Given the potential for technology to inflict harm and injustice on society, it is imperative that we cultivate a sense of ethical design and social responsibility among our students as they progress through Computer Science (CS) curriculum. Our students need to be able to examine the social complexities in which technology development and use are situated. In line with this, research has shown that aligning students’ personal goals and their ability to achieve them in their field of study is important for promoting motivation and a sense of belonging. Promoting communal goals while learning computing can help broaden participation, particularly among groups who have been historically marginalized in computing. Keeping these considerations in mind, we piloted an introductory Java programming course in which activities engaging students in ethical and socially responsible considerations were integrated across modules. Rather than adding social on top of the technical content, our curricular approach seeks to weave them together. The data from the class suggests that the students found the inclusion of the social context in the technical assignments to be more motivating and expressed greater agency in realizing social change. We share our approach to designing this new introductory socially responsible computing course and the students’ reflections. We also highlight six considerations for educators seeking to incorporate socially responsible computing.
Fri 22 MarDisplayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change
15:45 - 17:00 | |||
15:45 25mTalk | Challenges and Approaches to Teaching CS1 in Prison Papers Emma Hogan University of California, San Diego, Ruoxuan Li Columbia University, Adalbert Gerald Soosai Raj University of California, San Diego, William Griswold UC San Diego, Leo Porter University of California San Diego DOI | ||
16:10 25mTalk | Community Action Computing: A Data-centric CS0 Course Papers Ayaan M. Kazerouni California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Jane Lehr California Polytechnic State University, Zoë Wood California Polytechnic State University DOI | ||
16:35 25mTalk | Socially Responsible Computing in an Introductory Course Papers Aakash Gautam University of Pittsburgh, Anagha Kulkarni San Francisco State University, Sarah Hug Colorado Evaluation & Research Consulting, Jane Lehr California Polytechnic State University, Ilmi Yoon San Francisco State University DOI |