Realities of Teaching Social and Ethical Issues in Computing

Doris Keefe Lidtke

Historical Perspective

The necessity of addressing the social and ethical implications of computing goes back to the 1960s with the publication of articles such as “Rules of Ethics in Information Processing” (PAR68) and books such as Privacy and Freedom (WES67), Computers in Humanistic Research (BOW67) and The Computer Impact (TAV70).

In 1972 Horowitz, Morgan and Shaw from Cornell University, California Institute of Technology and the University of Washington, respectively, describe a course in “Computers and Society” (HOR72), which they recommend for all majors. They acknowledge that such courses have been taught by themselves and others at a variety of colleges and universities, but “[w]hile there are many publications describing the virtues and vices of computers, there has not yet been published an outline for such a course.” (HOR72) Building on their experiences with teaching courses in this area, they provide not only a complete outline and bibliography, they also discuss some pedagogical methods for making the course successful. “The main objectives are to educate computer scientists on the present and future impact of computer technology, to investigate some of the difficult moral questions concerning the responsibilities of scientists, and to gain a more humanistic perspective on the use and misuse of computers.” (HOR72) The suggested approach to the course and the content are of interest for comparison to courses offered today:

Approach

The course is designed to bring the perspectives of the sciences, social sciences, and humanities to the question of the impact of computers on society. Lectures are used to present factual material and provide a forum for guest lecturers to motivate the students. Small group discussions give the student the opportunity to voice his opinions. Projects, papers, and surveys may be used to channel the students’ exploration of these areas:

Content

  1. State of the art: discussions of current technology, costs; technology forecasts; security of information systems.
  2. Political implications: government use of computers; National Data Bank, history, possible uses and misuses; executive, judicial and legislative use of computers; computers and law patents, computer evidence, computer crime; military uses of computers; public opinion polling; regulation of computers by government.
  3. Economic effects: human and technological obsolescence; computerized credit system; corporate information systems and corporate structures; economic impact of the computer industry; impact on developing nations.
  4. Cultural implications: education new curricula, computer aided instruction; computers in the social sciences and humanities; libraries and information networks; computerized art, films, music; public image of the computer.
  5. Social impact: social groups – technocratic elite, Luddites, communes; changes in man’s view of himself; man-machine interactions; computers and the leisure society.
  6. Moral issues: individual; responsibilities, to self, employer, and society; professional ethics; role of professional societies; moral issues as reflected in other topics. (HOR72)

Throughout the 1970s interest in computers and society grew both among the computing science community and in the public sector as computers became commonly used in business and industry. ACM addressed some of the issues in this area through committees such as the Committee on Computers and Public Policy and the establishment of the Special Interest Group on Computers and Society.

By 1980 courses in computers and society were offered in many colleges and universities. Alex Hoffman, editor of Computers & Society, the newsletter of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computers and Society, put out a special issue on computers and society courses in 1982 (COM82). These articles included:

John W. Snapper, “Moral Issues in Computer Science” John King, “Individual and Organizational Factors in Computing” Theodor D. Sterling, “Social Implications of a Computerized Society” S. Marlene Pinzka, “The Computer Age” Rob Kling, “The Micro-Computer Revolution” Rob Kling, “Social Issues and Impacts of Computing” Rob Kling, “Reading List for Computing, Organizations, Society” Judith V. Grabiner, “Perspectives on Computers and Society” John O. Aikin and Ronald G. Woodbury, “Society and the Computer.”

The courses were taught in a variety of departments, including humanities, information and computer science, and history, as well as being offered as interdisciplinary courses. Some of the courses were required of all computing majors. The syllabi and reading lists provide evidence of 1) a variety of approaches to teaching the course, 2) the perceived qualifications needed to teach the course, 3) quite specific goals for some of the courses, and 4) a wide range of readings from which to build a background as a teacher and from which to choose for student readings. Later issues of Computers & Society contain some additional course syllabi and many articles which would be appropriate readings for courses in computers and society.

The latest recommendations by the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Curriculum Task Force specify that “[t]here are approximately 11 hours of lectures recommended for this set of knowledge units [social, ethical, and professional issues].” The topics to be covered are: “historical and social context of computing, ...responsibilities of the computing professional, ...risks and liabilities, ...[and] intellectual property.” (COM91) The report further specifies that the following kinds of activities should accompany their coverage in a course of instruction:

  1. Write a short expository paper, with references, that demonstrates understanding of the historical or social context of some specific aspect of computing.
  2. Write a short paper, with references, that discusses an incidence of misuse of computers or information technology.
  3. Discuss particular aspects of professionalism in a seminar setting. Draw conclusions about ethical and societal dimensions of the profession.
  4. Write or discuss a short paper discussing methods of risk assessment and reduction and their role in the design process.
  5. Present a case study in copyright or patent violation as a seminar discussion, with an accompanying writing assignment that demonstrates student understanding of the principles. (COM91)

The criteria for accreditation now specify that social and ethical issues must be a part of the curriculum and should be sufficient to earn about one credit for the work done.

In the past two years Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility has been gathering material about and for courses in this area. That material is available at this conference. [Published as Batya Friedman and Terry Winograd, eds., Computing and Social Responsibility: A Collection of Course Syllabi, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, l990.]

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