Teaching a Course on 'Social Implications of Computing' in Undergraduate Curriculum

摘要

Based on the recommendations of IEEE and ACM, the Computer Science Department at Winona State University has been offering a course on Social Implications of Computing as part of the undergraduate curriculum. The course is required for all majors in computer science and applied computer science. The course provides an overview of the societal and ethical issues surrounding computer technology and involves students in discussions about the social implications of this technology. Primary topics include professional ethics, privacy, intellectual property, computer and network security, computer reliability, work and wealth, and the societal impacts of computing, networking, and information storage and retrieval. The course involves extensive reading, writing, and discussion. This paper will discuss the topics and techniques used in teaching this course as well as students learning outcomes expected from the course for evaluating its success in the curriculum. This paper may help other universities improve/develop a computer science curriculum by including such topics and/or by offering a complete course focusing on these topics in the future information age.