MATH/CMSC 350: ETHICAL ISSUES IN MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
Professor, office, and hours:
Dr. Robert P. Webber
East Ruffner 332, MTF 2
3:30 and by appointment or coincidence. I am in class almost all Wednesday,
and I am not normally on campus on Thursdays.
Phone 395-2192
Email webberrp@longwood.edu
Text: Tavani, Ethics
& Technology, Third Edition. Wiley, 2011.
Goals for the course:
·
Understand major
ethical theories
·
Be able to
identify and analyze ethical dilemmas that arise in applications of technology
·
Be able to
describe and analyze the ethical implications of applying ones academic
knowledge of technology in professional situations
·
Be able to lead a
class analysis and discussion about an ethical dilemma
Description of the course: The course description is given in the
college catalog. This is a writing and a speaking intensive course.
Tentative outline and schedule: All chapter references are to Tavanis
book.
Week
|
Dates
|
Sections
and topics
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Jan 18 20 |
Chapters 1,2: Introduction; ethics and morality |
|
2 |
Jan 23 27 |
Chapter 2: Major ethical theories |
|
3 |
Jan 30 Feb 3 |
Chapter 3: Logical arguments and critical thinking skills |
|
4 |
Feb 6 10 |
Chapter 4: Professional ethics |
|
5 |
Feb 13 17 |
Chapters 5, 6: Privacy issues; security |
|
6 |
Feb 20 24 |
Chapters 6, 7: Security; cybercrime |
|
7 |
Feb 27 Mar 2 |
Chapter 8: Property issues (copyrights, patents) |
|
8 |
Mar 5 9 |
Chapter 8: Property issues (copyleft, patenting algorithms) |
|
|
|
Spring
break
|
|
9 |
Mar 19 23 |
Chapter 9: Commerce and speech issues |
|
10 |
Mar 26 30 |
Chapters 10, 11: Social issues |
|
11 |
Apr 2 6 |
Chapters 11, 12: New technologies |
|
12 |
Apr 9 13 |
Notes: Uses and misuses of statistics; education issues |
|
13 |
Apr 16 20 |
Student presentations of ethical cases to the class |
|
14 |
Apr 23 27 |
Student presentations of ethical cases to the class |
|
|
M April 30 |
8:00 10:30 a.m. Final exam |
Course requirements:
Three papers @15% . . . . . . .
45%
Quizzes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%
Class participation . . . . . . . . . 10%
Final exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20%
Class presentation: Each student will present an ethical dilemma
and lead the class in a discussion and analysis of it according to guidelines
presented in class. Scenarios may be
taken from books, from web sites suggested by the teacher, or students may
develop their own. Presentations will
last approximately 25 minutes per student, and we will count on doing two
presentations per period.
Each student will sign up in advance for a date and time slot. The student is responsible for distributing
an announcement of the topic and a short reading list to the entire class the
class day before the scheduled presentation. The reading list should give a text page
describing the scenario and/or articles, newspaper clippings, and the like
about the topic. The rest of the
students are responsible for reading the items on the list before the class
presentation. The teacher will assist
you with duplicating and putting items on reserve in the library as
needed. A grading rubric for your class
presentation will be distributed.
Quizzes: These will be brief and will be given at the
beginning of class on the first day scheduled for the chapter. The quizzes are designed to test whether you
have read the chapter before we discuss it.
Class participation: You are expected to actively participate in
the discussions during class. This will
not be a lecture course. Much of the
material will be taught through the class discussions.
Papers: Three papers will be assigned in this
course. Each paper will be given a due
date. Your paper will be due by the beginning
of class on the assigned day. A paper
that is late for any reason will be penalized 25%
for each class day it is late.
The first paper will be on the major ethical theories and will be
assigned at the end of Chapter 2. The
second paper will concern property rights and will be assigned at the end of
Chapter 8. The third paper will be a writeup of your class presentation, describing the scenario
and your analysis of it. You should
include your thoughts about what went right and what went wrong in your
presentation. It will be due by the
beginning of class in the period after your presentation.
For a grading rubric, click
here. For the departmental style
sheet, showing how to do citations, click
here.
Attendance: Expected at all classes. Class discussion is a very important part of
this course, and good discussion is not possible with participants. Your attendance is important for the success
of the entire class, as well as for your success.
Honor code: The teacher subscribes to the Longwood honor
code and assumes that you do, too. Any
infraction of the honor code will be dealt with harshly. In particular, conviction of an honor offense
involving this course will mean an automatic course grade of F, in addition
to any penalties imposed by the