Ethics in science and engineering education

The Council for Educational Development at the Faculty of Science and Technology offers a free two-part course on ethics in science and engineering education for everyone with basic pedagogical education and / or solid teaching experience.

In the first part of the course, corresponding to one week of full-time studies, the basics of ethics as well as ethics in disciplines within Science and Technology are discussed. In the second part of the course, corresponding to one week of full-time studies, participants carry out a project that aims to integrate ethics into, for example, a teaching element in a course, an educational program, or a subject area. The project is presented orally as well as in a written report. The course is based on ethical theory and research literature in ethics, and related areas.

Course facts

The course corresponds to 1 week (part 1) or two weeks (part 1 and 2).
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Course responsible: Maja Elmgren och Mikael Laaksoharju

Learning outcomes

After concluding part 1 of the course, the participant should be able to:

discuss fundamental ethical theory and demonstrate a reflected and critical approach towards the theory covered.
discuss and reflect on various ethical aspects of subjects in Science and Technology, in particular within education in the own discipline.
reflect on how ethical issues can be integrated into the own teaching.

After concluding part 2 of the course, the participant should be able to:

plan, implement, evaluate and reflect on the integration of ethics in a teaching module, in an educational program, or in a subject area within technology and science with support from research and proven experience of students' learning of the subject.

Course seminars and workshops

The course will be given in Swedish during 2026-2027

Part 1 (always 10:15-12)

8th of September 10.15-12.00
22rd of September 10.15-12.00
6th of October 10.15-12.00
20th of October 10.15-12.00
3rd of November 10.15-12.00
17th of November 10.15-12.00

Part 2 (different times)

1st of December 10.15-12.00
12th of January 10.15-16.00
8th of June 10.15-12

Course content

Part 1: Ethics basics and ethics in specific disciplines (equivalent to one week full-time)

Awareness of ethical issues in science and technology. Why are ethics important to scientists and engineers?
Engineers’ and scientists' responsibility. Avoidance of responsibility.
Models for critical thinking about ethics. Consequentialism and deontology.
Virtue, freedom, and relational ethics.
Justice and environmental ethics.
In-depth discussion of ethics in the participants' different disciplines.

Part 2: Projects that integrate ethics into practice (equivalent to one week full-time)

Discussion on how to integrate ethics into courses, educational programs and subject areas. The participants present project ideas.
In-depth discussion and testing of the participants' ethical elements with the course participants as a test group.
Feedback on completed ethics projects