EET-4999: Professional Practice Seminar
Syllabus - Spring '07

Course Information

Description

Students will understand what it means to be a professional, engineering as social experimentation, safety and risk, case studies, ethics in design, and professional issues in the workplace. In addition, students will learn the basic skills on how to be efficient in preparing seminar presentations.

Bibliography

Required Text

Engineering Ethics, Charles B. Fleddermann, 2th edition, Prentice-Hall, NJ, 2004.

Reference/Recommended Reading

Ethics in Engineering, Martin M. W., Schinzinger R., 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, NY, 2005.

Course Objectives

The EET 4999 student will learn to:

• Understand what it means to be a professional and Ethical decision making process
• Discuss ethical theories and how can be applied to engineering situations.
• Know the definitions of risk and safety and know how to ensure that their design will be as safe as possible.
• Understand the rights and responsibilities of engineers.
• Understand Ethical issues in Design and Professional issues in the workplace.
• Efficiently prepare seminar presentations.

Web Resources

See the following web sites for more materials on engineering ethics and professionalism:

1. The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science: http://onlineethics.org/
2. National Institute for Engineering Ethics: http://www.niee.org/
3. Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at IIT: http://ethics.iit.edu/
4. Association for Practical and Professional Ethics at IU: http://www.indiana.edu/~appe/
5. IEEE document on education/professionalism: http://www.todaysengineer.org/archives/te_archives/feb02/te1.asp
6. UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
7. IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee: http://www.ieee.org/organizations/committee/emcc/
8. IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology: http://policy.rutgers.edu/andrews/projects/ssit/ungercom.shtml
9. IEEE Code of Ethics: http://www.ieee.org/portal/index.jsp?pageID=corp_level1&path=about/whatis&file=code.xml&xsl=generic.xsl
10. IEEE Ethics Resources and Organizations: http://www.ieee.org/portal/index.jsppageID=corp_level1&path=committee/emcc&file=resources.xml&xsl=generic.xsl
11. NCEES Rules of Professional Conduct: http://www.ncees.org/exams/study_materials/fe_handbook/fe_ethics.pdf
12. Texas A&M Univ. engineering ethics: http://ethics.tamu.edu/
13. NSF Workshops, Teaching Ethics and Computing, K. Bowyer, Univ. Notre Dame: http://www.cse.nd.edu/~kwb/nsf-ufe/index.html
14. NSPE Board of Ethical Review: http://www.nspe.org/ethics/eh1-whb.asp
15. Ethics Officer Association: http://www.eoa.org/
16. Journal, "Science and Engineering Ethics": http://www.opragen.co.uk

Evaluation Criteria

Grading Policy

The entire grade is based on the satisfactory completion of the presentation of the term paper in an appropriate engineering report at the end of semester. The final grade is based on individual and team performance throughout the semester.

Grade Composition

Attendance	10%
Class Participation	15%
Paper proposal	10%
Midterm	15%
Individual evaluation	10%
Oral presentation	15%
Term paper report	25%
Total	100%

Grading Scale

I use a grading scale where 100 is the maximum possible score. Numerical and letter grades correspond as follows:

90 - 100	= A
80 - 85	= B	86 - 89	= AB
70 - 75	= C	76 - 79	= BC
60 - 65	= D	66 - 69	= CD
0 - 59	= F

Numerical scores are recorded and used throughout the semester, being converted to a letter grade at the end of the quarter. The overall course grade will be determined by the relative contributions from exams, quiz, lab, homework, and final exam as given on the course syllabus.

Cheating

University rules require that any student caught cheating or copying from another student receive a failing grade for the course and be reported to the Dean of Students. Copying includes copying or sharing any part of a computer file.

Statements

Academic honesty and conduct

All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with the Michigan Tech Senate Policies, specially the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures.

Following is the policy adopted by the Senate on November 9, 1960 and approved by the President:

"A student detected cheating beyond any reasonable doubt during any examination period or in the preparation of any significant individual assignment such as a quarter report, is to receive a failing grade for the course, and a record of the failure is to be submitted to the Dean of Students. This record is to be for the confidential use of the Dean of Students and is to be destroyed upon the student's graduation. On the second such occurrence, a student shall be expelled from the University without the possibility of readmission."

Cheating shall be considered to include using any information to which you are not entitled. During an exam this would include written crib sheets, writing on your body, using the information from another student’s exam paper, programming formulas or data into the memory of a programmable calculator, etc. I will make every effort to enforce this cheating policy.

Students with disabilities

MTU complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA). If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for equal access to education or services at MTU, please call Dr. Gloria Melton, Associate Dean of Students, at 7-2212. For other concerns about discrimination, you may contact your advisor, department head, or the Affirmative Action Office 7-3310.

Additional Information

Attendance

• You are expected to attend class sessions on a regular and continuing basis, as stated in the Student Handbook and Catalog.
• You are expected to arrive on time, according to the class schedule, and not depart until given permission.
• Tell me in advance if you will be absent (a short email note with your name, class section number, and the date(s) you expect to be absent will suffice).

Assignments

• You are required to complete and turn in assignments according to the directions, on or before the due date.
• Clearly label each assignment with your name (LAST name, FIRST name) and class section number.
• If you are absent, it is your responsibility to determine if you missed any assignments and to turn in any assignments that may have been due while you were absent.
• All exam days will be announced at least one week in advance. If a class is canceled on an exam day, the exam will be postponed to the next class meeting.

Make Up Policy

• Make up tests and other assignments can only be made up with a statement from a doctor or a documented proof of a genuine emergency. Otherwise, make up will be made only upon the instructor discretion.
• If you know you will be absent the day an assignment is due, tell me in advance. If you don’t contact me, your score will be zero.

Changes

This syllabus is subject to change as found appropriated by the instructor. The changes will be announced in class in a timely fashion.