TY - GEN
T1 - Debunking the fallacy of the individual decision-maker
T2 - 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, ISSST 2010
AU - Seager, Thomas P.
AU - Selinger, Evan
AU - Whiddon, Daniel
AU - Schwartz, David
AU - Spierre, Susan
AU - Berardy, Andrew
PY - 2010/8/5
Y1 - 2010/8/5
N2 - Existing pedagogical approaches to ethics education in engineering and science reinforce what this paper terms "the fallacy of the individual decision-maker" by suggesting an oversimplified, individualistic model of ethical decision-making, rather than recognizing the organizational, cultural, or group deliberative context of an ethical dilemma. Consequently, students fail to develop the group deliberative and ethical reasoning skills necessary to properly recognize and resolve ethical questions. This paper critiques existing approaches and presents an alternative pedagogy that emphasizes active, participatory, and experiential learning that is intended to more deeply immerse students in questions of fairness, justice, and equity in the context of sustainability by playing the Externalities Game. Preliminary testing supports the hypotheses that game play results in deeper consideration of ethical issues, more emotionally engaged students, fosters greater deliberative discourse, and encourages experimentation with different ethical strategies. The Externalities Game may be an appropriate piece of a larger course in sustainability ethics when combined with traditional reading and pedagogical strategies.
AB - Existing pedagogical approaches to ethics education in engineering and science reinforce what this paper terms "the fallacy of the individual decision-maker" by suggesting an oversimplified, individualistic model of ethical decision-making, rather than recognizing the organizational, cultural, or group deliberative context of an ethical dilemma. Consequently, students fail to develop the group deliberative and ethical reasoning skills necessary to properly recognize and resolve ethical questions. This paper critiques existing approaches and presents an alternative pedagogy that emphasizes active, participatory, and experiential learning that is intended to more deeply immerse students in questions of fairness, justice, and equity in the context of sustainability by playing the Externalities Game. Preliminary testing supports the hypotheses that game play results in deeper consideration of ethical issues, more emotionally engaged students, fosters greater deliberative discourse, and encourages experimentation with different ethical strategies. The Externalities Game may be an appropriate piece of a larger course in sustainability ethics when combined with traditional reading and pedagogical strategies.
KW - Educational games
KW - Environmental ethics
KW - Moral philosophy
KW - Sustainability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955109877&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77955109877&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ISSST.2010.5507679
DO - 10.1109/ISSST.2010.5507679
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77955109877
SN - 9781424470938
T3 - Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, ISSST 2010
BT - Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, ISSST 2010
Y2 - 17 May 2010 through 19 May 2010
ER -