Assessment Item G3 – “Computing Careers Having an Impact” Exercise – CS 350
Skill being assessed: Realization of the enormous potential impact of computing in
a variety of contexts.
Program outcome to which this skill is mapped: (g) An ability to analyze the local
and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations, and society
Performance Assessment Abstract: There is abundant and irrefutable evidence of
the widespread impact of science in general and computing science in particular.
Yet according to Ed Lazowska, the chair of the National Science Foundation's
Computing Community Consortium, computer scientists often fail to realize this.
Quoted in the January 2011 Communications of the ACM, he says
“Let’s face it, as computer scientists, we can come across as a bit
geeky. Our neighbors don’t understand what we do. But what we do
greatly impacts the issues that affect our neighbors, like the
improvement of our transportation systems, energy efficiency, health
care, education, open government, cybersecurity, and discovery in all
fields. As computer scientists, we have a rich intellectual agenda with
the capability to have an enormous breadth of impact upon daily lives.
We need to do a better job of telling that story.” 1
In this exercise you are to fast-forward one or two semesters and picture yourself in
the following situation. You have just graduated with your Computer Science
degree. Since you were an outstanding student, you have your choice of many
career options in the computing field. You are also an idealist, and therefore the
choice that you ultimately make for a career will be based primarily on providing
you with the opportunity to use your specialized knowledge to “make a difference”.
(That's not to say that it can't also be a career that offers a nice income. After all,
according to an article in Rolling Stone2, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg sees himself as
“an altruistic, harmless computer geek who invented a widget that will make the
world a better place”.) Under these assumptions, what would comprise the ideal
computing project to which you could dedicate your considerable talent and efforts?
In this essay you are to:
 Describe that project in detail. Specifically, what are the technical goals of
the software that you and the other members of your team will develop?
 Since you chose this project from many options because it will give you a
chance to “make a difference”, explain how, if successfully realized, the
technical goals of the software will have significant positive impacts on
individuals, organizations, and/or society.
 As with any important scientific endeavor, there is also potential for your
work to have negative impacts. Carefully describe the negative impacts that
could result from this endeavor if the decision-makers that control its
deployment are not fully cognizant of the capabilities of the software.

How would you advise those decision-makers to deploy the project to make
sure that the negative impacts are minimized as much as possible?
1Communications
of the Association of Computing Machinery, January 2011, volume
54, no. 1
2http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-battle-for-facebook-20100915
Places to look for some ideas:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/prospective_students/undergrad/whycse
http://www.cra.org/ccc/locsymposium_slides.php
http://www.cra.org/ccc/resources.php
http://www.cra.org/ccc/index.php
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx
Rubric for Evaluation
Criteria
Description of
the technical
goals of
project and
their potential
to have an
impact.
Description of
the positive
impacts of the
project.
Description of
the potential
negative
impacts and
recommendat
ions on how
to control
them
Writing Style
Exemplary
The technical
goals and
capabilities of the
software are
thoroughly
described,
making it
possible to
envision and
critically analyze
the specifics of
the project's
impacts.
The positive
impacts of the
project are
lucidly presented
and critically
analyzed. There
is a clear
explanation of
how the impacts
are derived from
the technical
goals of the
project.
The potential
negative impacts
are described in
detail, enabling a
realistic appraisal
of policies and
actions that are
necessary to
control them.
Satisfactory
The technical
goals and
capabilities of the
software are
adequately
described.
Marginal
The technical goals
and capabilities of
the software are
described in
general terms,
making it
impossible to
envision the
specifics of their
impact.
Deficient
The technical goals
and capabilities of
the software are
confusingly stated,
with numerous
inconsistencies that
make impossible a
realistic analysis of
the project's
impacts.
The positive
impacts of the
project are stated
clearly, but the
linkage between
them and the
technical goals of
the project is at
times not
apparent.
The positive
impacts of the
software are
somewhat
unrealistically
portrayed, often in
terms that are
overly simplistic
and vague.
The potential
positive impacts are
superficially
presented and often
completely glossed
over.
The potential
negative impacts
are adequately
described, but
recommendations
on how to control
them are sketchy
and unconvincing.
The potential
negative impacts are
superficially
presented and often
completely glossed
over.
Written in clear
and lucid style
with few, if any,
grammatical
errors
Written in a
coherent style
with a modicum of
grammatical
errors that could
be easily corrected
without
necessitating an
entire re-write
The potential
negative impact are
addressed, but in
an overly simplistic
fashion. Hence
any discussion off
how to control
them fails to
address important
complications that
are involved.
Written in a
fashion that
includes numerous
grammatical
errors,
necessitating that
significant portions
of the essay be rewritten to convey
the intended
meaning.
Written in a fashion
replete with so
many grammatical
errors that the essay
must be completely
re-written to
accurately convey
what the student is
trying to say