An Assessment of Engineering Students' Curricular and Co‐Curricular Experiences and Their Ethical Development

Abstract

B ackground 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. P urpose (H ypothesis ) 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. D esign /M ethod 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). R esults For 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. C onclusions 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.