CS 4001A: Computing, Society, & Professionalism

Instructor	W. Michael McCracken
Email	mike@cc
Office	Klaus Advanced Computing Building room 2334
Office hours	Find me after class, or email for an appointment

TA	Brian Sherwell
Email	sherwell@cc
Office	TSRB
Office hours	Email for Appointment

Location	Sustainable Education 316
Time	Tuesday & Thursday 3:05-4:25
CoWeb	TBA
Class website	http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2009/cs4001a_spring/

Learning Objectives

In this class. you will learn about:

Ethics

What do "right" and "wrong" mean anyway? We'll learn about several philosophical approaches to ethics. The goal is for students to be able to address ethical dilemmas with reasoned arguments, grounded in ethical theories.

Professional Ethics

What special responsibilities do we have as computing professionals? What do the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and ACM Code of Ethics say, and how can we use these in our daily practice?

Computing and Society

In what ways does computer technology impact society?

Law and Policy

How is what is ethical different from what is legal? How do these two different things reflect themselves in a court of law and living with computers on a daily basis. What is "policy"? How can policy decisions shape social outcomes?

Argumentation & Communication Skills

How do you construct a well-reasoned argument? Whatever you go on to do in your professional career, your success will arguably depend more on your oral and written communication skills than on your technical skills. This class is one of your few and precious opportunities to work to improve those skills.

Texts

Required Texts:

• Ethics for the Information Age by Michael Quinn. 4th Edition. (Abbreviation: EIA)
• Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, Brief Edition by John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Seventh edition. Longman Publishers, 2007. (Abbreviation: WA)
• Supplemented by articles

Assignments and Grading

• Class Participation (25%)
• Assignments (25%)
• Midterm (25%)
  (Here is a sample midterm exam.)
• Term Paper (25%) Possible Topic Ideas

Class attendance is required. Please remember to sign the attendance sheet each class. Excused absences require appropriate documentation.

Class participation

• You will be expected to read and interpret the articles in the books and the current awareness articles for yourself and others.
• You will be expected to present and persuasively defend your positions on controversial topics both orally and in writing.
• You will be expected to critique the perspectives/opinions of both authors and classmates in discussions and position papers.
• On any given day, you may be asked to summarize and critique readings from the book or elsewhere for the class. On such occasions, you may refer to notes you've made in response to the readings.
• You are responsible for bringing your textbook(s) and readings to class on the day assigned, as we may read from them during class.
• You will be expected to participate in class without distractions or distracting others. Thus, turn off your cell phones while you are in class (don't just silence the ringer), and refrain from using them for text messaging, determining who has called you, etc.

Assignments

Assignments will be graded on a list of criteria (specified on the assignment) such as quality of writing, completeness, insight into technical issues, insight into social issues, etc. Assignments are due at the start of class on the day they are due. Late assignments will not be accepted. Assignments turned in via e-mail should be in PDF or MS Word format. Make sure to follow the expected format for written assignment submissions.

Miscellaneous

You will have the opportunity to revise your term paper. Your final term paper grade will be the average of your first and revised grade. To hand in a revised paper, you must hand in three things: a copy of the original paper with instructor comments on it, a copy of the revised paper, and a copy of the revised paper with changes highlighted. You may highlight changes with a highlighter pen, or use the 'version tracking' feature of many word processors.

This class abides by the Georgia Tech Honor Code. All assigned work is expected to be individual, except where explicitly written otherwise. You are encouraged to discuss the assignments with your classmates; however, what you hand in should be your own work.

Acknowledgments

Assignments and ideas on this syllabus build on those from everyone who has taught it before, especially Colin Potts, Mary Jean Harrold, Amy Bruckman, and Spencer Rugaber.