Non-Apologetic Computer Ethics Education:
A Strategy for Integrating Social Impact and Ethics into the Computer Science
Curriculum
C. Dianne Martin and Hilary J. Holz
1.1 New CS Curriculum Standards
The computer science curriculum is at yet another crossroads with the announcement of the latest set of recommendations, Computing Curricula 1991, in February, 1991 by the ACM/IEEE Computer Society Joint Curriculum Task Force. There has been much discussion regarding the necessity of preparing ethically and socially responsible computer scientists, especially in light of highly publicized computer viruses that have been the source of considerable embarrassment to the profession. To this end the task force articulated a tenth knowledge unit called Social, Ethical and Professional Issues that should now be incorporated into future computer science programs (ACM/IEEE Task Force). Of the 271 hours to be spent on computer science foundation material, it is suggested that 11 hours should be devoted to the knowledge unit on social issues (Turner, 1991). In addition, the social and professional context is viewed as one of three general principles that should frame the entire curriculum as shown in Figure 1 (Turner, 1991).
The Computer Science Accreditation Board (CSAB), which has accredited over one hundred programs since it was established in 1984, also requires instruction in the social and ethical implications of computing as a criterion for program accreditation. The dilemma arises in implementation of the ethics and social impact strand. Should this strand be present in all computer science courses or should it be taught in a stand-alone course? The new ACM/IEEE curricular recommendations and the CSAB criteria allow the flexibility of either option as long as the material is covered.
Three different strategies have been suggested in the past for implementing this strand: the whole course approach, the module in every course approach (Miller, 1988), and the capstone software engineering approach (Gotterbarn, 1991). The advantage of the “whole course” approach is that it insures that ethics and social impact have at least the commitment of a certain number of credit hours in the curriculum. Such a course is usually taught by someone who is committed to and understands the importance of the material. Some question the value of lumping all of the material into one course, implying to students that it is unrelated to the rest of the curriculum. Often students resent taking such a required course since they share the view of some of the Computer Science faculty that it is a “soft” course. As Johnson has stated, it is important not to communicate the message that “we do computer science here, and, as a separate matter, we think about ethics. The message should be that whenever you do anything, you think about the consequences at the same time. (1988, p. 1)”
The other question that arises with such a course is the placement of the course at the beginning (freshman level) or at the end (senior level) of the curriculum. Those who argue for a freshman course feel that such a course will give students a social and ethical perspective that they can bring to all of their technical courses. Those who argue for an upper level course feel that freshmen do not have enough technical background to understand the issues. They would prefer to have students graduating with such a course still fresh in their minds as they enter the profession or graduate studies.
Another problem with the “one course” approach, particularly if it is taught by one professor, is the danger that students may be left with the impression that the attitudes and ethical judgment of that professor are the right answer to the issues. This is especially true if the professor does not have a strong background in philosophy and ethics and does not make a concerted effort to show the students how to evaluate the issues from several perspectives.
The modular approach addresses the timing question, since it spreads the material across the curriculum (Miller, 1988). It also addresses the problem of having the material presented from only one point of view. Joseph Weizenbaum, Professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, favors the MIT approach of including discussions of social impact and ethics in the context of other computer science courses already in the curriculum to eliminate the tendency of professors “to skip over ethical considerations with the excuse that it is taught in Ethics 101 (DeLoughry, 1989).” However, he recognizes the possibility that such material could receive short shrift in a crammed technical syllabus.
The capstone software engineering course (Gotterbarn, 1991) attempts to deal with the issue within a technical context as the students leave the curriculum. The argument in favor of this approach is that the students will then have the technical understanding to deal with the social and ethical issues and can do so within the context of their own senior project. However, if this is the only time in the curriculum in which social impact and ethics are presented, the students will tend to have only a narrow view of the issues as they relate to a particular project.
In this paper we suggest that a combination of all three approaches should be used throughout a four year program to truly integrate the social and ethical context with the technical context. This represents a curricular commitment of about 30 hours, well beyond the 11 hours required by the new ACM/IEEE curricula, but it more completely captures the spirit of making the social and professional context part of the overall framework of computer science education. It is our belief that the payoff in the long run will be better trained computer science professionals.
Go to: 1.2 Teaching the Ethics Component
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