苏仨在yy哭视频:66Integrating Computer Ethics across the Curriculum: A Case Study

Integrating Computer Ethics across the Curriculum: A Case Study

Marion G. Ben-Jacob

Professor, Division of Mathematics and Computer Information Science, Mercy College, 555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 USA, Tel: +1 914 674 7524, Fax: +1 914 674 7518, mbenjacob@mercy.edu

ABSTRACT: There is an increased use of computers in the educational environment of today that compels educators and learners to be informed about computer ethics and the related social and legal issues. This paper addresses different approaches for integrating computer ethics across the curriculum. Included are ideas for online and on-site workshops, the design of a faculty seminar day and an academic course. The paper contains a template for designing modules that are relevant for individual disciplines as well as those that are discipline-independent. One module is presented in detail. Survey results are presented for a two year project on integrating computer ethics across the curriculum. The study of computer ethics is critical as technology is being integrated into every aspect of our lives.

Keywords: Ethics, Computers, Technology, Education

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Integrating Computer Ethics across the Curriculum: A Case Study
Marion G. Ben-Jacob
Professor, Division of Mathematics and Computer Information Science
Mercy College, 555 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 USA
Tel: +1 914 674 7524
Fax: +1 914 674 7518
mbenjacob@mercy.edu
ABSTRACT
There is an increased use of computers in the educational environment of today that compels educators and
learners to be informed about computer ethics and the related social and legal issues. This paper addresses
different approaches for integrating computer ethics across the curriculum. Included are ideas for online and
on-site workshops, the design of a faculty seminar day and an academic course. The paper contains a
template for designing modules that are relevant for individual disciplines as well as those that are
discipline-independent. One module is presented in detail. Survey results are presented for a two year
project on integrating computer ethics across the curriculum. The study of computer ethics is critical as
technology is being integrated into every aspect of our lives.
Keywords
Ethics, Computers, Technology, Education
Introduction
The rapid growth of technology has left a clear impact on the educational environment. Online distance
education is growing in popularity, instructional technology is being incorporated into courses in the traditional
classroom and the concept of hybrid courses that have both an on-site and online component are being
implemented on a wide-scale basis. The increased use of computers across the curriculum compels our students
to be knowledgeable about computer ethics and the related social and legal issues so the rewards of technology
can be accessible to all (Bynum and Rogerson 1996; Huff and Martin 1995; Kallman and Grillo 1993; Maner
1996). It is our pedagogical obligation to help learners develop the necessary habits of scholarship that are
required for use of the computer, the Internet and electronic resources in an intellectually responsible way
(Martin et al. 1996; Martin 1999; NSF 1998). Computers are a part of the educational environment independent
of the different learning styles of students.
Students of all majors are utilizing computers within the classroom, are using computers as research tools, and
are using computers to communicate with friends and colleagues. For some, computers actually serve as the sole
vehicle of participation in classroom discussions. Computers are an integral part of the professional, social and
educational life of more and more people. In order to facilitate the appropriate use of the power of technology in
student learning we need to integrate the study of computer ethics into the different disciplines (Ben-Jacob
2003).
There are many links between computer technology and different disciplines. A correlation between disciplines
and topics includes the following:
  Legal Studies: Is the use of legal self-help software and websites an unauthorized practice of law? Who is
liable for the publication of false information on the Internet?
  Social Science and Humanities: How can we discern misrepresentation of identity on the Internet? How can
the use of computers compromise the ethics of social work?
  Mathematics and the Natural and Physical Sciences: How does parasitic computing compromise research?
How does the Web contribute to the misrepresentation of statistics?
  Computer Science: Should software engineers be licensed? What are acceptable computer user policies?
What are the roles of Internet cookies? What can we do about spam?
  Business and Cultural Studies: What are appropriate guidelines for computer usage? How much knowledge
should be shared? How do people abuse radio music in cyberspace?
  Interdisciplinary Concerns: What are appropriate citations of different types of Internet resources? What
constitutes plagiarism? What are the issues with regard to downloading materials from the Net? What
constitutes the responsible use of computer systems that are not individually owned? (Ben-Jacob 2004)
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The Project
With the support of the National Science Foundation we conducted a two year project on integrating computer
ethics across the curriculum. The first phase of the project was a hands-on workshop for a core group of Mercy
College faculty representing different academic disciplines, the second phase involved a faculty seminar day for
the entire College faculty, the third phase focused on an online workshop for faculty at other institutions across
the United States and the fourth phase encompassed the design and teaching of an online computer ethics course
for Mercy College students that had a module which was team-taught with a faculty member from DePaul
University.
The On-site Workshop
The format of the three days hands-on workshop allowed for presentation by a scholar of national reputation and
group discussion in the morning. In the afternoon the participants worked on individual modules in the computer
lab. Faculty from disciplines as diverse as English, economics, history, mathematics, computer science, library
science, psychology and music participated. The following semester we brought our work on ethics into our
classrooms and are fine-tuned our modules to our students?experiences.
The Seminar Day
For phase two of our project, we conducted a seminar day for the entire Mercy faculty to promote the integration
of computer ethics across the curriculum. Our agenda included a plenary session led by an expert in the field of
computer ethics and discipline-related breakout sessions. The day concluded with a session of summation and
reflection. The discipline-related sessions resulted in modules that reflect the issues and concerns geared to the
curricula in the specific areas.
The Online Workshop
The online workshop during the third phase of the project was open to faculty at institutions of higher learning
across the country. It ran for one week and promoted discussions led by Mercy faculty of various disciplines.
The advantages associated with an online workshop for faculty of different institutions include different
perspectives on the topic. It commenced with a general discussion of computer ethics and then more leads more
specifically into issues that are subject-related. The online workshop was delivered by a team of Mercy faculty
who had developed modules and were aware of the need for the integration of computer ethics across the
curriculum and more specifically into their respective disciplines. They encouraged and guided their colleagues
across the United Stated with the development of modules and exercises that have proven to be pedagogically
sound.
The online workshop, whose format encouraged collaboration, was offered through Mercy抯 distance learning
program, using WebCT as a platform. The goals of the workshop included providing faculty with information,
support and guidance in integrating computer ethics into their curricula. The use of a technologically mediated
environment facilitated the participation of faculty from a large geographic locale at less financial expense than
its on-site equivalent, and the asynchronous delivery allowed flexibility for participation. On the workshop
homepage there were icons serving as links to a welcome message, workshop notes, announcements,
discussions, e-mail and pre-workshop readings. The welcome message provided the participants with an
overview of the workshop format and prompted each participant to introduce him/herself. The notes icon was
linked to the information posted by each discussion leader. The information content was self-contained and
encouraged discussion. For each set of notes there was a correspondingly labeled topic area in the discussion
section where the exchange of ideas was posted. The e-mail link allowed private correspondence as well. The
announcements contained the module template, copies of all surveys and evaluations, and logistics messages.
Discussion leaders and participants were encouraged to take part in all the discussions in order to support an
invigorating exchange of ideas and opinions. Although the workshop was officially one week in length it was
available for navigation one week before and remained available for referral several weeks afterward. Within a
week of its conclusion, the participants were asked to submit a module that they developed based on the
collaborative work done in the workshop. Discussion leaders were available to support participants throughout
the workshop and afterwards as well. There was a discussion thread led by each of the experts.
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The Online Course
The online course in computer ethics and related social and legal issues covered ethics and computer ethics,
privacy and the ubiquity of information, freedom of electronic speech, social and legal implications of the world
today, crime abuse, the responsibility and liability of computer professionals and ethical and social issues of
distance learning, to name just some of the topics. The subject matter was introduced by the instructor and the
topics were addressed through readings and case studies that were discussed online in a thread /conversation
format. The class discussion focused on (1) understanding the ethical issues addressed in the readings; (2)
examining the positions taken and arguments given by the authors; (3) exploring how these positions arise out of
the context within which computers are being used and the philosophical position of the author; and (4)
analyzing scenarios and case studies to uncover and examine ethical and social issues. The students were made
aware of the issues, guided in the evaluation and decision杕aking process and taught what the responsible action
is in each situation. There were proctored exams as well as an individual research project. The course addressed
the ethics of distance learning, a learning environment which is ever growing in popularity.
The Pedagogical Tool
The main pedagogical tool developed throughout the project was a module whose format lends itself to different
topics. We provided the design as well as guidelines for educators to generate their own assignments and
examples. Our contention is assignments, in general, should represent ethical issues from areas such as fraud,
freedom of speech, hacking/security, intellectual property rights, privacy and spamming, safety for critical
systems, whistle-blowing, concerns of the workplace, critical thinking and discipline specific issues. (Bowyer
2001). We recommend that each class exercise or activity generated involve an independent search of the Net by
students. This could, however, be done as a group, as a class, or if necessary, by the instructor with a handout
provided to the students.
Our design of classroom exercises, i.e. the module template, addresses the following:
Topic area
Target audience, the relevance to the course in which it is being used
Materials
Background information
References
Activity e.g. reading assignment, worksheet classroom exercise, debate (Ben-Jacob 2004; Bowyer, 2000).
The following is a specific example of a module on the issue of plagiarism, a concern that crosses all disciplines.
It appears in Integrating Computer Ethics Across the Curriculum.
Academic Integrity: Ethical Behavior for Students
Abstract
Cheating is present in too many institutions of learning. If students are aware (that the professor is aware) of the
different methods of cheating, it may lower the incidences of non-ethical academic behavior. In addition,
evaluation of information from the web will reinforce critical thinking and the exercises will strengthen the art of
collaboration among students.
Goals for the activity
To raise student awareness of what is considered to be ethical academic behavior for students and what the
possible consequences are for what might otherwise be construed a seemingly, harmless action.
Knowledge / skills / attitudes to be developed (behavioral objectives)
  To have students understand what plagiarism is and why it is wrong.
  To have students critically analyze case studies and other information on ethics that are available on the
Internet.
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  To have students explore their opinions on ethics and compare and contrast them with the views of
others.
  To have students work collaboratively.
  To make students aware of the consequences of lack of academic integrity and generically, lower the
incidence of cheating.
Procedure
Start with definitions of ethical academic behavior, cheating, plagiarism, and whistle blowing. Have the students
complete the reading assignment of cases and worksheet. Divide the class into groups that must collaborate and
form a consensus.
Assessing outcomes
Qualitative outcome- Part I of the Worksheet: Ask the students if their initial attitudes are different from their
attitudes after the assignment and if their opinions differ from the groups and why. Quantitative outcome - Part II
of the Worksheet: The number of correct answers.
Additional remarks
Assignment
Read the case studies and the article on the legal aspects of academic dishonesty. Take a look at some of the
websites mentioned in the reference section. Complete the worksheet.
Worksheet
Part I
1. List the different ways a student can cheat in a college course.
2. Prioritize this list in the order of 搈ost to least heinous.?BR>3. Which of these ways is suitable only to on-site learning? Online learning?
4. If one of your peers were cheating, would you report him/her?
5. Does your answer to question 4 change if the other student was/was not in your class?
6. What type of punishment do you think is suitable for someone is who caught cheating?
7. Would you support the enforcement of the aforementioned punishment if the student claimed
ignorance, e.g. 揑 did not know that was considered plagiarism.?BR>8. Name areas, other than the academic environment where cheating and plagiarism can take place.
9. Comment on the case studies that you read, e.g. Was there proof of cheating? Was the punishment in
line with the crime? Was the outcome of the case in agreement with your sense of ethics?
Part II
Consider the following original paragraph taken from Dr. Kevin Bowyer's book Ethics and Computing, Living
Responsibly in a Computerized World (IEEE Press), and the three paragraphs that follow it. Determine why each
of the three is plagiarized.
Original
Reading can help you learn about things like codes of ethics and resolutions of particular ethical conflicts, but
ethical behavior is a way of life. As such, it is best learned through experience; that is, by continually living
ethically yourself.
Paragraph1- According to Bowyer reading can help a person behave in an ethical manner but ethical behavior is
a way of life. The best way厖
Paragraph 2- Reading can help you learn about things like codes of ethics and resolutions of particular ethical
conflicts, but ethical behavior is a way of life. As such, it is best learned through experience; that is, by
continually living ethically yourself.
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Paragraph 3- One can read about ethical behavior in different situations but the best way to understand ethics and
what is considered to be ethical behavior is to integrate it into one's own life. This can be accomplished?. (Ben-
Jacob 2004).
Dissemination
Our dissemination plan for the project included a website where the major portions of the project are chronicled,
http://www.mercy.edu/IT/ethics, and a book entitled Integrating Computer Ethics Across the Curriculum (Ben-
Jacob 2004) which contains the modules that were developed by interested students as well as the participants of
the on-site and online workshops. We have presented at conferences and written papers on computer ethics as
well.
Surveys and Statistics
Surveys were conducted throughout the project. The results of the pre-post comparison of Mercy faculty
responses for the on-site workshop held at the college, N = 18, follow. The faculty were surveyed on attitudes
both before and after the workshop. The survey instrument contained nine statements regarding knowledge and
attitudes toward computer ethics and they were:
1. Comprehending the ethical and related social and legal issues of computing is necessary for all computer
and computer information system majors.
2. Comprehending the ethical and related social and legal issues of computing is necessary for all
college/university students.
3. The study of computer ethics should be integrated across the computer science curriculum.
4. The study of computer ethics should be integrated across the general education curriculum.
5. The study of computer ethics should be integrated across pre-college curriculum.
6. One should be familiar with ethics before enrolling in online courses.
7. I plan on integrating the module I develop into my fall courses.
8. My course outline will address the issue of computer ethics.
9. I plan on adapting the module to reflect the life experiences of my students.
Of these questions two showed significant differences between pre and post assessment at the p<. 05 level, using
the paired t-test. These were questions 1 (t (17)= -2.557; p=0.02) and 4 (t (17) = -3.29; p = 0.004). The faculty
members?attitudes were in the direction of more strongly agreeing with the importance of comprehending
computer ethics for CIS majors and the importance of computer ethics integrated across the general education
requirement, demonstrating the positive effect of workshop participation.
Comprehending Computer Ethics for CIS Majors - pre
Frequency Percent
Agree 6 33.3
Strongly Agree 12 66.7
Total 18 100.0
Comprehending Computer Ethics for CIS Majors - post
Frequency Percent
Agree 1 5.6
Strongly Agree 17 94.4
Total 18 100.0
Study of Computer Ethics Integrated across Gen. Ed. Curriculum - pre
Frequency Percent
No Opinion 2 11.1
Agree 9 50.0
Strongly Agree 7 38.9
Total 18 100.0
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Study of Computer Ethics Integrated across Gen. Ed. Curriculum ?post
Frequency Percent
Agree 6 33.3
Strongly Agree 12 66.7
Total 18 100.0
Paired Samples Test
t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair 1 Comprehending computer ethics for CIS majors -
Comprehending computer ethics for CIS majors
-2.557 17 .020 *
Pair 2 Comprehending computer ethics for all college students -
Comprehending computer ethics for all college students
-2.051 17 .056
Pair 3 Study of computer ethics integrated across CIS curriculum -
Study of computer ethics integrated across CIS curriculum
-1.000 17 .331
Pair 4 Study of computer ethics integrated across gen. ed. curriculum -
Study of computer ethics integrated across gen. ed. curriculum
-3.289 17 .004 *
Pair 5 Study of computer ethics integrated across pre-college
curriculum - Study of computer ethics integrated across precollege
curriculum
-1.458 17 .163
Pair 6 Familiar with ethics before enrolling in on-line course -
Familiar with ethics before enrolling in on-line course
.369 17 .717
Pair 7 I plan on integrating the module I develop into my fall courses.
- I plan on integrating the module I develop into my fall
courses.
-2.062 17 .055
Pair 8 My course outline will address the issue of computer ethics -
My course outline will address the issue of computer ethics
-.825 17 .421
Pair 9 I plan on adapting the module to reflect the life experiences of
my students - I plan on adapting the module to reflect the life
experiences of my students
-.251 17 .805
Although the calculations of the responses to statements #2 and #7 were 搉ot quite statistically significant,?one
can speculate that participation in the workshop encouraged the appreciation of the attendees for the importance
of computer ethics being understood by all college students. In addition, after attending the workshop and
developing a module, the participants realized the benefits of including a module in their respective courses. The
calculations of the responses to statement #6 lead us to conjecture that the attendees were initially familiar with
the academic importance of the subject matter and that is why they enrolled in workshop. The calculations of the
responses to statement #9 support the assumption that the participants designed modules that sufficiently
accounted for the life experiences of their students and did not feel that further adaptation would be necessary to
make the issues relevant.
Analogous research with regard to attitudes both before and after the online workshop where the participants
were faculty members of institutions of higher education located across the nation was conducted. As a result of
technological issues, a paired sample test was not possible. The first six questions in this sample matched the
aforementioned first six, and we were able to compute group means both before and after the workshop. The
results of the pre-post comparison for the online workshop, N= 23, are:
Pre-workshop Post-workshop
Group Mean Group Mean
Question 1 5 5
Question 2 4.73 5
Question 3 4.82 4.88
Question 4 4.27 5
Question 5 4.36 4.75
Question 6 4.45 4.63
Since all the comparative means were non-decreasing, once again we contend that the online workshop had a
positive impact on the attitudes of the participants. The aforementioned project focused on curriculum
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development and was not a research study. As such, the surveys that were conducted were done so as an internal
evaluative measurement and not designed with the detail that is necessitated for substantive research.
Conclusion
To summarize, there is a need for computer ethics to be brought to the forefront of education given the impact
technology has on all of our lives. Courses addressing this issue are prevalent on the graduate level but we
contend that it should be integrated at the undergraduate level. We have presented a successful model that can be
easily replicated in part or in whole to achieve this purpose.
References
Ben-Jacob, M. (2004). Integrating Computer Ethics Across the Curriculum, New York, USA, Mercy College.
Ben-Jacob, M. (2003). Computer ethics for educators and students. Paper presented at the Society for
Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference, March 24-29, 2003, Albuquerque,
New Mexico, USA.
Bowyer, K. (2001). Ethics and Computing, New York, USA: IEEE Press/John Wiley Press.
Bowyer, K. (2000). Resources for teaching ethics and computing. Journal of Information Systems Education, 11
(3-4), 91-92.
Bynum, T. W., & Rogerson, S. (1996). Introduction and overview: Global Information Ethics. Science and
Engineering Ethics, 2 (2), 131-136.
Huff, C., & Martin, C. D. (1995). The consequences of computing: a framework for presenting the social and
ethical impact of computing. Communications of the ACM, 38, 12.
Kallman, E., & Grillo, J. (1993). Ethical Decision Making and Information Technology, New York, USA:
McGraw Hill.
Maner, W. (1996). Unique ethical problems in information technology. Science and Engineering Ethics, 2 (2),
137-154.
Martin, D. C. (1999). From awareness to responsible action (Part2): developing a curriculum with progressive
integration of ethics and social impact. SIGCSE Bulletin, 32 (9), 10-12.
Martin, D., Huff, C., Gotterbarn, D., & Miller, K. (1996). Curriculum guidelines for teaching the consequences
of computing. Proceedings of the symposium on Computers and the quality of life, New York, USA: ACM
Press.
NSF Project Impact CS Steering Committee (1998). From awareness to action: integrating ethics and social
responsibility across the computer science curriculum, Virginia: National Science Foundation.