Criticizing and Modernizing Computing Curriculum: The Case of the Web and the Social Issues Courses

ABSTRACT Computing education has faced a variety of ongoing and critical self-examinations over the past 15 years. This paper provides a set of critiques and alternative teaching approaches for two vital but under-reported computing knowledge areas: web development and computing ethics/social issues. It concludes with a claim that these two knowledge areas can also provide an important way to integrate the often-heterogeneous knowledge areas in the computing curriculum

THE GIS PROFESSIONAL ETHICS PROJECT: PRACTICAL ETHICS EDUCATION FOR GIS PROS

Abstract GIS professors and GIS professionals are separate but overlapping populations, in the U.S. at least. Both communities care about the moral and ethical implications of geospatial technologies and practices. They tend to express their concerns in different ways, however. Over the past 20 years scholars (particularly those affiliated with the discipline of Geography) have contributed critiques of the instrumental nature of GIS as well as reflective case studies that seek to demonstrate how the technology can be used to promote social justice. During the same period a profession of GIS coalesced; by mid-2009 over 4,500 individuals had earned certification as GIS Professionals. Requirements for professional certification in the U.S. include practitioners' commitment to comply with a formal Code of Ethics and Rules of Conduct. Meanwhile, U.S. higher education institutions have rushed to develop practice-oriented certificate and degree programs in response to the increasing demand for qualified GIS professionals in industry and government. Professional programs differ from academic degree programs in that most are designed to produce practitioners rather than scholars. In general, the rich literature in GIS and Society and Critical GIS is more useful to students and instructors in academic programs than those in professional programs. The objective of the National Science Foundation-funded GIS Professional Ethics Project is to produce open educational resources (especially formal case studies with explicit linkages to the Code and Rules) that help professional programs prepare current and future practitioners to recognize ethical problems and to act with integrity. The project (http://gisprofessionalethics.org) combines the perspectives and experience of GIS educators and applied ethicists. The goal of this ICA paper is to promote widespread use of GIS-specific case studies and to invite international perspectives on applied ethics in the GIS profession

The GIS Professional Ethics Project: Practical Ethics Education for GIS Professionals

Teaching GIS involves teaching ethical and moral thinking as a distinct engagement with the use, applications, and responsibilities of GIS professionals. Over the past 20 years scholars (particularly those affiliated with the discipline of Geography) have contributed critiques of the instrumental nature of GIS as well as reflective case studies that seek to demonstrate how the technology can be used to promote social justice. During the same period a profession of GIS developed as governmental and private use of GIS burgeoned; a marker for the professionalization of GIS in the United States can be found in the observation that by mid-2009 over 4,500 individuals had earned certification as GIS professionals. Requirements for professional certification in the U.S. include practitioners’ commitment to adhere with a formal Code of Ethics and Rules of Conduct. Meanwhile, U.S. higher education institutions have rushed to develop practice-oriented certificate and degree programs in response to the increasing demand for qualified GIS professionals in industry and government. Professional programs differ from academic degree programs in that most are designed to produce practitioners rather than scholars. In general, the rich literature in GIS and Society and Critical GIS is more useful to students and instructors in academic programs than those in professional programs. The objective of the National Science Foundation-funded GIS Professional Ethics Project (http://gisprofessionalethics.org) we describe in this chapter is to provide pedagogical practice and resources for American students and academics. The project combines the perspectives and experience of GIS educators and applied ethicists. The project has produced open educational resources (especially formal case studies with explicit linkages to the Code and Rules) to help professional GIS higher education programs prepare current and future practitioners to recognize and engage ethical problems.This is an author's manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published chapter [14] is copyrighted by John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Teaching Ethics in the Information Systems Curriculum

This dissertation evaluates the importance of teaching ethics in the Information Systems curriculum. It begins with a review of the expectations and recommendations of three distinct academic and professional organizations (AACSB, IS2002 Model Curriculum, and ABET) specifically related to ethics teaching. This case study is centered on a set of ethics instruction that was used to teach ethics to senior level Information Systems students, which included a discussion of professional codes of ethics, mini-case studies, contemporary news events, a historical novel called IBM and the Holocaust (Black, 2001a), a Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) ethics grid created by the instructor, and online discussions in WebCT. The students were surveyed at the end of the semester as to the effectiveness of the ethics instruction, and the quantitative results along with a qualitative data analysis of their online discussions and SDLC-Ethics grid is presented. An analysis of the data leads the researcher to believe that overall the students found the curriculum useful, with the reading of the IBM book and the SDLC-Ethics grid providing the most benefit

Towards the generalisation of a case-based aiding system to facilitate the understanding of ethical and professional issues in computing

Modern computers endow users of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) with immense power. The speed of the computing revolution has enabled the novel implementation of ICT before consideration of consequent ethical issues can be made. There is now a demand by society that students, ICT novices, and professionals should be aware of the social, legal, and professional issues associated with ubiquitous use of computers. This thesis describes the development of an Internet-based tool that may be used to raise students' awareness of the ethical implications of ICT. It investigates the application, meaning, and scope of computer ethics. Theoretical foundations are developed for the construction of the tool that will classify, store, and retrieve a suitable analogous case from a collection of realworld, ethically analysed ICT case studies. These are used for comparison with ethically dubious events that may be experienced by students. The model draws upon the theoretical aspects of mechanisms for the modification of users' ethical perception. This research is novel in linking these theories to ethical understanding and case retrieval. Little information is available upon the retrieval of documents addressing ethical issues. The classification and retrieval of material using an ethical framework has some commonality with legal retrieval. Similarities are investigated, and concepts are adapted for the retrieval of ethical documents. The differences that arise present challenges for new research. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) retrieval techniques is not acceptable to meet the pedagogic aims of the retrieval tool. A model is developed, avoiding the use of AI in the reasoning process, requiring the student to consider and evaluate the ethical issues raised. The model is tested and evaluated. The research suggests that non-AI paradigms may be used for retrieval of ethical cases, and that areas for future investigation and development exist

Responding to the Challenges of Teaching Computer Ethics

This is a panel discussion about the challenges of teaching computer ethics in four different colleges/universities and the problems inherent in different educational environments: size of school, size of class, support as a stand-alone course within the department, across the curriculum, and as a mixed major course. It will also address interactive pedagogic techniques, use of web-based tools and writing across the curriculum. We intend this to be an interactive panel with short presentations by each and then an open discussion with the members of the audience to address their questions and particular problems. The references reflect the expertise of the panelists