CS 301 Social and Ethical Issues in Computer Science
Course Syllabus
Fall 2010, 1 Credit Hour
College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences
Northern Arizona University
General Information:
Time and Location:
Mondays , 10:20 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.
Room: 234, Engineering
Coordinator:
Wolf-Dieter Otte, Dr.-Ing.
Office 219, (928) 523 0876, dieter.otte@nau.edu
Office Hours: see class’ website.
Prerequisites:
CS 249
Textbook:
“A Gift of Fire” by Sara Baase, Prentice Hall; 3rd edition (January 6, 2008)
ISBN: 978-0136008484
Catalog Description:
Exploration of issues that deal with the ethical implications of widespread use of computer technology.
Course Objectives:
Students will become familiar with issues related to professional ethics, ethical use of the internet, privacy
issues, property rights of software, accountability and social implications of information technology.
Tentative Course Coverage:
1. Introduction to Ethics: What is Ethics, why is it important. Morality and moral dilemmas. (Dr. Otte)
2. Work (Dr. Li)
3. Professional Ethics and Responsibilities (Dr. Li)
4. Evaluating and Controlling Technology (Dr. Georgas)
5. Errors, Failures and Risk (Dr. Georgas)
6. Privacy (Dr. Wang)
7. Crime (Dr. Wang)
8. Intellectual Property. (Dr. Palmer)
Course Structure:
Lecture and/or Discussions plus a comprehensive essay paper. This class is team-taught by the CS faculty.
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Recommended optional materials/references:
See the class’ web site at
http://wolfdieterotte.com?q=content/CS301_-_Ethics_Computer_Science
Grading:
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Midterm Exam (20%)
Final Exam (25%)
Homework Assignments (20%)
Essay Paper (25%)
Attendance/Participation in class evaluation (10%)
Class participation is vital to be successful and generally required. Up to 10% from the course’s result
may be taken off in case a student fails to participate in classes without prior excuse.
Evaluation methods
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Grading system: letter
Grading Scale: A=90%..100%, B=80%..89%, C=70%..79%, D=60%..69%, F<60%
Course policy
(Note: The following are in addition to NAU’s and CET’s. To conserve paper, copies of NAU and CEFNS policies are
distributed on the website of this class.)
Office Hours. My office hours are posted outside my door and on the website. If you need help but for some reason,
cannot see me during posted hours, make an appointment for some other time. I enjoy helping students outside of class
meetings and encourage you to see me if you encounter any difficulties, preferably sooner the better.
Attendance: Class participation is vital and, in general, students who do not attend regularly have difficulty in
successfully completing the course. See the section on grading above.
Late submissions, missed exams, etc. Late submissions are not accepted. There will be make-up exams only in case of an
emergency as defined by NAU Policy. A missed exam counts zero points for that part of the grade.
Withdrawal Deadline. The deadline to drop with a “W” is (see announcements). Students who wish to withdraw must
complete all the relevant paperwork. Non-attendance of classes and/or non-completion of assigned work does not
constitute ample reason for withdrawal from the course and will result in a failing grade.
Plagiarism and Cheating. Copying or any other form of academic dishonesty will result in an immediate failure in the
course in addition to recommendation of other penalties. In the event of cheating, both the receiver(s) and the giver(s)
will be treated the same way.
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