Blogs (4) >>

This panel will help CS-trained educators who are teaching students about how to approach their work with an ethical mindset by discussing one of the key challenges in CS ethics education: how to manage authority in a classroom that focuses on values and ethics. Many CS instructors are wary of teaching either a dedicated ethics course or embedding responsible computing concepts and practices into their core CS courses because they may not have in-field expertise like they do in other courses or feel that they lack disciplinary authority. Ethical reasoning is not the same type of skill set as is required in design or engineering work; it is a set of practices rooted in a person’s beliefs, judgments, decisions, and values and it is necessarily personal for anyone who takes it seriously. Effective ethics course pedagogy and content are primarily about developing the students’ capacity for reflection and inquiry, not transmitting knowledge. In an ethical reasoning focused learning environment, the majority of the work is persuading students that they can and should keep caring and thinking about the impact of their work beyond the classroom: in other words, the students must feel responsible for the reasoning and choices they make that will impact the lives of others. Through a discussion with multiple CS ethics educators, this panel will offer practical approaches to managing authority in this type of classroom as well as suggestions for engaging and empowering students to be curious and reflective about their own values and ethical positions.

Thu 21 Mar

Displayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change

13:45 - 15:00
Managing Authority When Teaching Computing EthicsPanels at Portland Ballroom 251
13:45
75m
Talk
Managing Authority When Teaching Computing Ethics
Panels
Emanuelle Burton College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Kristel Clayville University of Illinois Chicago, Stacy Doore Colby College, Michael Kirkpatrick James Madison University, Michael Goldweber Denison University
DOI