Author(s):
Need. Computer systems permeate many areas of society and the increasing computerization and automation of many processes, activities, and social engagements has also given rise to a succession of ethical failures in the design and implementation of computer technology. Scholars have discussed the role of ethics in computer science (CS) education and have called for including ethics in the curriculum, envisioning that CS graduates, and people who build computer systems in general, should be knowledgeable about the technical aspects of building computer systems as well as the impacts of these systems. CS ethics education, however, has met several challenges including, among others, the lack of faculty training in teaching CS ethics; faculty resistance to teaching ethics; challenges to engage students; and obstacles around scalability.
Guiding Context and Inquiry. Our work aims to address key challenges in computing ethics education by deploying the Platform for Ethics and Responsible Computing Education (PEaRCE) in undergraduate CS courses. PEaRCE is an online learning environment designed to immerse undergraduate CS students in realistic interactive work scenarios. The simulated scenarios illustrate how technical CS course material can be readily exploited towards the creation of appealing systems, which nevertheless can be instruments of harm to others. Within PEaRCE simulations, students take the role of an active contributor within a (technology) project and consider engaging stakeholders and key actors to gain information about the project. At the end of the simulation, students are provided information about the project scenario, the potential impacts of the project, and feedback on stakeholder conversation choices.
Outcomes. Pilot deployments of PEaRCE in undergraduate CS courses has shown that most students chose to first talk to stakeholders to gather information about their project’s impacts, raising various considerations in their decisions to talk to stakeholders. Students also reported that PEaRCE was easy to use overall, that scenario conversations brought up issues they had never thought about, and discussed potential improvements to the platform and concerns about power dynamics when thinking about ethical issues within work settings. The pilot deployments of PEaRCE pointed to promising directions for PEaRCE to be used for ethics education within undergraduate CS courses that could also be adopted by other CS instructors at other institutions.
Broader Impacts. Our project works towards the ideal of a safer and socially responsible society, addressing the well-being of individuals and communities. The effective integration of responsible-computing skills into STEM education using PEaRCE in tandem with co-designing ethics and socially responsible computing curricula with faculty for undergraduate CS courses will help make future Computer Science workers aware and informed of how computer systems may do harm, as well as the severity of the harm that such systems can do, and their potential role as participants within such endeavors. Imbuing students within our institutions, and across other universities and higher education institutions, with this responsible awareness will be done by developing their ethical awareness about the potential harm that might be caused by misusing/abusing the technological substance of technology courses they take.
Coauthors
Peter Haas, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Leon Osterweil, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Ivon Arroyo, University of Massachusetts Amherst
