AC2011-147: CORRELATIONBETWEEN"ETHICALISSUES"AND"GRADE" PERFORMANCE IN A GRADUATE CLASS

The objective of this paper is to study the correlation between “ethical issues” and “grade” performance in a graduate class. In Spring 2009 a graduate course in “Geotechnical Engineering”, the control group was taught using the traditional lecture method. In Fall 2010 the same course was taught with the inclusion of an ethics component; this course was the experimental group. Twenty case studies were presented throughout the course involving problems that are commonly faced in engineering practice. Students worked on these exercises (case studies) and their answers were graded. Individual assignments accounted for 10% of the grade. Except for grade determination (10% assignments and 5% final exam component) there was no difference between the control group and experimental groups. The instructor taught several appropriate courses of action following the moral developmental theories of Kohlberg and Piaget. The students were taught that ethical issues have multipronged solutions that must address many different areas simultaneously. The grade was not based on right or wrong answers but on the level of reasoning the students used according to the theories of Kohlberg and Piaget. Statistical analysis demonstrated that students who addressed ethics as part of the course were more aware of ethical questions in engineering. As the number of ethical exercises increased the grade improved exponentially with an excellent coefficient of correlation. There was a general consensus among the students that the experimental program with ethics was successful. All commented that the course fulfilled their expectations on ethics and significantly strengthened the tools, techniques and strategies they could apply to real life situations.