Section 1: Challenges and Ideas

Challenge 1: Why should students take this course?

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"Engineers must understand how technology interacts with people and with politics and how critical are factors of human and institutional behavior in technological decisions," writes Edward Wenk, science advisor to three Presidents (Wenk, 1988). Chuck Huff, of St. Olaf's College in Minnesota, writes a similar curriculum goal: "... to prepare students of computer science to deal with new issues as they arise in practice, later in their careers" (Huff & Martin, 1995). The introduction to Tom's course outline at CSU Long Beach follows their lead: "This course is designed to help you become an effective working computer professional."[1]

These statements might sound as if only CS or engineering students need to understand social issues of computing. Not so. The key emphasis in each statement is not on the discipline, but on the students' future professional practice and personal life. You could just as easily substitute the phrase "MIS professional" or "management professional." In a general education course--with students from many disciplines--you could say "informed consumer and voter" in an increasingly technological world.

A course in social issues of computing could be offered in a variety of departments, at the undergraduate or graduate level, in a seminar or lecture/discussion format, and so on. We'll address some of these differences throughout Section I. But any of the courses can gain focus from a carefully-developed, concise statement of purpose. Tom prefers to limit this to a single sentence. More than that, and you may be describing the outcomes that you want, not the overarching reason for your course's existence. Rob prefers a longer version--see next challenge.

Developing this statement is not a trivial problem, even if the initial rationale for the course was to meet an accreditation requirement (cf CSAB, 1992). Look through your own school's course catalog. Many course descriptions simply list topics--usually in subject-specific jargon. Seldom is there a reason why these topics are important, or how they contribute to the students' academic and career development. Is it a wonder that our students arrive on the first day of class with blank stares?

We try to anchor the professional and ethical focus of our courses in the immediate future of the students. Many of them may expect to just "do what they are told" when they begin working--but may find that they will be expected to exercise both independent judgement and some understanding of an applications domain (i.e., a "heads-up" view of computing systems[2] ). Most importantly, we try to help the students develop an analytical understanding and lifelong curiosity about social aspects of computing. If you can explain precisely why you are teaching the course--in terms relevant to the students--you have taken the first step toward overcoming their blank stares.

NOTES:

1 The course is titled "Computers, Ethics, and Society." UC Irvine's ICS Department offering, "Computerization in Society," is similar.

2 See Rob Kling, "Heads Up Versus Heads In Views of Computer Systems", and Rob Kling and J.P. Allen, "Can Computer Science Solve Organizational Problems?", both in C&C2.