Ethics Lab advocates for an interdisciplinary approach to responsible computing curricula in new Mozilla Playbook
Georgetown’s Ethics Lab joined forces with 21 other higher education institutions and Mozilla to release the Teaching Responsible Computing Playbook. Thirty-two educators and researchers across the country shared their learnings and best practices for integrating ethics into computer science education effectively. This collection of insights was gleaned from the first two years of a three-year Responsible Computer Science Challenge initiative led by the Mozilla Foundation, Omidyar Network, Schmidt Futures, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
The launch of the Playbook comes at a critical moment when computer science education is booming, with a 300 percent rise in bachelors in computer science enrollment between 2009 and 2019 (CRA Taulbee Survey).
These students will wield tremendous power, according to Kathy Pham, a computer scientist, Mozilla Fellow, and co-editor of the Playbook.
“The code they write may be used by billions of people, influencing everything from which news stories we read, to what kind of personal data companies collect, to who qualifies for parole, insurance, or housing loans — and who does not,” said Pham. “In other words, these students have the power to shape society. When that power isn’t coupled with responsibility, the results can have unintended consequences, negatively impacting users’ autonomy, privacy, security, or wellbeing, as well as causing harm to society as a whole.”
Ethics Lab Director Dr. Maggie Little and Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Alicia Patterson co-authored the section “Working Across Disciplines” with Dr. Vance Ricks of Guilford College. Because responsible computing touches on questions central to many different disciplines, the authors make the case that bringing perspectives, concepts, and tools from other disciplines into the conversation is vital. This section shares guidelines for embracing a collaborative approach to designing ethics embedded computer science curricula, as well as several case studies.
In the first stage of the RCSC grant, Ethics Lab’s team of philosophers and designers collaborated with Computer Science professors to design and deliver exercises in three undergraduate CS courses on a broad array of topics, experimenting with a number of pedagogical methods, including technology-specific interventions, didactic presentations, and individual homework assignments.
Patterson lauded working with the Computer Science department, calling it one of the purest forms of collaboration she has experienced.
“I felt like it was a true meeting of the minds. It was a true partnership,” she said.