service to a larger community. Through a series of interviews and focus groups with engineering administrators, faculty, and students, the authors attempt to confirm the construct validity of service participation as ethical behavior. They also investigate the validity of the aspects of service participation to be included as a part of a national survey on engineering ethics education practices and outcomes. They then discuss the final steps that will be taken to test and further validate the development of the service participation portion of the survey.
2011 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2011
This workshop will be conducted by members of the Exploring Ethical Decision-making in Engineerin... more This workshop will be conducted by members of the Exploring Ethical Decision-making in Engineering (E3) Team. The workshop will be an interactive exploration of the meaning of "ethical development" for engineering students. We will introduce participants to a variety of teaching strategies and co-curricular activities that may enhance a students' ethical development as identified through the Survey of Engineering Ethical Development (SEED) project. The SEED project was a multi-year national holistic assessment of ethics education in engineering that included measurements of a students' ethical knowledge, ethical reasoning, and ethical behavior. The investigation included 19 diverse partner institutions and over 4000 engineering undergraduates. In addition to the presentation of research results and analysis, the audience will be asked to share personal experiences and discuss strategies for adapting identified best practices in different institutional settings. Finally, breakout groups will identify challenges and opportunities for improving ethical decision-making on a national scale.
An Assessment of Engineering Students' Curricular and Co-Curricular Experiences and Their Ethical Development
Journal of Engineering Education, 2012
ABSTRACT Background Ethics instruction is an important component of engineering undergraduate edu... more ABSTRACT Background Ethics instruction is an important component of engineering undergraduate education, but little research has identified aspects of the undergraduate experience that contribute most to students' ethical development. Thus, an assessment of the impact of students' experiences on their ethical development is warranted. Purpose (Hypothesis)We apply a conceptual framework to the study of engineering students' ethical development. This framework suggests that both formal curricular experiences and co-curricular experiences are related to students' ethical development. Design/Method Using survey data collected from nearly 4,000 engineering undergraduates at 18 institutions across the U.S., we present descriptive statistics related to students' formal curricular experiences and their co-curricular experiences. Additionally, we present data for three constructs of ethical development (knowledge of ethics, ethical reasoning, and ethical behavior). ResultsFor our sample, the quantity and quality of students' formal curricular experiences and their co-curricular experiences related to ethics was high. The levels of ethical knowledge and reasoning varied, as did ethical behavior. Conclusions Our data highlight opportunities for improving the engineering undergraduate/bachelor's level curricula in order to have a greater impact on students' ethical development. We suggest that institutions integrate ethics instruction throughout the formal curriculum, support use of varied approaches that foster high-quality experiences, and leverage both influences of co-curricular experiences and students' desires to engage in positive ethical behaviors.
Journal of Engineering Education, 2012
The importance of ethics education in professional engineering preparation programs is well estab... more The importance of ethics education in professional engineering preparation programs is well established, yet student outcomes remain mixed despite the efforts of engineering educators.
Assessing the Ethical Development of Students in an Undergraduate Civil Engineering Course Using a Standardized Instrument
2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, 2015
2008 38th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, 2008
When developing surveys, researchers can readily identify the concepts they intend to study, but ... more When developing surveys, researchers can readily identify the concepts they intend to study, but how do they create individual survey items that will most accurately measure those concepts? Here we describe the first year of a four-year NSF project in which the E 3 Team (Exploring Ethical Decision Making in Engineering) prepared to develop a national survey of the curricular and cocurricular activities, events, and experiences affecting the ethical development of engineering undergraduates. As this survey is likely to be the most comprehensive assessment of ethical development -both in content and scope -ever administered to engineering undergraduates, it is critical the development process includes rigorous and thorough educational research methods. By using such methods, we greatly increase the probability our survey instrument will appropriately measure the determinants of ethical behavior in engineering undergraduates.
2009 39th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2009
Ethics education and the drive to produce ethical professional engineers is an important focus of... more Ethics education and the drive to produce ethical professional engineers is an important focus of one body of research on engineering education. This research often defines the positive outcome of ethics education as students and professional engineers choosing not to engage in unethical behavior. This paper discusses a portion of a larger research project and details efforts to identify and validate a definition of ethical behavior that includes the decision to engage in a positive behavior, defined as a service to a larger community. Through a series of interviews and focus groups with engineering administrators, faculty, and students, the authors attempt to confirm the construct validity of service participation as ethical behavior. They also investigate the validity of the aspects of service participation to be included as a part of a national survey on engineering ethics education practices and outcomes. They then discuss the final steps that will be taken to test and further validate the development of the service participation portion of the survey.
2011 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2011
This workshop will be conducted by members of the Exploring Ethical Decision-making in Engineerin... more This workshop will be conducted by members of the Exploring Ethical Decision-making in Engineering (E3) Team. The workshop will be an interactive exploration of the meaning of "ethical development" for engineering students. We will introduce participants to a variety of teaching strategies and co-curricular activities that may enhance a students' ethical development as identified through the Survey of Engineering Ethical Development (SEED) project. The SEED project was a multi-year national holistic assessment of ethics education in engineering that included measurements of a students' ethical knowledge, ethical reasoning, and ethical behavior. The investigation included 19 diverse partner institutions and over 4000 engineering undergraduates. In addition to the presentation of research results and analysis, the audience will be asked to share personal experiences and discuss strategies for adapting identified best practices in different institutional settings. Finally, breakout groups will identify challenges and opportunities for improving ethical decision-making on a national scale.
An Assessment of Engineering Students' Curricular and Co-Curricular Experiences and Their Ethical Development
Journal of Engineering Education, 2012
ABSTRACT Background Ethics instruction is an important component of engineering undergraduate edu... more ABSTRACT Background Ethics instruction is an important component of engineering undergraduate education, but little research has identified aspects of the undergraduate experience that contribute most to students' ethical development. Thus, an assessment of the impact of students' experiences on their ethical development is warranted. Purpose (Hypothesis)We apply a conceptual framework to the study of engineering students' ethical development. This framework suggests that both formal curricular experiences and co-curricular experiences are related to students' ethical development. Design/Method Using survey data collected from nearly 4,000 engineering undergraduates at 18 institutions across the U.S., we present descriptive statistics related to students' formal curricular experiences and their co-curricular experiences. Additionally, we present data for three constructs of ethical development (knowledge of ethics, ethical reasoning, and ethical behavior). ResultsFor our sample, the quantity and quality of students' formal curricular experiences and their co-curricular experiences related to ethics was high. The levels of ethical knowledge and reasoning varied, as did ethical behavior. Conclusions Our data highlight opportunities for improving the engineering undergraduate/bachelor's level curricula in order to have a greater impact on students' ethical development. We suggest that institutions integrate ethics instruction throughout the formal curriculum, support use of varied approaches that foster high-quality experiences, and leverage both influences of co-curricular experiences and students' desires to engage in positive ethical behaviors.
Journal of Engineering Education, 2012
The importance of ethics education in professional engineering preparation programs is well estab... more The importance of ethics education in professional engineering preparation programs is well established, yet student outcomes remain mixed despite the efforts of engineering educators.