Skip to main content

Teaching Science and Ethics to Undergraduates: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Science and Engineering Ethics volume 19, pages 535–543 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

The teaching of the ethical implications of scientific advances in science courses for undergraduates has significant advantages for both science and non-science majors. The article describes three courses taught by the author as examples of the concept, and examines the disadvantages as well as the advantages. A significant advantage of this approach is that many students take the courses primarily because of the ethical component who would not otherwise take science. A disadvantage is less time in the course for the science; arguably, this is outweighed by the greater retention of the science when it is put into context.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Allen, G. E. (2001). Essays on science and society: Is a new eugenics afoot? Science, 294(5540), 59–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alpay, E. (2011). Student-inspired activities for the teaching and learning of engineering ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics, 17(2).

  • Anonymous. (1992). Rio declaration on environment and development. New York, The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

  • Anonymous. (2009). The opportunity equation: Transforming mathematics and science education for citizenship and the global economy. New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation/Institute for Advanced Study.

  • Anonymous. (2011a). DNA Learning Center. From www.dnalc.org.

  • Anonymous. (2011b). Pugwash conferences on science and world affairs. Retrieved August 15, 2011, from www.pugwash.org.

  • Anonymous. Pub Med Health: Cystic Fibrosis. Retrieved August 23, 2011, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001167/.

  • Avard, M. (2006). Civic engagement in the science classroom. Journal of College Science Teaching, 15(3), 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berne, R. W., & Schummer, J. (2005). Teaching societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology to engineering students through science fiction. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 25(6), 459–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bransford, J., National Research Council (U.S.), Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, et al. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, L. (2002). Race, ethnicity, and health: Can genetics explain disparities. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 45(2), 59–174 (Spring 2002).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullard, R. D. (1990). Dumping in dixie: Race, class and environmental quality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullard, R. D. (1994). Unequal protection: Environmental justice and communities of color. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamany, K. (2001). Ninos Desaparecidos. Journal of College Science Teaching, 31(1), 61–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamany, K. (2006). Science and social justice: Making the case for case studies. Journal of College Science Teaching, 36(2).

  • Cohen, S. N. (1977). Recombinant DNA: Fact and fiction. Science, 195, 654–657.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conant, J. (2005). 109 East palace : Robert Oppenheimer and the secret city of Los Alamos. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, B. (1996). Foreward. Race, The history of an idea in the West. I. Hannaford. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, xii.

  • Cutter, S. L. (1995). Race, class and environmental justice. Progress in Human Geography, 19(111), 111–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, N. (2009). On moral grounds: Bioethics training for scientists. BioScience, 59(2), 112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dooley, D. A. (2000). The study of ethics in the applied science curriculum. Journal of College Science Teaching, March/April, 341–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duster, T. (2003). Backdoor to eugenics. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Duster, T. (2005). MEDICINE: Race and reification in science. Science, 307(5712), 1050–1051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ecklund, E. H. (2011). Science on faith. Chronicle of Higher Education, 57(23), B9–B10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, K. (2008). Biofuels and the food price crisis: A survey of the issues, Center for Global Development.

  • Feynman, R. Interview with Richard Feynman. You Tube.

  • Fish, J. M. (2002). Race and intelligence: Separating science from myth. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frank, R. B. (1999). Downfall: The end of the imperial Japanese empire. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, G. M. (2002). Racism: a short history. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, M. C., Portis S. C., et al. (2009). Toward a low-carbon economy: Municipal financing for energy efficiency and solar power. Environment (January–February).

  • Hannaford, I. (1994). The idiocy of race. (Cover story). Wilson Quarterly, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 18, 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannaford, I. (1996). Race: The history of an idea in the West. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington, S. (2009). Review of dumping in Dixie, by Robert Bullard.

  • Hasegawa, T. (2005). Racing the enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the surrender of Japan. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heely, M., Grabowski, J. J., et al. (2010). The ethics forum: A multi-institution, student = centered program for undergraduate researchers. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, 30(3), 20–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hershberg, J. G. (1993). James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the making of the nuclear age. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofrichter, R. (1993). Toxic struggles: The theory and practice of environmental justice. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kates, R., & Dasgupta, P. (2007). African poverty: A grand challenge for sustainability science. PNAS, 194(43), 16747–16750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kates, R. W., Parris, T. M., et al. (2005). What is sustainable development. Goals, indicators, values, and practice. Environment, 47(3), 9–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kevles, D. J. (1985). In the name of eugenics: Genetics and the uses of human heredity. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S. S.-J., Bolnick, D. A., et al. (2009). The illusive gold standard in genetic ancestry testing. Science, 325(5936), 38–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E. (1991). One long argument: Charles Darwin and the genesis of modern evolutionary thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGowan, A. H. (2005, May). Genes and race in the classroom: Science in a social context. Journal of College Science Teaching, 30–33.

  • McGowan, A. H. (2011). Energy and sustainability: An undergraduate course. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 1(1).

  • Passino, K. M. (2005). Educating the Humanitarian Engineer. Science Engineering Ethics, 15(4).

  • Reilly, J. T., & Strickland, M. (2010). A writing and ethics component for a quantum mechanics, physical chemistry course. Journal of College Science Teaching, March/April, 35–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, R. (1986). The making of the atomic bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotblat, J. (1985). Leaving the bomb project. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

  • Schafer, A., Jacoby H. D., et al. (2009). The other climate threat: Transportation. American Scientist. Research Triangle Park, NC, Sigma Xi. 97, 476–483.

  • Schwerin, N. (1997). A Question of Genes, Backbone Media.

  • Solecki, W. D., & Leichenko, R. M. (2006). Urbanization and the metropolitan environment: Lessons from New York and Shanghai. (Cover story). Environment, 48(4), 8–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stocking, G. W. (1966). Franz boas and the culture concept in historical perspective. American Anthropologist, 68(4), 867–882.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilman, D., Socolow, R., et al. (2009). Beneficial biofuels—The food, energy, and environment trilemma. Science, 325(5938), 270–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • (U.S.), N. S. B. (2010). Science and engineering indicators 2010. Washinton, DC: National Science Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Venkataraman, B. (2007). Chemistry of life: Chemical evolution as a theme for teaching undergraduate chemistry. Chemical evolution: Chemical change across space and time. American Chemical Society, Oxford University Press.

  • Weart, S. R. (2008). The discovery of global warming. Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willems, P. A. (2009). The biofuels landscape through the lens of industrial chemistry. Science, 325(5941), 707–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Science, Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, 65 West 11th Street, New York, NY, 10011, USA

    Alan H. McGowan

Authors
  1. Alan H. McGowan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan H. McGowan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McGowan, A.H. Teaching Science and Ethics to Undergraduates: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Sci Eng Ethics 19, 535–543 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-011-9338-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-011-9338-3

Keywords

  • Teaching
  • Ethics
  • Science
  • Engineering
  • Genetics
  • Race in human beings
  • Atom bomb