A problem-based approach to cultivating student competence in engineering ethics, societal impact and energy sustainability

The goal of the interdisciplinary approach in this course was to integrate critical thinking theories with problem-based curriculum for the benefits of engineering students. In order to instill critical thinking into students' engineering background, we used the 2008 China earthquake as a tool to apply the critical thinking to generate various possible solutions. Students' written assignments were collected and analyzed to reveal how they learn from the interdisciplinary problem-based approach. The results show that students' performance in self-regulation and analytic skills are the most frequent critical thinking skills they have revealed. The East Asian region has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, resulting in unprecedented high levels of urbanization (Yates, 2007). This has created concern for the environmental ecology of the region. The case study of this study has focused on the various effects of urbanization and economic growth on the entire East Asian region, including some of the problems created from urban congestion. The integrated engineering ethics and societal issues ranging from construction and urban planning, public policy, public health to earth sciences. As the students research on China earthquake issues such as the regulations on construction of China and the East Asian region, the case study and group discussion has helped them highlighting the continual development of the East Asian society while balancing environmental sustenance and construction security. In response to the ever-changing new issues on engineering ethics, we hope to establish an inter-disciplinary model to enhance the global ethics and highlight the importance of societal considerations.