| Abstract: | In recent years many computer science educators have struggled with the problem of how to include instruction on social and ethical issues in the computing curriculum. This article describes one approach to solving this problem. It outlines a course called Perspectives in Computing that the author has taught for junior and senior computer science majors. One unifying theme of the course is that computers alter human relationships‐‐they create relationships that would not have existed otherwise and they change existing relationships. The course both examines the nature of those relationships and studies the ethical dimensions of the computer's impact. A second unifying theme is that computing as a discipline affirms a set of professional values. The course attempts to help students discern those values and to develop a thoughtful critique of them. |
