Broadening Participation in Computing Ethics Curriculum Development

考虑到计算机对社会产生的重大影响，有时甚至是负面影响，迫切需要在计算机课程中加强伦理学的存在。计算专业人员必须认真考虑他们创造和部署的技术对道德和社会的影响。我们需要做的部分是培养计算机专业学生的一种真正的意识，即他们对社会的道德责任。虽然将伦理学纳入计算机课程的努力正在进行，但一个经常被忽视的问题是，历史上未被充分代表的声音是否有机会影响影响学生道德发展的内容的创作。因此，这个项目的目标是更好地理解和扩大在传统计算机伦理课程开发过程中可能缺失的各种声音。为了扩大计算机课程开发的参与，该项目将汇集佐治亚理工学院、莫尔豪斯学院、佐治亚州立大学和佛罗里达国际大学的独特合作伙伴关系。这项工作将由一个多元化和包容性的项目领导团队和顾问指导。为了提高计算伦理教育的质量和相关性，以及代表声音的多样性，本项目将调查：(1)确定当前计算伦理课程中的实践，例如哪些伦理和研究伦理主题被包括在内、优先考虑和排除在外；(2)评估人们对哪些主题应该纳入计算伦理课程的偏好，主要是通过让来自计算领域代表性不足的群体的计算教师参与进来；(3)根据调查反馈和研讨会讨论，制定和传播计算伦理教学大纲、指南和配套课程材料样本；(4)通过实验确定更具包容性的计算机伦理学课程是否以及如何改变未被充分代表的少数民族学生对计算机的态度、偏好和行为。该项目将调查不同的利益相关者，重点关注少数族裔服务机构和其他相关组织的学生和教师，这些组织为在计算机领域代表性不足的群体提供服务。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There is an urgent need to bolster the presence of ethics within the computing curriculum, given the significant and sometimes negative impacts that computing is having on society. Computing professionals must seriously consider ethical and societal impacts of the technologies they create and deploy. Part of what is needed is to cultivate a genuine sense, within computing students, of their ethical responsibilities to society. While valuable efforts are underway to incorporate ethics into computing curricula, an often-overlooked concern is whether historically underrepresented voices have a meaningful opportunity to influence the creation of content that shapes student ethical development. Thus, the goal of this project is to better understand and amplify the diverse range of voices that may have been absent during the development of a traditional computing ethics curriculum. To broaden participation in computing curriculum development, the project will bring together a unique partnership across Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College, Georgia State University, and Florida International University. The work will be guided by a diverse and inclusive project leadership team and advisors.To enhance the quality and relevance of computing ethics education, and the diversity of represented voices, this project will investigate: (1) identifying current practices in computing ethics curricula, such as which ethics and research ethics topics are being included, prioritized, and excluded; (2) assess expressed preferences for which topics should be featured in the computing ethics curriculum, primarily by involving computing faculty from groups that have been underrepresented in computing; (3) developing and disseminating sample computing ethics syllabi, guidelines, and supporting course materials, based on survey feedback and workshop discussions; and (4) determining experimentally if and how a more inclusive computing ethics curricula can alter underrepresented minority student attitudes, preferences, and behavior towards computing. The project will survey diverse stakeholders, focusing on students and faculty at minority-serving institutions and at other relevant organizations that serve groups that have been underrepresented in computing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.