Preparing to teach ethics in a computer science curriculum

Abstract

At Towson University, the Computer and Information Sciences Department is preparing newer faculty members to teach courses in computer ethics. There are two separate ethics courses, which are identified as Professionalism and Computer Ethics (a 1 credit course) and Social and Ethical Issues (a 3 credit course). This paper will provide several types of resources available for preparing a new faculty member to teach computer ethics. In addition, this paper will cover the following topics from the new faculty perspective: (1) identifying available resources; (2) which ethical theories to implement in an ethics course; (3) the major topics to be covered; (4) identifying the desired student outcomes; and (5) the students' perception of the course content.