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The chapter presents the implementation of ethics education via challenge-based learning (CBL) in three European settings. At TU Eindhoven (the Netherlands), a mandatory first-year User, Society, and Enterprise course on the ethics and history of technology offers a CBL alternative on ethics and data analytics in collaboration with internal student and research teams. The University of Lübeck (Germany) initiated the project CREATE – Challenge-based Learning for Robotics Students by Engaging Start-Ups in Technology Ethics, which enables 60 students in Robotics and Autonomous Systems to integrate ethical and societal considerations into technological development processes, in cooperation with start-ups from a local accelerator. In Spain, CBI-Fusion Point brings together 40 students from business and law (ESADE), engineering and technology (Polytechnic University of Catalonia), and design (IED Barcelona Design University) for an innovation course focused on the application of CERN-developed technologies to real-world problems. The chapter documents the process of setting up three CBL courses that engage students with grand societal topics which require the integration of ethical concerns from the design stage of technological development. The authors also reflect on the challenges of teaching ethics via CBL and the lessons they learned by delivering experiential learning activities rooted in real-life challenges and contexts marked by high epistemic uncertainty. The contribution reflects the transition to remote teaching and presents strategies employed to enhance online communication and collaboration. The chapter thus provides guidance for instructors interested in teaching ethics via CBL and recommends further lines for action and research.

Purpose – Mainstream science, technology, and society (STS) scholars have shown little interest in engineering ethics, one going so far as to label engineering ethics activists as “shit shovelers.” Detachment from engineering ethics on the part of most STS scholars is related to a broader and long-standing split between the scholar-oriented and activist-oriented wings of STS. This chapter discusses the various STS “subcultures” and argues that the much-maligned activist STS subculture is far more likely than the mainstream scholar subculture to have a significant impact on engineering ethics education and practice.

Approach – The chapter builds on analyses of STS subcultures in research and education from the literature and identifies a similar set of subcultures for engineering ethics research and education.

Findings – Reconciliation of the STS subcultures will tap an activist tradition that already has strong ties (practical, historical, and theoretical) to engineering ethics research and education. Acknowledging that STS and engineering ethics each have legitimate, activist-oriented subcultures will position STS scholars and educators for providing needed insights to engineering activists and the engineering profession as a whole. STSers should recognize and appreciate that many engineering ethicists and engineering activists are concerned both with issues internal to the profession and broader social implications of technology.

Originality/value – The chapter presents an analysis of STS subcultures and their relationship to engineering ethics. As such, it will be of interest to STS scholars and engineering ethicists alike, as well as engineering ethics and STS educators.

The purpose of the article is to develop an innovative pedagogic tool: an escape room board game to be played in-class, targeting an introduction to an ethics course for engineering students. The design is student-centred and aims to increase students' appreciation, commitment and motivation to learning ethics, a challenging endeavour for many technological students.

The methodology included the design, development and in-class application of the mentioned game. After application, perception data from students were collected with pre- and post-action questionnaire, using a quasi-experimental method.

The results allow to conclude that the developed game persuaded students be in class in an active way. The game mobilizes body and mind to the learning process with many associated advantages to foster students' motivation, curiosity, interest, commitment and the need for individual reflection after information search.

The main limitation of the game is its applicability to large classes (it has been successfully tested with a maximum of 65 students playing simultaneously in the same room).

The originalities and contributions include the presented game that helped to captivate students to ethics area, a serious problem felt by educators and researchers in this area. This study will be useful to educators of ethics in engineering and will motivate to design tools for a similar pedagogical approach, even more so in areas where students are not especially motivated. The developed tool is available from the authors at no expense.

Upon graduating from university, many engineers will work in new product development and/or technology adoption for continuous improvement and production optimization. These jobs require employees to be cognizant of ethical practices and implications for design. However, little engineering coursework, outside the traditional ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) required Engineering Ethics course, accounts for the role of ethics within this process. Because of this, engineering students have few learning opportunities to practice and reflect on ethical decision-making.

This paper highlights one approach to integrating ethics into an engineering course (outside of engineering ethics). Specifically, the study is implemented within a five-week module with a focus on big data ethics, as part of a Supply Chain Management Technology course (required for Industrial Engineering Technology majors), using metacognition as the core assessment.

Four main themes were identified through the qualitative data analysis of the metacognitive reflections: (1) overreliance on content knowledge, (2) time management skills, (3) career connections and (4) knowledge extensions.

Three notable points emerged which contribute to the literature. First, this study showcased one example of how an ethics module can be integrated into an engineering course (other than Engineering Ethics). Second, this study demonstrated how metacognitive reflections can be used to reinforce student self-awareness of the learning process and connections to big data ethics in the workplace. Finally, this study exhibited how metacognitive reflection assignments can be deployed as a teaching and learning assessment tool, providing an opportunity for the instructor to make immediate changes as needed.

The aim of this paper is to explore the rationale for teaching sustainability and engineering ethics within a decision‐making paradigm, and critically appraise ways of achieving related learning outcomes.

The paper presents the experience of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney in teaching environmental sustainability and engineering ethics to third‐year undergraduate students. It discusses the objectives of the course and the merits and drawbacks of incorporating ethics and sustainability in the same teaching framework. In addition, it evaluates ways of incorporating theoretical and applied perspectives on sustainability.

Ethics and sustainability overlap but do not coincide; incorporating them in the same engineering course can be effective, provided that points of linkage are clearly recognized in the syllabus, a suitable combination of theory and practical applications is drawn upon and adequate teaching methods, including decision‐making case problems, are used.

While environmental sustainability, economic rationality and ethical reasoning can be easily fitted into the syllabus, social sustainability is more difficult to teach because it requires a significant conceptual departure from deep‐seated preconceptions on the part of students and teachers, and does not lend itself easily to conventional classroom activity, such as lectures and weekly workshops. Further research on effective ways of incorporating social sustainability in engineering curricula is therefore needed.

The paper evaluates sustainability issues within the context of civil engineering education.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the engagement and response of students to the teaching of engineering ethics incorporating a macro ethical framework whereby sustainability is viewed as context to professional practice. This involves incorporating a broader conception of engineering than is typically applied in conventional teaching of engineering ethics.

A real life wicked problem case study assignment was developed. Students' understanding and practical application of the concepts were considered. A survey was conducted to gauge students' appreciation of the professional importance and their enjoyment of the subject matter.

It was found that students appreciate and enjoy a macro ethical sustainability informed approach, but find it more challenging to apply in practice.

The paper demonstrates an approach to the teaching of engineering ethics using a practical example, which can help broaden engineers' self‐perceived role towards one where sustainability is context. It also shows how students can find such an approach to teaching ethics to be both enjoyable and relevant.

Engineers educated to perceive the importance of engaging with macro ethical issues as part of professional practice will be significantly better placed to inform public and industry policy towards greater good and engage with other professional and expert groups.

In this paper, an approach to engineering ethics which diverges from the traditional is proposed. This can be of value to those involved in the teaching of engineering ethics, particularly those seeking to incorporate sustainability and other macro ethical issues.

Quantitative analysis of existing literature is conducted to compare the textual features of ethics education in science and technology under the broad theme of ethics in science and technology. On this basis, the authors reveal the research hotspots and topic evolution in this field, and propose development suggestions in conjunction with the 5W theory.

In this paper, the authors visualize the graph and quantify the indicators in four aspects: time series, institutional collaboration, author co-authorship, and research hotspots.

Compared to ethics of science and technology, the research results in the field of ethics of science and technology education are limited. There is still room for improvement in the low density of cooperation between authors and institutions. The research themes are focused on theoretical discussions and countermeasure research. At present, the reform of ethics of science and technology is still in its infancy and has not yet formed a perfect system for education and personnel training. It is necessary for research on the ethical theory of technology to provide theoretical support.

In the context of sustainable development strategies, it is beneficial to explore the path of pedagogical optimization of ethics of science and technology in this study. This includes the maintenance of a good research environment and the realization of a healthy development in the field of science and technology.

The purpose of this study is to present an assessment of the sustainability content of the Nigerian engineering curriculum in universities.

Content analysis is used to generate and analyse data from three engineering documents, namely, the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for Engineering Programmes in Nigeria and the engineering handbooks of two Nigerian higher education institutions.

The Nigerian engineering curriculum is revealed to have a low sustainability content, with environmental concepts being the most cited themes and social topics as the least stated issues.

The sustainability assessment approach adopted in the study is constrained by the question of what constitutes a sustainability syllabus. Expert-derived sustainability themes used in the study are unavoidably incomplete and may limit the conduct of an exhaustive sustainability content assessment.

Based on the research outcome, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and other stakeholders can consider ways to adequately incorporate sustainability themes in the Nigerian engineering curriculum.

The research is an effort to determine the presence of sustainability issues in the Nigerian engineering education, which has hitherto been scarcely documented. This study provides a baseline and a rationale for sustainability education interventions in the Nigerian engineering curriculum. It also presents a methodology for analysing sustainability content in university curriculum and contributes to the continuing sustainability education discourse, especially in relation to sub-Saharan Africa.

Considering the relevance of education for sustainable development (SD) to enhancing engineers’ abilities to contribute towards sustainability-related issues, this study aims to help understand the global context of the insertion of SD into engineering education and to provide guidelines to further evolve research and efforts towards implementing Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD).

This study performed a longitudinal analysis using bibliometrics and a content analysis via Conceive–Design–Implement–Operate standards. SciMAT software was used to support the bibliometric analysis.

In addition to an increase in the practical aspects presented due to a change in the approaches taken to examine key topics, evidence on important concepts such as “life cycle assessment” and “digitalisation” increased in more recent years. However, it was possible to show that, despite the evolution observed throughout the years, several important opportunities exist for engineering programmes to improve and, for researchers, to fill the related gaps in the research.

This study can be used as a guide for future research and as a source of insights for EESD implementation and improvement.