Course syllabus for Sustainable development, ethics and the engineer's responsibility

The course syllabus contains changes
See changes

Course syllabus adopted 2023-02-08 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameHållbar utveckling, etik och ingenjörens ansvar
  • CodeTEK336
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerTIEPL
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyEnergy and Environmental Systems and Technology
  • ThemeEnvironment 7.5 c
  • DepartmentSPACE, EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language Swedish
  • Application code 68127
  • Open for exchange studentsNo

Credit distribution

0117 Examination 2.5 c
Grading: TH		 2.5 c
  • 14 Mar 2024 am L DIG
  • 22 Aug 2024 pm L DIG
0217 Project 5 c
Grading: UG		 5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

The same as for the programme that owns the course.
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

-

Aim

The aim of the course is to inspire and stimulate the student to reflect over how he/she can contribute to a sustainable development, both in his/her everyday life and in his/her profession. Doing so requires a basic understanding of the concept of sustainable development, knowledge about environmental and social challenges facing current production systems, as well as insights in to the ethical aspects of these challenges. The objective of the course is therefore both to generate a strong interest in sustainability and ethical issues and to provide the student with knowledge and tools for tackling complex sustainability problems and ethical dilemmas in their future professional life.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

Knowledge and understanding
- account for the differences between different ethical frameworks (consequential, duty and virtue ethics) and apply these on ethical dilemmas.
- account for the meaning of sustainable development in its three principal dimensions (ecological, economic and social), and explain differences in the interpretation of the concept between actors.

Skills and abilities
- critically examine topical sustainability problem, with a special emphasis on identifying and evaluating solutions in relation to the student¿s future professional role.
- collect and critically examine information that is relevant to the topic of the course, and communicate this information both in speech and writing.

Judgement and approach
- reflect on different views on professional ethics and the engineers responsibility for e.g. sustainability, as well as account for his/her own views on these issues.

Content

The course content is divided into three blocks. The first two blocks give an introduction to the course's two main themes: ethics and sustainable development. The main focus of the course is on the third block, where the students apply the theoretical knowledge they have acquired in a project focused on sustainability solutions in relation to their future profession. Below a brief specification of the content of each block is given:
I. Ethics and the engineer's responsibility:
- introduction to basic ethical frameworks (consequential, duty and virtue ethics).
- basics of moral reasoning, common fallacies and methods for analyzing ethical dilemmas.
- reflections on how society affects, and is affected by, technical development, as well as discussions on the ethics of technology.
- discussions on engineering ethics, the difference between private and professional ethics, and the responsibilities of the engineer.
II. Perspectives on sustainable development:
- history and understanding of the concept of sustainable development and its three dimensions: ecological, social, and economic sustainability.
- current global trends in important indicators for ecological, social, and economic sustainability.
- discussion about key concepts such as substitutability, weak vs. strong sustainability, intra- and intergenerational justice and how these relate to the ethical dimensions of sustainable development.
- discussions on wicked problems, as well as the role of technology and the engineer in sustainable development.
III. Sustainability solutions and the role of the engineer
- sustainability challenges related to current production systems and methods to quantify these (life-cycle analysis)
- discussions on potential solutions to the sustainability problems associated with current production systems, including corporate sustainability and environmental policy instruments.
- project work that connects the different parts of the course, where the students collect information on a real product and service and interviews a professional engineer on ethical and sustainability aspects of his/her work.

Organisation

This course aims to convey knowledge about field that is both large and complex. For this reason, lectures and literature, as well independent pursuit of relevant facts, are key elements for achieving the learning outcomes. However, just as important as a broad knowledge base is the ability to critically reflect over the knowledge that has been gathered. Not the least is this the case for normative aspects of ethics and sustainable development where no simple scientific answers are to be found. Therefore the course emphasizes the course elements (mandatory hand-ins and small group discussions) that aims to stimulate a deeper reflection and dialogue about the course contents.

Literature

Sven-Ove-Hansson, Teknik och etik (available online)
Fredrik Hedenus, Martin Persson & Frances Sprei, Hållbar utveckling - nyanser & tolkningar. Studentlitteratur, 2022 (second edition).
Fredrik Ståhl, Moralfilosofi & argumentation (available from course page)
A selection of texts that are available through the course homepage.

Examination including compulsory elements

The three blocks of the course are examined continuously, during the course. The first two blocks of the course are examined by a written exam, as well as by group assignments and compulsory seminar sessions. The third block is examined through a major project carried out in a group and presented through a group submission, as well as through peer review of another group's report. The grade for the entire course is given on the basis of the U, 3, 4, 5 scale received on the exam in addition to the student's passing grade on assignments and other compulsory modules.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

The course syllabus contains changes

  • Changes to course rounds:
    • 2023-09-28: Examinator Examinator changed from Lina Reichenberg (linareic) to Ulrika Lundqvist (frtul) by Viceprefekt
      [Course round 1]