Authentic process safety decisions in an engineering ethics context: expression of student moral development within surveys and immersive environments

ABSTRACT

Two methods of assessing senior chemical engineering student ethical decision making in a process safety context were developed; the case-study-based Engineering Process Safety Reasoning Instrument (EPSRI) and a digital immersive environment entitled Contents Under Pressure. Both interventions had similar ethical and process safety decision prompts, but were presented in different manners; the EPSRI as a traditional electronic survey, and Contents Under Pressure as a digital immersive environment (‘game’). 148 chemical engineering seniors at three institutions responded to both interventions and responses were compared. Student responses to the traditionally formatted EPSRI revealed most students applied post-conventional reasoning, which is uncommon for students in their age range. This suggests that students are aware of the ethical framing of the instrument, and answer accordingly with the perceived ‘right’ response. Student responses to Contents Under Pressure showed significant differences from the EPSRI, including more typical conventional responses. These results suggest that the authenticity of the digital environment can produce more realistic student responses to ethical and process safety dilemmas. Situating ethical and process safety instruction within this type of educational intervention may allow students to gain insight on their ethical decision making process in a safer, low-risk environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational software
• ethics
• chemical engineering

Acknowledgments

The authors would also like to thank Filament Games for their development of Contents Under Pressure.

Disclosure statement

The Authors, Rowan University, North Carolina State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, University of Connecticut, and Filament Games are joint owners of the developed process safety game Contents Under Pressure and may stand to gain financially from the digital game that is described within this publication.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education [IUSE DUE#1711376, 1711644, 1711672, and, 1711866] for which the authors are very grateful.

Notes on contributors

Jeffrey Stransky

Mr. Jeff Stransky is a PhD student in Rowan's Experiential Engineering Education Department.  Jeff joined the field of engineering education after receiving his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rowan University in May 2019. Since then he has conducted research and analyzed the process safety judgments and moral reasoning of senior chemical engineering students. He will continue his research on engineering student behavior towards a doctoral dissertation through Rowan's ExEEd Engineering Department under the U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship Program Grant Number P200A180055.

Cheryl A. Bodnar

Dr. Cheryl Bodnar is an Associate Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. Currently, her research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Kern Family Foundation. Her research interests relate to the incorporation of active learning techniques such as game-based learning in undergraduate classes as well as integration of innovation and entrepreneurship into the engineering curriculum.In particular, she is interested in the impact that these tools can have on student perception of the classroom environment, motivation and learning outcomes.

Mathew Cooper

Dr. Matthew Cooper is an Associate Professor (Teaching-Track) in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. He currently serves as Past-Chair of the ASEE National ChE Division and also as an ABET program evaluator. Dr. Cooper’s research interests include effective teaching, conceptual and inductive learning, integrating writing and speaking into the curriculum and professional ethics. 

Daniel Anastasio

Dr. Daniel Anastasio is an assistant professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He received a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2009 and 2015, respectively. In 2020, he was awarded the North American Membrane Society Education Innovation Fellowship. His primary areas of research are game-based learning in engineering courses and membrane separations for desalination and water purification.

Daniel Burkey

Dr. Daniel Burkey is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Professor-in-Residence, and University Teaching Fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Lehigh University in 1998, and his M.S.C.E.P and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000 and 2003, respectively. His primary areas of interest are game-based education, engineering ethics, and process safety education.