Ethical Decision-making Processes in Authentic Environmental Engineering Contexts Through Systems Thinking and Team Collaboration Lenses: An Embedded Single Case Study

Authors

Toluwalase Eniola Brower, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Heidi Diefes-Dux

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Committee Members

Deepak Keshwani, Grace Panther, Jessica Deters

Department

Engineering

Date of this Version

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Major: Engineering

Under the supervision of Professor

Lincoln, Nebraska, December 2025

Comments

Copyright 2025, the author. Used by permission

Abstract

Ethical and professional responsibility is a critical learning outcome emphasized in ABET accreditation. However, ethics instruction in engineering education often lacks integration of system-level considerations such as economic, environmental, and societal contexts, that are essential for developing engineering solutions that ensure the safety and welfare of diverse stakeholders. This embedded single-case study investigated the integration of authentic ethics instruction within a junior-level environmental engineering course at a Midwestern U.S. university during spring 2025 and explores how civil engineering student teams within the course engage in ethical decision-making process during authentic problem-solving.

The instructional intervention consisted of four problem-based ethics modules, each addressing a distinct ethics topic through lectures and team-based problem-solving activities. Deductive coding of students’ team documents was conducted to examine the process of collaboration and ethical decision-making.

The study provided a context-rich account of the development and implementation of a problem-based ethics module and practical guidance for embedding effective ethics instruction across the broader engineering curriculum, thus directly supports the ABET student outcome related to cultivating ethical responsibilities. Additionally, the study provided insights for facilitating ethics instruction through team collaboration. Findings suggest that team collaboration style influences system-level considerations of engineering problems and solutions within diverse economic, environmental, and societal contexts. Findings also suggest that the style of team collaboration significantly influenced the quality of ethical judgments constructed by teams.

Advisor: Heidi Diefes-Dux

Recommended Citation

Brower, Toluwalase Eniola, "Ethical Decision-making Processes in Authentic Environmental Engineering Contexts Through Systems Thinking and Team Collaboration Lenses: An Embedded Single Case Study" (2025). Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–. 393.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissunl/393