Louise Moses - Mount Union College - Alliance, Ohio

Professional Codes as a Tool in Decision Making

Topic area	Professional and local codes of conduct and the ways they can be used to assist in making ethical decisions
Target audience	Juniors and Seniors enrolled in a three semester hour upper level ethics class CS or IS majors Although designed for a Tuesday/Thursday class (75 minutes) of about 10 students at Mount Union College, the assignment is easily modified for other institutions and class configurations.
Activity type	Assigned the previous class, a Thursday Text book reading research local and national policy statements Class One - the following Tuesday Discussion and comparison of the professional ethics statements of various organizations and nations Read the Toronto Resolution Pair and share activity: Rework the ethical statement of the ACM to reflect an appropriate policy for Mount Union College computing students. Class Two - the Thursday of the same week - In groups of two Create a scenario which is an example of an activity which is within the bounds of the ethics Tuesday's ethics statement but which you feel might be unethical. (20 minutes) Present the scenarios to the class (4 minutes each) Discussion of the scenarios (4 minutes each) General discussion: Is there a way to change the guidelines to cover this situation? Should guidelines be changed to reflect a specific current case. (20 minutes)
Time required	Two class periods
Attachments	Assignment Worksheet Class One Worksheet Class Two Worksheet
Additional materials	A Gift of Fire Social, Legal and Ethical Issues in Computing by Sara Baase, Chapter 10 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/giftfire/index.html Web sites for - Association for Information Technology Professionals, http://www.aitp.org/ - Association for Computing Machinery, http://www.acm.org/ - Mount Union College Computer Information Services (http://www.muc.edu/CIS/Policies/Policies.htm) Printed copies of the Toronto Resolution, http://ei.cs.vt.edu/professionalism/lib/WorldCodes/Toronto.Recommendation.html will be passed out at the beginning of the second class.
Background needed to complete the assignment	Students are expected to have achieved maturity within the field, CS or IS. They will have access the the book (A Gift of Fire) needed for the required reading (above).
References	A collection of ethical codes: http://ei.cs.vt.edu/professionalism/lib/WorldCodes/class.html
Last modified	August 12, 1999

Abstract: It will be assumed that the students in the class have had no experience in thinking of themselves as computing professionals, a part of a larger community. It will not be assumed they have thought in deeper ways about the ways in which ethical decisions are made and the important role that a "code of ethics and professional conduct" can play in providing a structure inside which professionals can operate. The students will explore the web sites of two professional organizations and then read and think about the codes of these organizations

Goals for the activity:

Gain a familiarity with the professional organizations for computer science and information systems
Know the guidelines for computing ethics at Mount Union College
Think about the general question, "What is ethics?"
Become familiar with the vocabulary of the topic
Decide, in specific scenarios, whether a specific action is ethical or not.

Knowledge / skills / attitudes to be developed (behavioral objectives):

What does a student who signs the Raider Web policy statement (in order to have a public web page) agree to?
What standards does Mount Union College set for me as a student using public computing facilities?
What does "ethical/unethical" mean?
Is it possible to make and defend "ethical decisions?" What tools and skills are needed?

Procedure: A general description of the activity will be presented in class on a Thursday toward the beginning of the semester and a worksheet for the weekend assignment will be handed out. On the following Tuesday, a discussion of the topics, and a question/answer period will begin the class. Then, in groups of two, a set of ethical guidelines for Mount Union College computing students will be formulated. Student teams will begin with either the ACM or AITP statements. Time will be saved at the end of the class for an adoption of a "class" code of ethics. On Thursday, in groups of two, the students will devise and then present scenarios which may fall "outside" the guidelines. A discussion period will follow.

Assessing outcomes: The value of the activity will be known as the course work progresses. If some areas need to be reinforced, this can be done in conjunction with other activities.

Additional remarks: This activity is designed to be used very early in the semester.

Author contact information:

Louise Moses
Mount Union College
Alliance, OH 44601
mosesle@muc.edu