skip to main content
10.1145/3478432.3499222acmconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagessigcseConference Proceedingsconference-collections
panel

Approaches for Weaving Responsible Computing into Data Structures and Algorithms Courses

Published: 03 March 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Many efforts are underway to have computing curricula prepare students to anticipate adverse social impacts of computing. Much of the attention currently focuses on introductory CS courses and machine learning courses, often framed around bias that arises around algorithmic decision-making systems. The presenters on this panel have instead focused on ways to weave responsible-computing content into data structures and introductory algorithms courses. They have done so at different levels, ranging from second-semester introductory courses (so-called CS2) up through upper-undergraduate or early graduate courses. Each panelist will describe their perspective on how responsible computing fits into their course and present an illustrative assignment or lecture from their course. The goal of the session is to inspire other CS faculty to work similar content into corresponding courses at their own institutions, while also fostering a community of practice for responsible computing in core CS courses beyond machine learning.

References

[1]
Angèle Christin. 2020. The Ethnographer and the Algorithm: Beyond the Black Box . Theory and Society, Vol. 49, 5 (2020), 897--918.
[2]
Casey Fiesler, Mikhaila Friske, Natalie Garrett, Felix Muzny, Jessie J. Smith, and Jason Zietz. 2021. Integrating Ethics into Introductory Programming Classes. In Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 1027--1033. https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432510
[3]
Sorelle Friedler, Kathi Fisler, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, and Seny Kamara. [n.d.]. Responsible Problem Solving course materials repository. https://responsibleproblemsolving.github.io/.
[4]
Amy J. Ko, Alannah Oleson, Neil Ryan, Yim Register, Benjamin Xie, Mina Tari, Matthew Davidson, Stefania Druga, and Dastyni Loksa. 2020. It is time for more critical CS education . Commun. ACM, Vol. 63, 11 (10 2020), 31--33.
[5]
Kevin Lin. 2021. Do Abstractions Have Politics? Toward a More Critical Algorithm Analysis . 2021 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT) (1 2021). http://arxiv.org/abs/2101.00786
[6]
James W. Malazita and Korryn Resetar. 2019. Infrastructures of abstraction: how computer science education produces anti-political subjects . Digital Creativity, Vol. 30, 4 (10 2019), 300--312. https://doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2019.1682616
[7]
Jared Moore. 2020. Towards a more representative politics in the ethics of computer science. In Proceedings of the 2020 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency . ACM, New York, NY, USA, 414--424.
[8]
Yolanda A. Rankin, Jakita O. Thomas, and Sheena Erete. 2021. Real Talk: Saturated Sites of Violence in CS Education. In Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Vol. 12. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 802--808. https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432432
[9]
Sepehr Vakil. 2018. Ethics, Identity, and Political Vision: Toward a Justice-Centered Approach to Equity in Computer Science Education . Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 88, 1 (3 2018), 26--52. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943--5045--88.1.26
[10]
Sepehr Vakil. 2020. "I've Always Been Scared That Someday I'm Going to Sell Out": Exploring the relationship between Political Identity and Learning in Computer Science Education . Cognition and Instruction, Vol. 38, 2 (4 2020), 87--115.
[11]
Sepehr Vakil and Jennifer Higgs. 2019. It's about power . Commun. ACM, Vol. 62, 3 (2 2019), 31--33. https://doi.org/10.1145/3306617
[12]
Alicia Nicki Washington. 2020. When Twice as Good Isn't Enough. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 213--219. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366792

Cited By

View all
  • (2023)Designing Ethically-Integrated Assignments: It’s Harder Than it LooksProceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3568813.3600126(177-190)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
  • (2023)Conceptualizing Approaches to Critical Computing Education: Inquiry, Design, and ReimaginationPast, Present and Future of Computing Education Research10.1007/978-3-031-25336-2_21(521-538)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2023

Index Terms

  1. Approaches for Weaving Responsible Computing into Data Structures and Algorithms Courses

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Conferences
    SIGCSE 2022: Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2
    March 2022
    254 pages
    ISBN:9781450390712
    DOI:10.1145/3478432
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

    Sponsors

    Publisher

    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    Published: 03 March 2022

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. data structures and algorithms courses
    2. ethics
    3. responsible computing

    Qualifiers

    • Panel

    Funding Sources

    • Mozilla Foundation

    Conference

    SIGCSE 2022
    Sponsor:

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 1,787 of 5,146 submissions, 35%

    Upcoming Conference

    SIGCSE TS 2025
    The 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
    February 26 - March 1, 2025
    Pittsburgh , PA , USA

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)27
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)3
    Reflects downloads up to 16 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2023)Designing Ethically-Integrated Assignments: It’s Harder Than it LooksProceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3568813.3600126(177-190)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
    • (2023)Conceptualizing Approaches to Critical Computing Education: Inquiry, Design, and ReimaginationPast, Present and Future of Computing Education Research10.1007/978-3-031-25336-2_21(521-538)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2023

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media