ABSTRACT
Many engineering codes of ethics state that engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. As engineering educators should we extend this responsibility to our students? And if so, how? Each of these three elements are distinct in some ways. Faculty are responsible for student safety in experimental laboratory and hands-on design/build settings, for example. Unique safety concerns may arise during study abroad and community engagement activities. During the COVID pandemic faculty may have experienced dilemmas regarding student health (and the health of the surrounding community) as campus administrators made decisions about in-person versus online instruction. Universities and faculty are also increasingly attending to student mental health. Finally, it is argued that considerations of welfare are the most challenging. Faculty perhaps think of student welfare long-term, as they help students build knowledge and skills that may yield post-graduation benefits in terms of employment. But does this long-term perspective cause us to undervalue in-the-moment student welfare? Our policies and practices may cause stress, and stress has been shown to inhibit learning. But other research and theories of learning indicate a positive role of dissonance and stress to the learning process. Thus, overemphasis on short-term avoidance of discomfort in the pursuit of student welfare may impede learning. Exploring these ideas is congruent with faculty who see their role as teaching people (their students) versus teaching subjects/topics/content. Examining our teaching practices through this lens of our foundational ethical obligation as engineers may cause us to change our approaches. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022
ABSTRACT
Inappropriately designed classroom furniture that does not take children’s anthropometric measurements into account has a negative effect on children’s musculoskeletal systems. In this study, which kept Covid-19 pandemic policies in mind, students’ static anthropometric dimensions were measured and their descriptive statistics calculated, using mean, standard deviation, percentiles, and statistical tests, including the t-test and one-way ANOVA. A new design for ergonomically oriented classroom furniture for primary school students is proposed that takes into consideration the measured anthropometric dimensions for students’ safety, health, and well-being, and for post-Covid-19 policies. Given the results of the study, school managements must consider the gender and age of students, and take post-Covid-19 policies/protocols into account when procuring classroom furniture. © 2022, South African Institute of Industrial Engineering. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The University of California Center for Laboratory Safety held its fifth biennial Workshop on Laboratory Safety in May of 2021. The Workshops on Laboratory Safety provide a unique forum for researchers and safety professionals to exchange perspectives and ideas. The theme of this year's workshop was Advancing Safety in Teaching and Research Laboratories. Speakers emphasized the importance of an enlightened leadership style, the significance of integrating risk assessments into the science curriculum, and the impact of human factors on risk minimization. Furthermore, speakers discussed innovative programs to engage Principal Investigators in organizational safety culture and computational approaches for defining the toxicity of chemical compounds. Panels discussed two topics: student-led safety initiatives and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on academic life, research, and lab safety. Finally, 11 workgroups examined current safety topics over the 3 day course of the workshop culminating in final presentations on their recommendations. This paper summarizes all presentations and lists key resources from each discussion.