A Comprehensive Overview of Approaches to Teaching Ethics in a University Setting

Abstract

Improving the ethical thinking and analysis of university students is becoming an essential goal of modern curricula and program designers in various disciplines. To support ethics learning via practical applications and decision-making scenarios, ethics instructors are adding innovative methods to their multidisciplinary courses by following creative teaching practices and including diverse activities inside and outside the classroom. In this paper, a review of activities that promote ethics learning and engagement of undergraduate students is presented as a guide to devise a comprehensive framework for applying and promoting ethics. Ethics centers are also introduced as well-organized hubs that plan, organize, and host activities to support ethics teaching and enhance student intellectual growth and community services. The paper is enriched with numerous examples of activities and strategies for instructors and incentives for students extracted from an intensive review conducted on more than 60 ethics centers and 40 syllabi of ethics courses offered in international colleges and universities. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.