Thread by @cfiesler

This thread is for live-tweeting the ethics session at #SIGCSE2021. FIVE papers at @SIGCSE_TS this year about ethics in computer science education! 🧵

First up: "How Students in Computing-Related Majors Distinguish Social Implications of Technology" by Diandra Prioleau et al. at University of Florida.

They presented students with scenarios about AI technology (e.g. recidivism algorithms)...

... and found that their participants could spot social implications, but frequently missed issues of systemic discrimination. But surprisingly: About half of students had never heard of these issues, which points to a gap in computing curriculum. dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/34…

Yay! When asked this question, the authors said that based on their findings they would also suggest in-situ ethics learning, across the curriculum rather than just in a single standalone ethics course. :)

Next up: "Computing Ethics Narratives: Teaching Computing Ethics and the Impact of Predictive Algorithms" by Beleicia Bullock et al.

As part of the Computing Ethics Narratives (CEN) project, they deployed a module about predictive policing in an algorithms course.

You can read the paper here: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/34…

And check out the narratives repository here: computingnarratives.com (This project is also part of #ResponsibleCS!)

Paraphrased: "I don't think that a judge needs to learn how to code, but they do need to understand what the algorithm is doing"... as an argument for K-12 tech ethics education!

Also: "We're not advocating for fear, we're advocating for responsibility."

I'm presenting next, so feel free to live-tweet for me, or check out my slides: drive.google.com/file/d/1wBKXMJ…

or the paper: cmci.colorado.edu/~cafi5706/SIGC…

or this thread from earlier:

https://twitter.com/cfiesler/status/1372928292685291527?s=20

Next up: @Ben_Rydal presenting on "Using Role-Play to Scale the Integration of Ethics Across the Computer Science Curriculum" dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/34…

This is also a #ResponsibleCS project!

Their roleplaying games are available for anyone to use. One is about self-driving buses, and one is about college admissions algorithms. I have used the first in classes before, and it went very well!

sites.gatech.edu/responsiblecom…

They also noted some inspiration in the paper I was involved in about ethics integration in an HCI class, in the suggestion for "perspectival CS" (ability to identify multiple perspectives)... which I had totally forgotten was in that paper. :) mwskirpan.com/files/Ethics_E…

Last paper: "Deep Tech Ethics: An Approach to Teaching Social Justice in Computer Science" by Rodrigo Ferreira & Moshe Vardi

They redesigned a CS ethics class to push on "deeper" questions closely related to present issues of social justice and power. dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/34…

I really support a focus on social justice in thinking about teaching ethics. I really struggle with the word "ethics" and what it captures and doesn't. I think it's useful shorthand, but I worry that some might interpret it too narrowly.

And a final thought from an audience question from a student: so how do we actually implement this in the real world? Disconnect between what we're learning in class and the power we have in industry.

💯 This is a huge challenge we need to be thinking about.