Course Syllabus
IMPORTANT NOTE: All dates and policies contained in the CS 3090 syllabus and Canvas course are subject to change. Students can expect to be informed timely and clearly of any changes.
Critical Information
Instructor
Prof. Bei Wang Phillips, 4608 WEB, u0731785@gcloud.utah.edu
Class meetings
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. in GC 2900, led by Prof. Phillips
Teaching Assistants
Nicole Sundberg, nicole.sundberg@utah.edu
Yeonjae (Jay) Kim, YeonJae.Kim@utah.edu
Attendance
Due to the interactive and discussion-oriented nature of class meetings, in-person attendance is required. A significant fraction of the semester's grade is determined by activities completed in-class. The 3 lowest attendance scores will be dropped: these drops are intended to be used for emergencies and other necessary absences. If you need to miss 4 or more classes (e.g. due to an extended illness), message me when you need to miss the 4th class and explain your situation. For the 4th class and onward, we can discuss a makeup activity. This makeup activity will be more time intensive than attending class.
Communication
All class announcements will be posted on Canvas.
Questions for the course staff should be sent as Piazza messages to instructors, which can be viewed by both Prof. Phillips and the TAs.
Please send emails to Prof. Phillips and TAs in the case of emergency (e.g. medical emergency, etc.)
Final course grade
| Class participation (in-class activities and canvas quizzes) | 35% |
| Canvas discussions (approximately every week) | 30% |
| Block projects, including a final project | 35% |
Course Information
In this course, we will explore the moral, social, and ethical ramifications of the choices we make as computing professionals. Through class discussions, case studies, exercises, and projects, students will learn the basics of ethical thinking in science, understand a representative sample of current ethical dilemmas in computing, and study the distinct challenges associated with ethics in computing.
Prerequisite and co-requisite
'C-' or better in CS 2420 and Majoring or Minoring in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Software Development
Students can only receive credit for one Ethics course taught in the School of Computing. So students should may take this course or CS 3390, Ethics in Data Science, but not both.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of CS 3090, students will be able to:
- Explain the key concepts of foundational ethical frameworks, and apply a framework to evaluate the morality of a technology or technological decision.
- State and discuss their own personal ethical code of conduct, including the impact of their code on other individuals and groups.
- Identify ethical issues when presented in a complex, multilayered technological context, as well as identify cross relationships among the issues.
- Determine the harms and benefits to individuals and groups resulting from a given technology or technological decision.
- Formulate, justify, and carry out an appropriate response to a technological ethical dilemma.
- Devise a plan to resolve technological ethical dilemmas in communal or hierarchical situations with conflicting moral codes.
- Use experiences different from their own to make technological decisions or evaluate morality.
- Argue (in text and speech) convincingly for or against a given technology or technological decision with a clear thesis and a well-structured argument supported by evidence or examples, while considering and defending against objections to this argument.
Course Materials
Website
The CS 3090 Canvas course is always under development, with updates to the class schedule, course notes, readings, assignment specifications, and more, occurring regularly. It is critical that students become familiar with the Canvas course right away and plan to visit it three times a week, at a minimum.
Readings
Weekly readings from a variety of sources will be assigned for the class, these readings will be posted as links on Canvas. No textbook is required for this class.
Class discussions
This class is discussion-focused, and these discussions form a critical part of the learning that will occur in the class. Thus, you and your peers' opinions and effort are a course material. This course couldn't exist with just one student. Students will discuss the readings via Canvas discussions, and also discuss with each other in class.
Course topics
The course will be broken into 5 blocks, with approximate topics as listed below (this list is subject to change):
- Block 1: Intro to Ethical Thinking
- The importance of ethics in computing
- Ethical frameworks
- Block 2: Software Engineering
- Copyright & patents
- Free and open source software
- Writing ethical programs
- Block 3: Data & Privacy & Platforms
- Data privacy
- Platforms as moderators
- Block 4: AI & Algorithmic Decision Making
- Algorithmic decision making
- Automation in the workforce
- Block 5: Inclusion, Equality, Workplace
- Technological divide, inequality of access
- Workplace culture
- Affecting change
Student Evaluation
Class Participation
The class participation part of student grade comes from attending class, participating in in-class (written) activities, and from Canvas quizzes about course content and readings.
Canvas Discussions
You will be expected to discuss each week's readings with your classmates using the Canvas Discussions feature. In this class we will learn how to have insightful and productive discussions with each other, and the canvas discussions portion of your grade will be determined by how well your discussions demonstrate the things we learn.
Block Projects
The semester will be split into 5 blocks of similar topics. In addition to the weekly activities, you will be expected to complete a programming and/or written project for each block. These will most likely be individual, not group, projects. More details will be given in class and on Canvas.
Final course grade
See "Critical Information" above.
Late policies
For Canvas Discussions, no late submissions are accepted.
For Class Participation, if you were in class but unable to submit due to a technical error, we will accept late submissions the evening of class, and possibly later in exceptional circumstances (feel free to ask).
For Block Projects, we will accept late submissions up to 3 days after the deadline with a deduction of 10% of the max points. If you have some exceptional circumstance, contact us and we can discuss further.
Regrading Requests
For Canvas Discussions and Block Projects, you may request regrading within 2 days of receiving the grades. To submit a regrade request, please make a private post on piazza under the "regrade_requests" folder to all course staff and include which assignment you want to be regraded along with justification for what should be regraded. The TA will try to return the regraded results within 5 days of receiving the regrading request.
Letter grades
The following table is used to associate numerical scores with the corresponding letter grade. Note the lack of rounding.
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Getting Help
To get help understanding course material, students may see the Teaching Assistant(s) during TA Help Hours, see the instructor during Office Hours, or message the entire course staff via Piazza (make sure to message the instructors (including Prof. Phillips and both TAs) in Piazza for prompter and more accurate responses).
Policies and Guidelines
Laptop and mobile device policy
Students are expected to engage with the instructor and classmates during class meetings. Most activities will be verbal or require writing on a (provided) piece of paper. Laptops and mobile devices are permitted only when instructed, and only for in-class activities.
ADA statement
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability & Access, 162 Olpin Union Building, 801-581-5020. CDA will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations.
All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability & Access.
Academic Misconduct
It is the student’s responsibility to be familiar with the policies regarding plagiarism and academic honesty under the University’s Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities and the School of Computing’s Policy on Academic Misconduct. If you are unsure, please check with the instructors. There is ZERO tolerance for plagiarism and academic dishonesty in the course. Any assignment in which academic misconduct is detected will receive 0 points, and the incident will be reported to relevant university administrators. If a second instance of academic misconduct is detected, harsher penalties will be imposed, including but not limited to receiving an F grade for the whole course.
Class Discussion
Students must read, understand, and follow the guidelines for class discussions.
Discussion threads, emails, and chat rooms are all considered equivalent to classrooms, and student behavior within those environments shall conform to the Student Code. Specifically:
- Photos or comments that would be off-topic in a classroom are still off‐topic in an online posting.
- Disrespectful language and photos are never appropriate.
- Using angry or abusive language is not acceptable and will be dealt with according to the Student Code. The instructor may remove online postings that are inappropriate.
- Do not use ALL CAPS, except for titles, or overuse certain punctuation marks such as exclamation points and question marks.
- Course e-mails, e-journals, and other online course communications are part of the classroom and, as such, are University property and subject to the Student Code. Privacy regarding these communications between correspondents must not be assumed and should be mutually agreed upon in advance, in writing.
Other polices and guidelines
Students are bound by the following policies and guidelines:
- School of Computing academic misconduct policyLinks to an external site.
- School of Computing policies and guidelinesLinks to an external site.
- College of Engineering guidelinesLinks to an external site.
- University of Utah Student CodeLinks to an external site.
Students should read and understand each of these documents, asking questions as needed.
Student mental health resources
Rates of burnout, anxiety, depression, isolation, and loneliness have noticeably increased during the pandemic. If you need help, reach out for campus mental health resources Links to an external site., including counseling, trainings and other support.
Consider participating in a Mental Health First Aid Links to an external site. or other wellness-themed training Links to an external site. provided by our Center for Student Wellness and sharing these opportunities with your peers.
1Mueller, P. A. & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159-1168. doi:10.1177/0956797614524581.