Texas State researchers look to prepare next generation of physicists to consider ethics, society

Research & Innovation

Jayme Blaschke | July 11, 2023

STEM courses—including physics—tend to be purely objective and fact-based. This approach can fall short when it comes to preparing students for the complex ethical questions they often face during their professional careers. 

Alice Olmstead, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Texas State University, led a team of Texas State physics faculty to develop ethics lessons about nuclear physics and ground-based telescopes in Hawaii to facilitate engagement with physics and society. The resulting article, “How can we design instruction to support student reasoning about physicists’ ethical responsibilities in society?” is published in The Physics Teacher (https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0087490).

STEM professionals make decisions that impact society in a wide variety of ways. Thoughtful decision-making requires scientists to consider a complex set of real-world implications that can impact multiple stakeholders, and there may not be a single “best” solution to be discovered. In contrast, science is often portrayed as being purely objective.

To address this shortcoming, the researchers developed two real world scenarios based on the Manhattan Project and the Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaii to encourage and support students’ reasoning about ethics in physics/STEM fields and help them develop empathy for various stakeholders.

The research team soon discovered that students from historically underrepresented groups struggled to identify with the Manhattan Project scenario as such groups lack of agency in that era (the 1940s) influenced the students’ current perceptions. In response, the researchers developed a revised version of this unit that includes an exploration of current nuclear ethics issues and pathways for students to get involved in discussions about nuclear policy.  

In the second scenario, students explored the complexities and viewpoints of all parties involved in the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope proposed for construction atop Maunakea in Hawaii, learning why context is essential to fully understanding the issues. During ensuing discussions, students further explored the ethical implications of analogous issues at a local, more personal level.

Ultimately, students gained valuable experience discussing large-scale ethical issues in physics. The researchers said they hoped that the instructional examples they have developed will prove useful to other instructors designing their own units to support future physicists in grappling with ethical responsibilities in society.