Ethics activities in computer science courses

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 1996

The aim of this paper is to show that ethics is required for the successful performance of a computing professional. The increase dependence on computers for critical infrastructures essential for the functioning of a society and its economy has given rise to host of ethical, social, and legal issues. The ability to make sound ethical decision is thus an important part of computer science professional skills. The paper examines the ethical dilemmas computer scientists face and discusses ways to tackle the dilemmas. The author used primary and secondary method of data collection which is questionnaire, interview method and examination of document. The paper concludes with the need for the challenges of ethics in computer science profession need to be tackled. Also the author recommended that since computer science and the discipline's technological artifacts touch nearly every aspect of modern life, that computer scientist must conduct and report their professional skills in an ethical manner.

2015

Teaching Ethics at Engineering and Computer Science at the European Universities is a essential for two reasons: we want students to do their job well as a service to the society, and more and more professional associations require it as part of their accreditation as a computer scientist (IEEE-CS, ACM). In this paper we are going to explain several topics: 1) the syllabus and methodology that we propose for a Computer Ethics course of 30 hours in the last course of an undergraduate degree; 2) the detailed content of the proposed syllabus; 3) the Computer Ethics resources that the teachers may use to prepare this course. We conclude that a Computer Ethics course must be put in place in all European universities and that we have the resources to do it now.

International Journal of Ethics Education

Within the Computer Science community, many ethical issues have emerged as significant and critical concerns. Computer ethics is an academic field in its own right and there are unique ethical issues associated with information technology. It encompasses a range of issues and concerns including privacy and agency around personal information, Artificial Intelligence and pervasive technology, the Internet of Things and surveillance applications. As computing technology impacts society at an ever growing pace, there are growing calls for more computer ethics content to be included in Computer Science curricula. In this paper we present the results of a survey that polled faculty from Computer Science and related disciplines about teaching practices for computer ethics at their institutions. The survey was completed by respondents from 61 universities across 23 European countries. Participants were surveyed on whether or not computer ethics is taught to Computer Science students at each...

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 2004

This paper illustrates how to use the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice [1, 2] in three case studies suitable for computer science instruction. This code of ethics was approved by both the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society in 1998. Since then, the code has been translated into seven more languages, and adopted by organizations in many countries. The paper argues that instruction in ethics is vital in computer science education, and that case studies ...

2021 XI International Conference on Virtual Campus (JICV), 2021

Technology brings different benefits to society and involves challenges and ethical dilemmas that must be considered during any technology development. In this sense, graduates must recognise the social, legal, ethical and cultural issues inherent to the discipline of computer science. However, there is a lack of integration of computer ethics in the computer science curriculum in Spanish universities. This work introduces a pilot experience to develop a Small Private Open Course (SPOC) to introduce computer ethics as an extracurricular activity in the Bachelor's Degree of Computer Engineering at the University of Salamanca.

Ubiquitous computing and global connectivity via the internet and the worldwide web raise new ethical as well as social questions and issues, and often require new interpretations of, and a fresh look at existing ones. In this paper we consider the teaching of Computer Ethics (CE) to our computing students. We review issues such as why the teaching of CE is important, how this should be done in a systematic and integrated fashion, and we then present two different experiments undertaken at our institution.

2004

This paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue about the inclusion of ethics content within computing education. It presents a brief exposition of the challenges facing the teaching of ethics, favouring a highly integrated approach across the curriculum. As an example of how some of those challenges may be simply addressed, it introduces a non-intrusive means of motivating an ethical dimension within existing units of study by innovative use of a survey instrument. The focus of discussion is on the use of this instrument to explore issues related to plagiarism. Finally, the paper appraises this simple concept in terms of the challenges raised at the head of the paper.

ITiCSE-WGR '97, 1997

This report presents the results of a collaborative working group activity focusing on the use of information technology (IT) to integrate social and ethical issues within computer science or information systems courses. The report provides an organizational approach for classifying exercises, based on the issue each one addresses and the course or courses in which it may fit. The exercises in this report are classified by the information technology to be used and the course or courses addressed by the exercise. Ten sample exercises are provided, each given in a recommended standardized format.