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Strategies for Teaching Professional Ethics to IT Engineering Degree Students and Evaluating the Result

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Abstract

This paper presents an experience in developing professional ethics by an approach that integrates knowledge, teaching methodologies and assessment coherently. It has been implemented for students in both the Software Engineering and Computer Engineering degree programs of the Technical University of Madrid, in which professional ethics is studied as a part of a required course. Our contribution of this paper is a model for formative assessment that clarifies the learning goals, enhances the results, simplifies the scoring and can be replicated in other contexts. A quasi-experimental study that involves many of the students of the required course has been developed. To test the effectiveness of the teaching process, the analysis of ethical dilemmas and the use of deontological codes have been integrated, and a scoring rubric has been designed. Currently, this model is also being used to develop skills related to social responsibility and sustainability for undergraduate and postgraduate students of diverse academic context.

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Notes

  1. Universidad de Valladolid: www.uva.es.

  2. Universidad de Extremadura: www.unex.es.

  3. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya: www.upc.edu.

  4. European Credit Transfer System, that represents 25–30 h of student’s work.

  5. The proposed dilemmas have been taken from (Johnson 2009), http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/Cases.aspx and some proper dilemmas adapted from current issues, such as the case of the whistle-blower Edward Snowden and the spying network.

  6. A: The same case than was adapted in the first semester from the “Software Design Testing” case (http://www.onlineethics.org/cms/7883.aspx. Accessed 31 July 2015).

    B: Prepared from a real case about the design of a network of pollution control in a Spanish city (Minano and Fernández Aller 2015).

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted within the National Program of Projects Fundamental Research under the Sixth National Program for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation (Reference No. EDU2012-31080). It was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain. We thank also the Educational Innovations Projects of the UPM. They had supported and funded since 2012 several experiences for developing competences of ethical, social and environmental responsibility for students of IT engineering degrees. In addition, the first author would like to acknowledge María Jesús Sánchez Naranjo for her comments on previous drafts of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Mathematics to ICT, School of Computer Systems Engineering, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), 28031, Madrid, Spain

    Rafael Miñano

  2. Department of Engineering Organization, Business Administration and Applied Statistics, School of Industrial Engineering, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Ángel Uruburu, Ana Moreno-Romero & Diego Pérez-López

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  1. Rafael Miñano
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  2. Ángel Uruburu
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  3. Ana Moreno-Romero
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  4. Diego Pérez-López
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Correspondence to Rafael Miñano.

Appendix: Statement About the Work in Small Groups and Individual Homework

Appendix: Statement About the Work in Small Groups and Individual Homework

In the second semester, we explained more explicitly what the students had to do, especially in their analysis (2) and decision-making (3).

First semester.

  1. (2)

    Identify articles from professional ethical codes that may be appropriate for the assessment of the behavior of the practitioner in that case. Justify the selection, using, at least, the ACM Code.

  2. (3)

    Propose the decision that a good practitioner should make and justify it.

Second semester.

  1. (2)

    Analyze the situation taking into account every important aspect in making a decision.

To do this:

  • Identify the different actors involved (personal or collective), how the situation affects them and how the possible solutions can affect them, …

  • Select articles of ethical codes that are related to the situation and state why. Also, identify values, ethical and deontological principles that can guide the decision.

  • Analyze the situation from different viewpoints or perspectives.

  1. (3)

    Propose the decision that a good practitioner should make and justify it.

To do this:

  • Identify principles and ethical values and some articles from the ethical codes to support it.

  • Assess the consequences and potential risks of it.

  • Explain why it is preferable to other options.

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Miñano, R., Uruburu, Á., Moreno-Romero, A. et al. Strategies for Teaching Professional Ethics to IT Engineering Degree Students and Evaluating the Result. Sci Eng Ethics 23, 263–286 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9746-x

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