Funding Program: National Science Foundation Cultivating Cultures of Ethical STEM (NSF CCE STEM) Award Number 1635554

Project Title: Institutional Transformation: The Role of Service Learning and Community Engagement on the Ethical Development of STEM Students and Campus Culture

Leadership: Jason Borenstein (PI: May 2021-August 2022), Wendy Newstetter (Co-PI), and Ellen Zegura (Co-PI); Colin Potts (PI: September 2016-May 2021) 

Research Scientist: Jeonghyun (Jonna) Lee (April 2020-August 2022)

Graduate Research Assistants:  Daniel Schiff (May 2018-July 2022); Quintin Kreth (August 2021-August 2022); Emma Logevall (January-May 2019); Alexandra "Lexi" Erwin (January 2017-May 2018)

Start and End Date:  September 2016 – August 2022

Keywords: community engagement; ethics; public well-being; service learning; social responsibility; STEM education

Contact Information: borenstein@gatech.edu

Abstract: Current and future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals produce products and services that touch nearly every aspect of human life. This proposed research will focus on the ethical responsibility of STEM professionals to critically examine the role of technology and to understand how its design impacts society at large. The proposed research will inform the design of undergraduate STEM, and other educational efforts. A key goal of the proposed research is to determine which specific facets of student participation in community engagement help students to become better attuned to promoting the public's well-being. The proposed research findings will inform curriculum development and training programs for STEM professionals. It will be of interest to universities, professional societies, communities and industry. 

This project aims to determine whether appropriately structured community engagement, including service learning, actively contributes to the moral maturation of students and facilitates the broadening of their sphere of ethical concern. The research team aims to discover: (1) whether and how repeat exposure to the public through curriculum-based community engagement can promote the concern that students have for the public's well-being; (2) what role extracurricular community engagement activities play, if any, in increasing student concern for the public; and (3) whether a new service learning program focused on community engagement and sustainability can have a transformative institutional impact. The research team will rigorously evaluate the effects that various forms of community engagement have on students' perceptions of their ethical responsibilities to the public. A mixed quantitative and qualitative approach will be used to understand what, why, and how community engagement experiences affect the mindset of students. The project should reveal the institutional impact of a broad-based effort to increase opportunities in community engagement and could readily inform curricular design at numerous institutions.

Assessment Instruments:

  • First Year Version: The research team developed version 1.0 of the Generalized Professional Responsibility Assessment (GPRA); this version is intended to be used with first year students.  The foundation and theoretical basis for the GPRA is derived from the Engineering Professional Responsibility Assessment (EPRA) created by Nathan E. Canney and Angela R. Bielefeldt from the University of Colorado – Boulder with support by the U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers under Grant No. 1158863.
  • Midpoint Version: The research team developed version 1.1 of the GPRA; this version was administered to students at the midpoint of their academic program.

Interview Materials:

  • First Round of Interviews: The research team developed a semi-structured interview script and an interview codebook for a series of student interviews conducted during Spring 2019; this was at the midpoint of the students' academic program.  The primary intent of these materials is to determine what impact, if any, community engagement activities had on student social responsibility attitudes.
  • Second Round of Interviews: The research team developed a semi-structured script for the second round of interviews close to when students graduate from their program.

Publications:

Presentations:

  • Daniel Schiff (presenter), Jeonghyun (Jonna) Lee, Jason Borenstein, and Ellen Zegura. "Understanding Undergraduate Social Responsibility Development in STEM: Findings from a Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Study." Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) 2022, November 19, 2022 (Washington-DC).

  • Quintin Kreth (presenter), Daniel Schiff, Jeonghyun (Jonna) Lee, Ellen Zegura, and Jason Borenstein. "Examining Professional Social Responsibility Development among Computer Science Undergraduates Using the Generalized Professional Responsibility Assessment." 2022 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference and Exposition, June 28, 2022 (Minneapolis-MN).

  • Quintin Kreth (presenter), Daniel Schiff, Jeonghyun (Jonna) Lee, Jason Borenstein, and Ellen Zegura. "Examining Professional Social Responsibility Development among Computer Science Undergraduates Using the Generalized Professional Responsibility Assessment." Embedded EthiCS @ Harvard Ethical Issues in AI and Computing Conference, June 3, 2022 (Cambridge-MA).

  • Daniel Schiff (co-presenter), Jeonghyun (Jonna) Lee (co-presenter), Jason Borenstein, and Ellen Zegura. “Influences and Inhibitors in Undergraduate Social Responsibility Development: Evidence from a Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Study.” Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) Annual Meeting, February 25, 2022 (Cincinnati-OH).
  • Jason Borenstein. “Community Engagement and Undergraduate Social Responsibility Attitudes.” SEFI Ethics webinar: Justice and Community Engagement in Engineering Education, July 15, 2021 (virtual panel).
  • Daniel Schiff (presenter), Jason Borenstein, and Ellen Zegura. “Social Responsibility Development in Undergraduate STEM Students: Influences and Inhibitors.” Virtual Workshop: Building Inclusive Ethical Cultures in STEM, April 24, 2021.
  • Daniel Schiff (co-presenter), Jonna Lee (co-presenter), Jason Borenstein, and Ellen Zegura. “Does Community Engagement in College Shape Social Responsibility Attitudes? Evidence from a Longitudinal Study.” Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) Annual Meeting, February 27, 2021 (flash presentation).
  • Daniel Schiff (presenter), Emma Logevall, Jason Borenstein, Wendy Newstetter, Colin Potts, and Ellen Zegura. “Pathways to Professional Social Responsibility: The Development of Personal and Professional Values in Undergraduates.” Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, February 22, 2020.
  • Daniel Schiff (presenter), Jason Borenstein, Wendy Newstetter, Colin Potts, and Ellen Zegura. “Towards a Theoretical Understanding of Professional Social Responsibility Development.” Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, March 1, 2019.
  • Jason Borenstein presented “Understanding Social Responsibility Through the Generalized Professional Responsibility Assessment (GPRA)” during a workshop entitled Building an Assessment Toolkit for Research Integrity Education sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) and the US Office of Research Integrity (ORI), Baltimore, Maryland, February 28, 2019.
  • Jason Borenstein presented “The Generalized Professional Responsibility Assessment (GPRA)” during a panel entitled Assessing Ethics Education: How to Measure Ethical Sensitivity, Reasoning, Behavior, Decision Making, and Skills? at The Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy Of/In Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE) 2018 Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 5, 2018.
  • Alexandria Erwin, Jason Borenstein, Wendy Newstetter, Colin Potts (presenter), and Ellen Zegura. “STEM Students’ Attitudes Towards Public Welfare: The Effects of Community Engagement.” A poster presented during the Engaged Scholarship for Ethics and Responsible Innovation in STEM Fields workshop at North Carolina State University, March 14, 2018.