A seminar course in computer ethics

Abstract

This paper describes the transformation of a required Senior Seminar course. The transformed course emphasizes ethical, social, political, legal, and economic aspects of computing. In addition, the new rendition of the course increases the requirement for oral and written communication. We describe the previous definition of the course, goals of the redesign, and students' reactions to both the new and old versions. To this author's surprise, student satisfaction is higher with the new course, although it requires more of them. We discuss course organization, and suggest assignments and teaching strategy. The course was a joy to teach and, fortunately, a very pleasant and meaningful experience for the students. © 1994, ACM. All rights reserved.