Learning Objectives

This class has objectives in four different but interrelated categories:

Ethics

What do "right" and "wrong" mean anyway? How is "ethical" different from "legal"? We'll learn about several philosophical approaches to ethics including utilitiarianism, Kantianism, stakeholder analysis, and virtue ethics. The goal is for students to be able to address ethical dilemmas with reasoned arguments, grounded in a combination of these 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? We'll talk about a host of issues including privacy, intellectual property, and freedom of speech.

Argumentation

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.

Instructor: Ellen Zegura, ewz@cc.gatech.edu

Office Hours: TuTh after class or by appointment, Klaus 3404

TA: Dan Kestranek, dan <dot> kestranek <at> gatech <dot> edu

TA Office Hours: Tu 11am-1pm, CoC Building Commons

Texts

This class has two required texts and one required little book:

1. ■Ethics for the Information Age, Third Edition, by Michael Quinn
   

1. ■Make sure to get the THIRD edition (Abbreviation in Readings: Quinn)
   

2. ■Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, 5th Concise Edition (2009) by John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson. (Abbreviation in Readings: WA)
   

1. ■Visual & Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Decision Making by Edward R. Tufte. Graphics Press, 1997.
   

1. ■Note that this little book reproduces chapter 2 of Tufte's book Visual Explanations. If you're a Tufte fan, you may wish to buy the full book. However, it's expensive.

Assignments and Grading

We will use t-square for assignments, including turn-in.  In addition to assignments, your final grade will be computed from:

1. ■Class Attendance (10%)
   

2. ■Class Participation (10%)
   

3. ■Homeworks (20%)
   

1. ■Note that the term paper proposal and outline count as homework assignments.
   

4. ■Midterm (15%)
   

5. ■Term Paper (25%)
   

6. ■Final Exam (20%)
   

Class attendance is required. Please remember to sign the attendance sheet each class. Please do not sign the attendance sheet if you are more than 15 minutes late to class. If you need to miss class for a legitimate reason, please send email to the instructor and TA, preferably before class. Legitimate reasons for missing class include illness, a job interview, or attending a conference.

You may miss up to two classes without it affecting your grade. However, please note that exams are strongly based on material that is covered in class, and being there is the best way to know what you need to know. If you miss a class, please get notes from a classmate.

This class abides by the Georgia Tech honor code.  All assigned work is expected to be completed individually unless explicitly written otherwise.  You are encouraged to discuss assignments with your classmates, but anything you turn in must be your own work.