Can Ethics Instruction Improve Students' Technical Skills in Computer Science?

该项目将在线伦理指导添加到Java和C++编程入门课程中。通过一项对照实验，研究人员解决了这样一个问题：伦理教育能否取代一些技术材料，同时提高学生的技术学习能力？实验组在课程早期收到伦理材料，一些技术材料被推迟；控制组在课程后期收到伦理材料。期中和期末评估被用来确定两组人在技术和道德方面的学习成果是否存在差异。一套以计算机专业人员道德为重点的在线材料正在开发中。参与的教员来自四年制院校和社区学院。在线模块可以接触到大量不同的学生群体，从而确保结果广泛适用。有道德意识的电脑专业人士可望制造更可靠、更安全、更切合用户需要的电脑系统，对软件业和所有用户产生广泛的影响。此外，更加重视计算领域的相关社会问题，可能会增加妇女和其他在计算领域代表性不足的群体的参与度。

This project adds online ethics instruction to introductory Java and C++ programming courses. By means of a controlled experiment, the investigators address the question: Can ethics instruction replace some technical material while simultaneously improving students' technical learning? An experimental group receives the ethics materials early in the course and some technical material is delayed; the control group receives the ethics materials later in the course. Midterm and end of term assessments are used to determine whether there is a difference in learning gains, both technical and ethical, between the two groups. A set of online materials focused on ethics for computing professionals is under development. Participating faculty are from both four-year institutions and community colleges. The online modules allow a large, diverse population of students to be reached, consequently ensuring that the results are broadly applicable. They will be posted online and available for adoption by other institutions at the end of the project.Ethically aware computer professionals can be expected to broadly impact the software industry and all users by producing more reliable, safer computer systems that are more appropriate for user needs. Furthermore, an increased emphasis on relevant social issues in computing is likely to increase participation by women and other groups underrepresented in computing.