The implementation of ethics in undergraduate engineering curriculum

This thesis documents the development of an ethics curriculum which is incorporated as a module within the Engineering Studies paper at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in New Zealand. The module is a compulsory component in the final year of the Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BEngTech) degrees in the School of Engineering and was designed to meet the ethical and societal requirements of the Washington and Sydney Accords. The thesis reviews the shift in global attitudes, ideology and world opinion towards engineering practice with respect to engineering ethics. It follows the changes in attitudes towards ethics and values within education that led to the requirement to include ethics in university undergraduate engineering programmes. The literature review was an interpretive enquiry into: 1. Professional ethics in engineering. 2. Philosophy of ethics education. 3. Pedagogy of ethics education. 4. Assessment of ethics education.