There has been growing recognition of scientists' and engineers' need for ethics education, including training requirements for many federal grant recipients, and the further need to incorporate macroethics education into responsible and ethical conduct in research education for social scientists, natural scientists, computer scientists, and engineers. This combination education and research project will develop, assess, and disseminate innovative introductory macroethical course modules. The major contribution of the project is the modules' content: an introduction to significant macroethics concepts from science and engineering ethics (SEE) and science and technology studies (STS). Macroethics examines the collective social responsibilities of scientists and engineers, as opposed to microethics, which emphasizes individual ethical dilemmas in research (for example, plagiarism). The project team will develop four modules, one for each of the following disciplinary ethics education courses: 1) biomedical sciences, 2) social and behavioral sciences, 3) physical sciences, and 4) engineering. The core concepts to be explored are drawn from STS theoretical frameworks and center on three ideas: (1) a critique of the idea of technology as progress, (2) engineering as a social experiment, and (3) the potential of conceptual and technical assumptions and decisions to have long-term impacts.

The project brings together an interdisciplinary team to develop module content and solicit further input from active scholars in SEE, STS, science, and engineering. The team will work with active scholars to identify and refine appropriate common core concepts for the modules by proposing roundtable discussions at a variety of professional association meetings. In addition, a network of nine disciplinary consultants will aid the leadership team. Before disseminating the final modules, the team will assess effectiveness and refine them as necessary. The assessment protocol will examine: 1) knowledge acquisition by the macroethics module users, 2) the effect of combining macroethical and microethical education on acquisition of knowledge in both areas, and 3) knowledge retention.