Integrating Computer Ethics into the Computer Science Curriculum**

Keith Miller

• Introduction
• Can Computer Ethics Be Taught in the Computer Science Curriculum?
• Technical Concerns, Ethical Questions
  • CS 1: Computer Programming I
  • CS 2: Computer Programming II
  • CS 3: Introduction to Computer Systems
  • CS 4: Introduction to Computer Organizations
  • CS 5: Introduction to File Processing
  • CS 6: Operating Systems and Computer Architecture I
  • CS 7: Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis
  • CS 8: Organization of Programming Languages
• Sources of Information
  • Books
  • Collections of Articles
  • Periodicals
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgments
• References

Can Computer Ethics Be Taught in the Computer Science Curriculum?

Computer scientists as well as ethicists (Mahowald & Mahowald, 1982) have raised serious questions about teaching ethics in a science curriculum. The issues they raise include the following:

• The curriculum already is overcrowded. Including ethical issues requires that important technical issues be ignored or given less attention than they should be given.
• Computer science faculty have little experience in ethics, and they are uncomfortable teaching in this area.
• Professors unschooled in formal ethical techniques may fall into the trap of preaching a moral code (an abuse of their position) instead of raising questions, elaborating possible answers, and exploring justifications (activities which properly belong to ethics).
• Any ethics taught will be diluted at best and possibly erroneous.

These legitimate reservations require a careful delineation of realistic goals and straightforward techniques in the teaching of computer ethics by computer science professors. An important but limited goal is to help students become more aware of ethical questions related to the use of computers. This goal does not require computer science professors to present formal ethical techniques for confronting those questions; these matters are best left to professionals in the field of ethics. Instead, a computer science professor can lead students to recognize that such ethical questions exist, and to explore how those questions may arise in their future professional lives.

The teaching techniques described below are intended to raise questions. The most careful reasoning about answers to these questions will require study outside the traditional computer science curriculum. Ideally, both professors and students will be motivated to learn more about ethical theory and its application to computing. A course team taught by an ethicist and a computer scientist is a productive setting for such learning (Baum, 1980), but a discussion of such a course is outside the scope of this article.

Go to: Technical Concerns, Ethical Questions

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