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KNF 3102 Engineering Ethics (Electrical) NOR HAMIZAH ABDUL RAHMAN [25610]
Table of Contents

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................1
1.1 What is Ethics?
1.2 Engineering Ethics
1.3 Implementation of Ethics in Engineering Education
1.4 Scope of study
2. Literature review / background ........................................................................................3
3. Analysis ...............................................................................................................................4
3.1 Table 1: Comparison in term of Subject Title
3.2 Table 2 : Comparison in term of Subject Code
3.3 Table 3: Comparison in term of Credit Hour
3.4 Table 4 : Comparison in term of Year Taught
3.5 Table 5 : Comparison in term of Objective
3.6 Table 6 : Comparison in term of Assessments
3.7 Table 7 : Comparison in term of Content
3.8 Table 8 : Comparison in term of all Content

4. Discussion..........................................................................................................................16
5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................21
6. References .........................................................................................................................22

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 What is Ethics?

Ethics are moral standards that help guide behavior, actions, and choices. Ethics are grounded
in the notion of responsibility (as free moral agents, individuals, organizations, and societies are
responsible for the actions that they take) and accountability (individuals, organizations, and
society should be held accountable to others for the consequences of their actions). In most
societies, a system of laws codifies the most significant ethical standards and provides a
mechanism for holding people, organizations, and even governments accountable. (Laudon, et
al, 1996) [1].

1.2 Engineering Ethics
Engineering ethics is the field of applied ethics and system of moral principles that apply
to the practice of engineering. The field examines and sets the obligations by engineers to
society, to their clients, and to the profession. As a scholarly discipline, it is closely related to
subjects such as the philosophy of science, the philosophy of engineering, and the ethics of
technology [2].
The importance of engineers in today's society is great and obvious. Therefore, the ethical
issues they are dealing with and the decisions they make can influence the whole society and the
discussion on ethics in engineering education is thus of big importance. Ethics is something
everybody learns to a certain level while growing up, during his/her whole education, at home
etc. So when a person enters the higher level of education he/she already has some knowledge
about ethics. The importance of introducing the engineering ethics subject in undergraduates
engineering courses is to improve the awareness of the undergraduates towards the challenging
task involving ethical problems. The undergraduates will be exposed to the knowledge of
relevant standards such as BEM Act 2007, BEM Code of Conduct, IEEE code of ethics, BEM
code of professional conduct and etc. These standards will provide the engineers guidelines that
assist them in various situations. However, these standards does not provide any solutions or
answers to the engineers who are suffering ethical dilemma but provide only guidelines.

1.3 Implementation of Ethics in Engineering Education

The idea of having a course on ethics was supported by all, mainly not as a mandatory
course but more as compulsory. More ideas on how the course should look like were presented:
The course should give a direction of thinking that would make people more aware of their
actions. By introducing a certain level of criticism, automatic behaviour would be excluded from
decision making.
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Students generally would like to have interaction among all the students that enrolled the
course and the teacher. It is a way through which more ideas could come up and more sharing
could exist.
The course should include: case studies, examples from real life, problemsolving methods.
Although theory and definitions are not so attractive to students, they should exist.
Optionally: the first contact with ethics should be before university, and it should be about
general ethics and latter on professional ethics should be given at university.
Dynamic course: as the time is changing the material should also change. The technologies are
changing, so the courses should take it into account.
The course should represent a lot of examples from real life.
About the person(s) who will give the course there were more ideas:
-The person should have not just theoretical knowledge but also a practical background, the
person should have experience as working as an engineer or as an option, special training on
ethics like our course right now.
-Cooperation among two persons: engineer who will be practical and philosopher who will be
theoretical.
Having and not having grading:
The grading will be a reason for bigger interest and motivation during the course. The grade
should not be based on exam, but on the activities during the time the course is rolling and a final
project.

1. 4 Scope of Study
My research was emphasizing in public universities (IPTAs) in Malaysia, which I
manage to get their course plan. They are namely as Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Malaysia
Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(UKM), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Teknikal Melaka (UTeM), and Universiti Malaysia
Perlis (UNIMAP).
While for private higher instituitions, I do have course plan from Universiti Tenaga
Nasional (UNITEN) , Universiti Multimedia (MMU) and also UTAR ( Universiti Tunku Abdul
Razak).

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW / BACKGROUND
Ethics is one of the important attributes of a professional engineer or event a registered
graduate engineer without professional status. Without ethical attribute, no engineer can claim he
is professional in whatever sense. Nowadays there are many unethical deeds or misbehaves or
malpractices of engineers that have reduced the public confidence in the engineers reliability
and integrity to deliver their duty efficiently and safely. Ethics in engineering comes together
with the integrity of an engineer. In order the engineer to be seen as having integrity, he or she
should know the ethics of engineering which covers not only during their working hours but also
extended to after working hours activities and lifestyle.

Activities in engineering works normally involves safety and healthy. There were
instances where unethical action or decision of an engineer resulting to the unnecessary fatal
accident or serious injury. Some new engineers who might be the cause of the accident were too
young to be punished for these fatality or injury. By punishing them it could induce bad side
effects such as stress or trauma which could jeopardize their motivation towards working more
efficiently, safely and responsibly. Therefore, it is important for the immediate supervisor to give
their subordinate an appropriate ethics briefing in the early stage of recruitment or remind them
every now and then during the employment.[3]

Regarding to this task, some of the works just done by comparison the course plan between
the IPTA in Malaysia, while my paper consist of IPTA and some IPTS in Malaysia. Besides
that, their research come out with the ethical awareness amongst engineering students in
Malaysian public universities which determine the prevailing ethical knowledge, established the
level of the ethics amongst the student in Malaysian public universities. Meanwhile, this paper
show the comparison of the engineering ethics course in Malaysia, a comparison in every single
details of the course such as in term of learning outcome, content, objective of the course and etc.
For this paper, research method is used by data collection and finding the information
through the internet, reference book and through other university website. For other people work,
the study or work they used was carried out using the survey research method, which is a way of
gathering the information from respondents for those specific question or research. Survey
research is a systematic gathering of information from respondents for the purpose of
understanding and/or predicting some aspect of behavior of the population of interest quote by
Tull and Hawkins (1990). There are some similarity with this study which the researcher must
concern with the sampling and data analysis from the research. Finding the sample like course
plan or syllabus of each university, and using the information gather to do analysis. The
differences from the researcher are questionnaire design and questionnaire administration is
concerned in their work due to the different method used in their study. Questionnaire design and
questionnaire administration are using in their work importance to get the actual result.

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3. ANALYSIS.
PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA
TABLE 1: COMPARISON IN TERM OF NAME OF THE COURSE
UNIVERSITY NAME OF THE COURSE
Universiti Malaya (UM) Moral & Ethics In Engineering Profession
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Engineering Ethics And Technology Development
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Engineers In Society
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Engineering And Society
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIA) Engineering Ethics, Safety And Environment
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Engineering Ethics
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Professional Engineering Practice
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) Engineering Ethics
Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Engineers In Society

As we can see from the Table 1, I compare the course name from each university and it
shows that some of the universities have the same name and some of them has different name.
We can figure out that most of the universities has different name course.UNIMAS course name
was Engineering Ethics same goes to UTeM. While UM course name was Moral & Ethics In
Engineering Profession, UKM with Engineering Ethics And Technology Development, USM,
UPM and UnimaP has the same name which is Engineers In Society. Followed by UTM ,their
course name was Professional Engineering Practice while in UIA it was Engineering Ethics,
Safety And Environment.
PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA
TABLE 1.1: COMPARISON IN TERM OF NAME OF THE COURSE
NUM UNIVERSITY NAME OF THE COURSE
1 Universiti Tenaga Nasional Project Management & Construction
2 Universiti Multimedia Ethics and Professional Conduct
3 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Engineer in Society

For private institutions, the name was Project Management & Construction for UNITEN,
Engineer in Society for UTAR while Ethics and Professional Conduct for MMU. My conclusion
is each university has their own name but mostly the their own specific name for their course
subject.
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TABLE 2: COMPARISON OF THE SUBJECT CODE
Num UNIVERSITY SUBJECT CODE
1 Universiti Malaya (UM) KXEX 2165
2 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) KKKF3283
3 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) EUP 222
4 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) KAW 3911
5 Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIA) GEN 4100
6 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) KNF3102
7 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) SEE4012
8 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) BENU 4583
9 Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) EUT 440

Analysis from the Table 2, shown that most of the universities used alphabets and
number to represent the code of course. However, each university used different types of codes
for engineering ethics. As in UNIMAS itself, the code subject was KNF 3102, which is 3 stands
for year taught and 2 at the back contain the credit of the subject. This kind of pattern also the
same with UTM, UKM, and UTeM. And the rest of it might used their own coding regarding to
their management.

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TABLE 2.1: COMPARISON IN TERM OF SUBJECT CODE
NUM UNIVERSITY SUBJECT CODE
1 Universiti Tenaga Nasional ( UNITEN ) COEB422
2 Universiti Multimedia ( MMU ) TEP 1281
3 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman ( UTAR) UEME4243

For private institutions, the code subject was COEB422 ( UNITEN ),TEP 1281 code at
MMU and UEME4243 goes for UTAR. UTAR seems like using the same concept with
UNIMAS which is 4 stands for year taken and 2 at the back contains the credit.

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TABLE 3: COMPARISON IN CREDIT HOUR
Num UNIVERSITY CREDIT HOUR
1 Universiti Malaya (UM) 3
2 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) 3
3 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) 3
4 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 3
5 Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIA) 3
6 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2
7 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) 2
8 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)

3
9 Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) 3

From the table above, it shows that most of engineering ethics courses is 3 hours except
UNIMAS and UTM which is 2 credits hours only.
TABLE 3.1: COMPARISON IN THE TERM OF CREDIT
NUM UNIVERSITY CREDIT
1 Universiti Tenaga Nasional ( UNITEN ) 3
2 Universiti Multimedia ( MMU ) 3
3 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman ( UTAR) 3
In private sector, they all offered 3 hours kredit for this subject.
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TABLE 4: COMPARISON IN YEAR TAUGHT
Num UNIVERSITY YEAR TAUGHT
1 Universiti Malaya (UM)
4
2 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
3
3 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
2
4 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 3
5 Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIA)
Every Semester
6 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
3
7 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
4
8 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)

short semester after semester 4
9 Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP)
4

From the table above, it shows that most of universities are implementing this course in
Year 3 or Year 4. However, in UTeM the course was offered during short semester after
semester 4 while in UIA, this course was offered in every semester.
TABLE 4.1: YEAR OF TAUGHT
NUM UNIVERSITY YEAR TAUGHT
1 Universiti Tenaga Nasional ( UNITEN ) 3
2 Universiti Multimedia ( MMU ) TRIMESTER 3
3 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman ( UTAR) 4

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TABLE 5: COMPARISON OF OBJECTIVE
NUM UNIVERSITY OBJECTIVE/ SYNOPSIS
1 UM
Introduction to engineering profession and implication of engineering career. Moral,
religious and ethical theories &current Codes of Ethics. Responsibilities and right of
Engineers and implication of public welfare and loyalty to employer. Environmental
ethics, risks, liability and law. Roles of Engineers on sustainable development and
globalization.
2 UKM
The main objective of this course is to provide understanding of engineering ethics
that will enable the student to assess correctly the moral and ethical problems arising
from engineering practice and technology development. The course discusses firstly
the ethical foundations of the engineering profession, professional conduct
(responsibility, honesty, integrity, reliability) and the engineering code of ethics.
This is followed by a discussion on ethical theories such as virtue ethics (Islamic,
Aristotelian, Budhist, Taoist, Hindu), utilitarian (act and rule) ethics, rights ethics
and duty ethics. Ethical issues in engineering ethics and technology development are
discussed with particular emphasis on safety and risk, environmental pollution,
informed consent, corporate duty, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, corruption,
the right to whistle blowing and the moral rights of engineers. Case studies are used
to illustrate concepts throughout the course.
3 USM
Engineering ethics: meaning of ethics, importance of ethics, principles of ethics,
required ethical behavior, code of engineering ethics, responsibilities of professional
engineer, professional behavior. Basics of law for engineers: introduction to
Malaysian legal system, law of contract, law of agency, law of tort, industrial law,
intellectual property law, corruption law. Financial accounting: introduction to
accounting, recording accounting information, trial balance, basics of financial
statements, accounts adjustments, interpreting accounting information, financial
statement analysis. Basics of management: introduction to management theories,
planning, organizing, leading, controlling, management function.
4 UPM
This course covers engineering profession, engineering ethics and responsibility,
engineering issues, engineer and law, engineering contract, management,
entrepreneurship, seminar and mini-project.
5 UIA
1.Focuses On Engineering Professional Ethics From An Islamic Perspective.
2.Relate Engineering Professionalism To Islamic Ethical Foundations.
6 UNIMAS
The course will outline the ethics within the engineering profession. It will discuss
issues pertaining the moral aspects such as plagiarism, code of ethics, social
obligations, accountability, confidentiality of design and ideas and other issues.
Students are also informed about the importance of engineering boards such as BEM
and the institution of engineers (IEM).
7 UTM
To Introduce And Expose Students To The Concepts, Theories And The Practice Of
Professional Engineer.
8 UTeM Career guidance, Job Seeking Strategies, Resume and Cover Letters, Interview
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Techniques. Ethics and professionalism, Engineers and society, Professional ethics,
Code of ethics, IEM, BEM code of ethics, Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers,
Regulation on professional conducts, Engineer as employee, Moral decision making,
Engineer Accountability, Ethics practice in occupational safety and health at work;
Engineers legal liability Engineer and environment:, Ethics dealing with human ,
Global and Local Case Studies, Engineers and Technologies Progress, Ethics in
Research and Experimentation.
9 UniMAP
Exposure To Engineering Students The Basic Knowledge In The Field Of
Engineering Ethics, Exposed To Important Concepts In Engineering Ethics
In Malaysia, And Provide Understanding And A Solid Foundation And Practical In
The Field Of Engineering Ethics

For UM, mostly they learn the implications of moral and ethics in engineering works,
understand the basis of moral & ethics behind the promulgation of codes of ethics(COE) by
professional engineering bodies, recognize the practical needs of COE, understand COE of
various organization such as Institution of Engineers , Malaysia(IEM) and realize the implication
of moral & ethics for engineers behavior.

For UKM, main objective of this course is to provide understanding of engineering
ethics. This is followed by a discussion on ethical theories such as virtue ethics (Islamic, ,
Budhist, Taoist, Hindu), utilitarian (act and rule) ethics, rights ethics and duty ethics. Ethical
issues in engineering ethics and technology development are discussed with particular emphasis
on safety and risk, environmental pollution, informed consent, corporate duty, confidentiality,
conflicts of interest, corruption, the right to whistle blowing and the moral rights of engineers.
Case studies are used to illustrate concepts throughout the course.

For USM, their undergraduates also learn and carry out responsibilities of a professional
engineer. Undergraduates also aware to some ethical issue and able think a solution to solve the
issue. Just like other university, undergraduates also learn soft skill such as communication skill.
For UPM, undergraduates will also understand the scope and role of engineers in society
but UPM will more emphasis student to be more prepared to face their society after they
graduate.
For UIA, they introduce students to the real world concept in engineering design and
principles draw meaningful summary from various fields related to engineering discipline in
term of engineering application, ethics and professional development and also expose students to
some basic elements or components of real engineering environment in the industrial place.
In the course outcome section, UNIMAS is more concentrate to soft skill, moral ethics
and responsibility as an engineer. Besides that, UNIMAS also emphasize on contemporary issues
of engineering field such as global, environmental, safety issues.
For UTM, undergraduates require some soft skill and understand the engineering ethics
field. Undergraduates may gain some extra knowledge such as analyze some issue that related to
engineering ethics and they can apply the principles to real world applications.
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For UTeM, besides the responsibilities and soft skill that usually university will teach to
their undergraduates, UTeMs undergraduates may expose to the effects and impact of
technology on society, culture and environment.
For Unimap, undergraduates may understand, identify issues and challenges of
engineering ethics just like other university undergraduates learn.

TABLE 5.1: COMPARISON IN TERM OF THE OBJECTIVE
NUM UNIVERSITY OBJECTIVE
1
UNITEN
1) To impart to the participants an awareness of the social
dimension of the engineering profession, the professional and
ethical responsibility of the practicing engineer,
2) To understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global
and social context and the importance of the need for life-long
learning and a knowledge of contemporary issues.
2
MMU
Students will explore the ethical and moral issues that will
confront them in the information technology field. They will
examine issues of professional conduct and their responsibilities
to society as an information technology professional. A broad
range of topics will be covered, including professional codes of
ethics, computer crime and security, encryption/privacy/free-
speech, safety critical
systems, whistle blowing, intellectual property, fraud and unfair
business dealings, and software liability.
3
UTAR
The objective of this course is to :-
To provide knowledge of impact of technology on society
To provide knowledge of professional issues in
engineering, viz.,
Engineering Safety
Sustainable Development
Code of Ethics

For UTAR, the undergraduates may understand more about the engineering ethics field
just like others university will teach their student. UTAR also let the undergraduates to
recognizes and apply concepts related to Lifelong Learning to keep in pace with advancement of
technology.
For UNITEN, after taking this course, student may aware to the influence of the
engineering profession on society. They also know about the importance of professionalism in
engineering. Undergraduates may also require some soft skill such as communication skill,
Project Management and Teamwork & Leadership.
For MMU, besides that responsibility undergraduates also may understand the impact of
technology on nowadays and on succeeding generations which will be essential to reaching the
goals of survival, peaceful coexistence, ethical living, safety, and prosperity.
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TABLE 6: COMPARISON IN TERM OF ASSESMENT
UNIVERSITY
ASSESMENT
COURSEWORK (%) FINAL(%)
UM 40 60
UKM N/A
USM 40 60
UPM 60 40
UIA N/A
UNIMAS 50 50
UTM 50 50
UTeM N/A
UniMAP N/A

TABLE 6.1: COMPARISON IN TERM OF ASSESMENT
UNIVERSITY
OBJECTIVE
COURSEWORK (%) FINAL (%)
UNITEN 35 65
MMU 50 50
UTAR 30 70

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TABLE 7: COMPARISON IN TERM OF CONTENT
NUM UNIVERSITY OBJECTIVE/ SYNOPSIS
1 UM
Introduction to engineering profession and implication of engineering
career. Moral, religious and ethical theories &current Codes of Ethics.
Responsibilities and right of Engineers and implication of public welfare
and loyalty to employer. Environmental ethics, risks, liability and law.
Roles of Engineers on sustainable development and globalization.
2 UKM

The main objective of this course is to provide understanding of engineering
ethics that will enable the student to assess correctly the moral and ethical
problems arising from engineering practice and technology development.
The course discusses firstly the ethical foundations of the engineering
profession, professional conduct (responsibility, honesty, integrity,
reliability) and the engineering code of ethics. This is followed by a
discussion on ethical theories such as virtue ethics (Islamic, Aristotelian,
Budhist, Taoist, Hindu), utilitarian (act and rule) ethics, rights ethics and
duty ethics. Ethical issues in engineering ethics and technology
development are discussed with particular emphasis on safety and risk,
environmental pollution, informed consent, corporate duty, confidentiality,
conflicts of interest, corruption, the right to whistle blowing and the moral
rights of engineers. Case studies are used to illustrate concepts throughout
the course
.
3 USM

Engineering ethics: meaning of ethics, importance of ethics, principles of
ethics, required ethical behavior, code of engineering ethics, responsibilities
of professional engineer, professional behavior. Basics of law for engineers:
introduction to Malaysian legal system, law of contract, law of agency, law
of tort, industrial law, intellectual property law, corruption law. Financial
accounting: introduction to accounting, recording accounting information,
trial balance, basics of financial statements, accounts adjustments,
interpreting accounting information, financial statement analysis. Basics of
management: introduction to management theories, planning, organizing,
leading, controlling, management function.

4 UPM

This course covers engineering profession, engineering ethics and
responsibility, engineering issues, engineer and law, engineering contract,
management, entrepreneurship, seminar and mini-project.

5 UIA

1. Focuses On Engineering Professional Ethics From An Islamic
Perspective.
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2. Relate Engineering Professionalism To Islamic Ethical Foundations.
6 UNIMAS

The course will outline the ethics within the engineering profession. It will
discuss issues pertaining the moral aspects such as plagiarism, code of
ethics, social obligations, accountability, confidentiality of design and ideas
and other issues. Students are also informed about the importance of
engineering boards such as BEM and the institution of engineers (IEM).

7 UTM

To Introduce And Expose Students To The Concepts, Theories And The
Practice Of Professional Engineer.

8 UTeM

Career guidance, Job Seeking Strategies, Resume and Cover
Letters,Interview Techniques. Ethics and professionalism, Engineers and
society, Professional ethics, Code of ethics, IEM, BEM code of ethics,
Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers, Regulation on professional
conducts, Engineer as employee, Moral decision making, Engineer
Accountability, Ethics practice in occupational safety and health at work;
Engineers legal liability Engineer and environment:, Ethics dealing with
human , Global and Local Case Studies, Engineers and Technologies
Progress, Ethics in Research and Experimentation.

9 UniMAP

Exposure To Engineering Students The Basic Knowledge In The Field Of
Engineering Ethics, Exposed To Important Concepts In Engineering Ethics
In Malaysia, And Provide Understanding And A Solid Foundation And
Practical In The Field Of Engineering Ethics

TABLE 7.1: COMPARISON IN TERMS OF CONTENT
NUM UNIVERSITY CONTENT
1 UNITEN
1. Introduction to Engineers and Society
2. Engineering professionalism, ethics and engineering
boards
3. Engineering history, education and engineering
societies
4. Communication, development and its impact on the
environment
5. Occupational Safety and Health
6. Intellectual property
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7. Project Management
8. Standards and Quality
9. Teamwork & Leadership
2 MMU
Ethics Critical-Thinking Skills Professional Codes of
Ethics Computer Crime Information and the Law
Software Piracy Intellectual-Property Issues
Environmental and Health Concerns Striving for
Fairness
3 UTAR
The Impact of Technology on Society
Professional Issues in Engineering
Statutes and Standards related to engineering practice,
environment and safety

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4. DISCUSSION
TABLE 8: Comparison between Public University
Name of
Institution
Name of
Course
Name of Code
Subject
No of
Credit
Year
offered
Assessment :-
Course
Work
(%)
Final (%)
UM
Moral &
Ethics In
Engineering
Profession
KXEX 2165 3 4 40 60
UKM
Engineering
Ethics And
Technology
Development
KKKF3283 3 3 NA
USM
Engineers In
Society
EUP 222 3 2 40 60
UPM
Engineering
And Society
KAW 3911 3 3 60 40
UIA
Engineering
Ethics, Safety
And
Environment
GEN 4100 3
Every
Semester
NA
UNIMAS
Engineering
Ethics
KNF3102 2 3 50 50
UTM
Professional
Engineering
Practice
SEE4012 2 4 50 50
UTeM
Engineering
Ethics
BENU 4583 3
Short
semester
after
semester 4
NA
UniMAP
Engineers In
Society
EUT 440 3 4 NA

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TABLE 8.1: Comparison between Private University
Name of Institution UNITEN MMU UTAR
Name of Course
Project Management &
Construction
Ethics and Professional
Conduct
Engineer in Society
Name of Code Subject
COEB422 TEP 1281 UEME4243
No of Credit
3 3 3
Year offered
3 TRIMESTER 3 2
Assessments :-

Course Work (%)
35 50 30
Final (%)
65 50 70

Based on data collected, I will elaborate more on my research. We were exposed to
engineering ethics mostly during undergraduates programs. As in Malaysia, the name of
engineering ethic itself is different for each university. To name a few, in UNIMAS, we have
Engineering Ethics, in UIA they used Engineering Ethics, Safety And Environment. Engineering
Ethics And Technology Development for UKM and etc. In the private sector, the name was
Project Management & Construction for UNITEN, Engineer in Society for UTAR while Ethics
and Professional Conduct for MMU.
If possible, the engineering ethic code or the name of the course should be standardized
so that the engineering students can recognize that code of course or the name of course although
they are from different institutions and can go worldwide.
Each of the institution have their own coding systems for their subjects in each
university. The names of the course are also different due to the different justification on this
course. Some universities are setting the code of this course which can indicate the year taken
and the credit hours of this course. For example, UNIMAS coded this course as KNF 3102 where
the first number indicates the year taken and the last number indicates the credit hours of the
course. For UPM, this course is coded as KAW 3911 where the first number indicates the year
UNITEN, the course was COEB 422 which does not indicates neither the year taken nor the
credit hours of the course.
From the aspect of credit hours of this course, the analysis shows that some universities
put 2 credit hours for the engineering ethics course meanwhile some universities put 3 hours.
This is because the lecturer will lectures for 2 hours for a 2 credit hours course meanwhile for 3
credit hours course, the lecturer might be lecturing for 2 hours and case studying for another 1
hour.
As pointed out in the comparison table, most of the institutions offered this course in the
third or fourth year regarding to their outcomes. Based on my research, most of the institution
offered 3 credit hour per subject. Some universities are putting this course in third year or before
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3rd year because they want their undergraduates to be exposed to the knowledge about the
concepts, theories and the practices of the engineering ethics before entering for industrial
training. So that, the undergraduates can apply their knowledge gained from the lectures into
their works and does not make the unethical decisions which harm the society, healthy and
environment. Exposure to professional engineering practice is a key element in differentiating a
professional engineering degree from an applied science degree. Familiarity with all common
engineering processes is essential and exposure at a practical level to a wide variety of processes
is required at a level appropriate to the young professional. Clearly, many of the latest processes
and large scale or costly operations can only be the subject of observation or demonstration, and
visits to engineering works may be helpful in many such cases. Exposure to engineering practice
shall be integrated throughout the curriculum.

Most of the universities have the similar objectives from the society and environmental
perspectives. And also there is another objective which is to expose us with Board of Engineers
Malaysia (BEM) Regulatory body for engineering practices in Malaysia set-up under the
Registration of Engineers Act, 1967. All engineering practitioner must register with BEM within
6-months of practice Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM). A learned institution for
practicing engineers in Malaysia; networking, technical learning and socializing group. But there
are some universities like USM that provides knowledge more related to engineering industry
because this university is based on school of industrial technology which conducts regular
training, workshop and short courses. Engineering industry can provide training courses and
expose the future engineer to the importance and the concepts of the quality management and
skills. Private universities like MMU and UTAR are focusing on impact of technology to society
and environment because technology is used widely in this modern era. The undergraduates are
exposed to the knowledge of proper usage of information technology in engineering field. For
example, does not hack into others people account privacies and sabotage other people works
with their professional skills or knowledge.

From the table above, most of the universities divide the assessment 50% for the
coursework and also 50% for the final which is very balanced and even fair. The students having
final exams at the end of the semester because the understanding and knowledge of the
undergraduates on this course can be evaluated or tested. The undergraduates are also tested on
how to apply their knowledge in the coursework, assignments and project. There are exceptional
especially UTM which includes the students participation which contribute 10% in the overall
assessment. This is because some of the undergraduates think that entering the class is less
important compared to entering the final exams. In terms of assessment, elements that need
improvement in terms of priority were indicated in Figure 4.1.

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Figure 1: Ethics courses evaluation (ASSESSMENT)

Some of these are as follows:

(i) Review test, examination and case study as measurement of course material.
(ii) Learn to be ethical in class.
(iii) Learn about ethics in class.
(iv) Re-evaluate assessment procedures to demonstrate what student had learned.
(v) Assess (case study, role playing etc) to aid in understanding the material.
While in terms of content, I refer to journal paper which has been done by Jabatan
Pengurusan Fakulti Pengurusan dan Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia titled Ethical Awareness Amongst Engineering Students In Malaysian Public
Universities . The journal states that elements that need improvement in terms of priority were
indicated in Figure 4.2. Some of these are as follows:
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(i) Reassess the suitability of reading material (text, papers, etc) to the course.
(ii) Reappraise course content so that it will meet its objective.
(iii) Ensure that the ethic course as a compulsory subject.

Figure 1.2: Ethics courses evaluation ( Content)

From Figure 4.2, overall, respondents moderately agree that the ethics course was
effective in terms of previously mentioned components. The analysis suggests that effectiveness
of this course can be improved by focusing more on its Delivery, followed by Assessment and
Content.

In terms of Delivery, elements that need improvement in terms of priority were
Indicated in Figure 4.1. Some of these are as follows: The instructors/lecturers should

(i) Ensure students understood the material.
(ii) Make certain that they were interesting.
(ii) Facilitate discussion/participation in class
(iii) Organize lectures
(iv) Encourage students to devel

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5. CONCLUSION
Engineering ethics play a complementary role for engineers and they are a vital
component of the workforce for a nation to be industrialized. Furthermore, Engineering ethics
appears to be emerging as a distinct discipline, taking its place with medical, legal and business
ethics. I believe the time is approaching when most if not all engineering schools will have some
program for introducing students to engineering professionalism and ethics. The time for
thinking about implementing such programs has arrived. And the exposure to this subject was
highly appreciated because as a students, we are going to enter the real world of engineering
stream and its could help us to compete with others and know how to make decision well.

There is a distinction between moral and ethics, as moral is something learned
unconsciously and ethics is something learned by reflecting moral stands in a real world. Big
need exist for engineers to understand ethical issues that will occur during their carrier,
especially as engineers are the ones making the discoveries and they need to stimulate the
consequences of those. Engineers have to stand up for their positions in ethically questionable
cases. In different universities the way ethics is taught varies from specific ethical courses, ethics
being part in some technical courses to not having any ethics taught to the students. In cases
where ethics is taught there are some problems concerning competitiveness of teachers, and lack
of practical examples. The goal of Ethical courses should be to promote critical thinking. They
should be compulsory, dynamic and interactive (real cases, case studies and so on). The teachers
should have theoretical knowledge but also practical and technical experience as
engineers. During the discussions there was no conclusion reached concerning when the ethical
courses should be implemented (at the beginning of studies or at their end). There was also a
discussion about cheating. Unethical behaviour during studies can affect future behaviour.
However in many universities system of exams seems to promote or at least doesn't try to stop
that kind of behaviour. So the system should change in order to make it unworthy to even try.
This study has determined the prevailing ethical knowledge among some public university
students in Malaysia. It has also discovered the tendency to use ethical knowledge specifically
for academic and engineering situations and established the level of ethics amongst the students
and analyzed the content and delivery of ethics courses in these universities. As for future
recommendation, the effectiveness of the course can be improved by focusing more on its
delivery, followed by assessment and finally its content.

Ethics is one of the important attributes of a professional engineer or event a registered
graduate engineer without professional status. Without ethical attribute, no engineer can claim he
is professional in whatever sense. Nowadays there are many unethical deeds or misbehaves or
malpractices of engineers that have reduced the public confidence in the engineers reliability
and integrity to deliver their duty efficiently and safely. Ethics in engineering comes together
with the integrity of an engineer. In order the engineer to be seen as having integrity, he or she
should know the ethics of engineering which covers not only during their working hours but also
extended to after working hours activities and lifestyle.

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6. REFERENCES.
[1] ETHICS OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT), Paper
prepared by Tengku Mohd T. Sembok,

[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_ethics

[3]
Talk on ETHICS IN ENGINEERING paper by IEM

[4]
http://www.pdhonline.org/courses/r102/r102.htm

[5]
www.ijee.ie/articles/Vol18-1/IJEE1252.pdf { journal ijee1252}

[6]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24004818/Codes-of-Ethics-of-Professional-Engineering

[7] ETHICS EDUCATION FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS, Feb 24-27, 2008.
[Online] Available:
http://www.kfupm.edu.sa/conference/erplanning/Final%20Conf/Tues/104.pdf
[Accessed: Oct 21, 2010]

[8] TEACHING ENGINEERING ETHICS: A NEW APPROACH, Oct 10-13,
2001.[Online] Available: http://fie-conference.org/fie2001/papers/1101.pdf [Accessed:
Oct 21, 2010]

[9]
http://www.pdhonline.org/courses/r102/r102.htm

[10]
www.ijee.ie/articles/Vol18-1/IJEE1252.pdf
ETHICAL AWARENESS AMONGST ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN
MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES, 2006 [Online] Available:
http://eprints.utm.my/6682/1/74143.pdf [Accessed: Oct 21, 2010]
[11] Faculty of Electrical Engineering Subject Information Database, siswa.fke.utm.my
[Online] Available: http://siswa.fke.utm.my/silibus/subjectview.php?key=SEE4012
[Accessed: Oct 15, 2010]

[12] Engineering Ethics [Online] Available:
http://www.utem.edu.my/fkekk/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid
=66&Itemid=91 [Accessed: Oct 16,2010]

[13] The Engineering Ethics ppt - Lect-1 [Online] Available:
publicweb.unimap.edu.my/~nordin.y/440.ppt [Accessed: Oct 16, 2010]

[14]
Engineering In Society [Online] Available:
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http://metalab.uniten.edu.my/~./fyp/EIS/_notes/COEB422%20Engineers%20&%20Soc
iety.pdf [Accessed: Oct 16, 2010]

[15] ENGINEER AND SOCIETY, www.eng.upm.my [Online] Available:
http://www.eng.upm.edu.my/webkaw/coursenotes/kaw3911/3911.htm [Accessed: Oct
18, 2010]

[16] List of Courses Offered for Study Abroad Programme Academic Session 2010/2011
[Online] Available:
http://web.usm.my/bheaa/v2/pdf/List%20of%20Courses%20Offered.pdf [Accessed:
Oct 17, 2010]

[17]
The_concept_of_Itqan_and_its_role_in_Muslim_professional_life.pdf

[18]
Courses Offered for Study Abroad Programme Academic Session 2010/2011.PDF

[19]
Ethics_of_Engineering_Education_.pdf

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