Ethics and Values Studies supports research and educational projects on ethical and value aspects of the interaction between science, technology and society. Projects examine the social values and mutual obligations and responsibilities that arise in these interactions. This project will provide information about what computer science students are learning in courses designed to develop their understanding of professional ethics. It is widely agreed that computer science students, like students in other professional education programs, need to learn professional ethics. A recent survey of members of the ACM Spcial Interest Group on Computers and Society listed ethical issues and related curricular development as their top priority. However, there has been little empirical assessment of the effectiveness of attempts to incorporate ethics into the computer science curriculum. This research activity consists of an empirical assessment of the changes (if any) in ethical reasoning about computers and society resulting from courses designed to introduce students to these issues. Two components of ethical reasoning have been distinguished. For the first, ethical sensitivity, a measurement instrument has been developed, since none has been available in this specific area. The second component, ethical reasoning, will be measured by the Rest Defining Issues Test. The measured change in ethical sensitivity is predicted to be greater than any change in ethical reasoning. This is because students' basic moral values and reasoning processes are believed to be less amenable to change than their ability to recognize social contexts requiring ethical judgment on their part. Products of the research will include dissemination of a new insrument to measure the ethical sensitivity of computer professionals, empirical knowledge of the effects of courses designed to teach professional ethics, and recommendations for improving computer science education in this area. This study comes from two well-qualified researchers. Research and dissemination plans are appropriate; institutional support is good. The project has important implications for the development of instruments for measuring effectiveness in applied ethics courses; thereby it provides assistance in future curriculum development. Support is recommended.
