Part I: ACM Code of Ethics and Case Studies Design

GOALS:

1. Students demonstrate an understanding of one or more imperatives from the ACM Code of Ethics.
2. Students identify which imperatives from the ACM Code of Ethics apply to a given scenario.
3. Given a scenario, students identify an ethical course of action based on the ACM Code of Ethics.
4. Students devise a scenario that illustrates the implications of one or more imperatives from the ACM Code of Ethics.

ASSIGNMENT: Students devise an original scenario that illustrates one or more imperatives from the ACM Code of Ethics. Students devise questions for their peers that address the ethical implications of the scenario.

Implementation

• All students will read Summary of Computer Ethics Topic presented in two Power Point Presentations from the ComputerEthicsLabFiles in shared files on Campus Cruiser

• All students will read ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

• All students will read the article from ACM digital library

  Using the new ACM code of ethics in decision making, Ronald E. Anderson Deborah G. Johnson Donald Gotterbarn Judith Perrolle

• Each student will design TWO case studies questions. For each case study, you MUST to provide the following answers:
  • List all ACM Code of Ethics imperatives which apply to your scenario
  • Provide an ethical course of action based on the ACM Code of Ethics to resolve the issues in your scenario
• Write your questions and your ANSWERS in the separate Word file. Send the file to ykortsarts@mail.widener.edu.

  Example of the case study
  Assume the following situation: You are the designer of a popular piece of free software. Users often contact you for help running your software, but you have difficulty helping them troubleshoot over the phone or email, and you wish you could just show them what to do. One day you get fed up, and add a remote assistance function into your program, allowing you to access the user's sessions, see what they see, send commands to the program, etc. This function does not require any user interaction to activate, because that would be one more thing to guide them through. Users are now overall much happier about their experience when they call for assistance, and have commented that they had no idea such a thing was even possible. What are the ethical implications of your actions? Are there any negative implications, and if so, what could you do to mitigate them?

• I will choose one question from each student to create a short quiz. The quiz will be in class next lab

ASSESSMENT

Scenario and Solution: Addresses goals (1), (3) and (4)

ACM CODE OF ETHICS IMPERATIVES: Addresses goals (1) and (2)