Integrating professionalism and workplace issues into the computing ...

Integrating Professionalism and Workplace Issues into the Computing and Information Technology Curriculum Report of the ITiCSE'99 Working Group on Professionalism Joyce Currie Little (co-chair) Towson University, USA [email protected]

Norbert J. Kubilus The College of New Jersey, USA [email protected]

Mary J. Granger (co-chair) George Washington University, USA [email protected]

Susan K. Lippert George Washington University, USA [email protected]

Roger Boyle University of Leeds, United Kingdom [email protected]

W. Michael McCracken Georgia Institute of Technology, USA [email protected]

Jill Gerhardt-Powals Richard Stockton College, USA [email protected]

Grazyna Paliwoda Cracow University of Economics, Poland [email protected]

John Impagliazzo Hofstra University, USA [email protected]

Piotr Soja Cracow University of Economics, Poland [email protected]

Carol Janik Tompkins Cortland Community College, USA [email protected] ABSTRACT

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Educators in computing and information technology (CIT) suggest a need for graduates going into the workplace to have a better understanding of professionalism and workplace issues. It is not enough for graduates to have technical capabilities. They must understand many aspects of CIT as a discipline. They should be aware of the various types of CIT educational programs, different job titles and ffimctions, and some aspects of the employment supply and demand. They should be aware of the need for each computing worker to have professional responsibility for their work, and an awareness of the importance of appropriate ethical behavior in the group. They must also have an awareness of the impact of information technology on society as a whole and on individuals, and be prepared to handle a variety of issues arising in the workplace. This paper provides a rationale for the inclusion of professionalism in the CIT curriculum. It focuses on the responsibilities of CIT instructors and provides material to assist carrying out this obligation.

During the past fifty years computing and information technology (CIT) has rapidly evolved, changed the way business is conducted and affected the daily lives of many people. CIT is changing the rules of business, and the way companies compete. An understanding of CIT issues is essential for survival in a competitive market [Porter, 1985]. Those involved with CIT are not only responsible for developing systems that are functional and reliable, they are also accountable for the impact these systems have on society and individuals. This responsibility raises concerns about the education and competency of CIT practitioners and their level of professionalism. "The only real objective for any profession is to protect the consumers of its products and services. After all, a professional designation gives assurance that the holders have all had their qualifications and experience vetted by a group of peers." [Foyer, 1998 p. 11] In this discussion of professionalism there are two aspects. The first is concerned with whether a discipline meets the criteria of being "a profession." The second aspect describes the expected behavior of individuals working in the field - "the professionals."

INTRODUCTION

Copyright is held by the authors.

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5.

Existence of a code of conduct or ethics

6.

Existence of an accepted commitment or calling or sense of responsibility for serving the public.

Board of Professional Engineers, established licensing requirements for software engineers practicing in the state [Texas Board of Professional Engineers]. Comparisons are often made between the situation in CIT and those in the medical, legal and accounting professions, where each profession has its individual certification and licensing standards [Rising 1986]. We should note, however, that the differences between these professions and CIT are obvious for reasons of history, tradition, and definition. The growth of alternative medicine illustrates the problems in defining a professional closed shop. Suspicions that certification is a device to protect status and salary levels as much as to protect the consumer are not wholly unfounded.

Many of these six elements are discernible within CIT as a discipline. "Data processing" skills began to emerge about a hundred years ago with the development of equipment using punch cards. About fifty years ago, the arrival of "computing equipment" added a new domain to the skills needed. This distinctive field of knowledge eventually led to the development of specialized university degree programs: formal models were developed in 1957 for data processing, in 1968 for computer science, and in 1973 for information systems. Despite the many different types of degree and certificate programs across colleges and universities, graduation with a diploma in the field was and still is the major indicator of competency in the field. Despite this, many companies do not require their employees to have received such an advanced education in CIT.

Professional associations in CIT have existed since the creation of data processing groups and computing groups in the 1940s. Currently there are several dozen different professional associations emphasizing some aspect of CIT content. Most countries have at least one professional organization for addressing CIT issues. Many of these associations have developed their own codes of conduct and/or ethics [Gotterbarn, 1997; Anderson, 1993]. However, there are few control mechanisms in place to enforce these codes of behavior, other than eviction from the association. There do exist many individuals with a sense of responsibility or commitment for serving the public, but currently there is no standard or requirement for such in the workplace. Therefore, it is important to consider the behavior of the individuals who do the work of the profession, that is, the "professionals."

There is no formal testing of competence to control admission to the CIT discipline, although voluntary certification has been encouraged. Professional associations began voluntary certification examinations during the 1960s with the "Certificate in Data Processing," which was later moved to the new body supported by eight professional associations, the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP). The credential offered by the ICCP became the Certified Computing Professional (CCP) and the entry-level Associate Computing Professional (ACP). Both of these credentials are obtained by taking examinations, with the former requiring the core and two specialties, and the latter requiring the core and a programming language. Soon, other professional associations created new certification programs, in specialties such as computer security and computer auditing. Vendors entered the certification movement with numerous training and testing programs, such as Novell's Certified Network Engineer (CNE) and Microsoft's Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). Many CIT practitioners are now certified in particular technologies. Most countries have voluntary certification, both from the professional associations and from vendors, and do not have licensing per se. Recently, the government of Alberta, Canada approved a professional designation for information technology [Foyer, 1998]. Recent legislation in the United States of America, drafted by the Texas

1.2 W h a t is a Professional? Maister [ 1997] describes "professionals" as those who take pride in their work and show a personal commitment to quality. Additionally, professionals seek responsibility, anticipate the needs of others and initiate action. They are team players. They are honest, trustworthy, and loyal. They are eager to learn and get involved beyond their assignments. For many years professionals were automatically given respect and trust [Maister, 1997]; however, with the growing number of cases involving lack of responsibility, many professionals now must attempt to regain such respect. Many CIT practitioners like to think of themselves as professionals; but since there is not a control mechanism used to provide entry into the field, such as licensing, it is not yet evident, given Benveniste's definition, that CIT can be defined as a profession.

1.1 W h a t is a Profession? Six elements found in a discipline defined as "a profession" are given by Benveniste [1987]. They are: 1. Application of skills based on special knowledge 2. Requirements for advanced education and training 3. Formal testing of competence and control on admission 4. Existence of a professional association

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Society relies on computing and information technology, and is often harmed when systems do not perform as expected. Therefore, expectations for the competency of those workers in the CIT field are increasing and are often caused by public awareness of their increasing vulnerability to failure of systems [Neumann, 1992]. CIT practitioners are expected to be up-to-date and technically skillful. Their clients expect them to listen and be respectful, and to have integrity. They have to communicate effectively and give advice without being patronizing. They are expected to be trustworthy.

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Therefore, CIT practitioners must have good communication skills, both written and oral. They need to uphold a code of conduct, end the secrecy that surrounds their work, and be responsible both personally and collectively for observing standards of practice. They need procedures for confronting poor practices and for dealing with dysfunctional practitioners and their misconduct. They need to establish clear values and explicit standards for their profession. They have to create a systematic process for maintaining their professional competence and be prepared to be more accountable, both individually and collectively. CIT practitioners need to understand that their activities are nearly always conducted within a broader context whose priorities may well not coincide with purely technical considerations. The CIT practitioner may well not understand these any more than colleagues and managers understand the pure technical issues. These

broader issues often do not appear in purely technical curricula and this lack of awareness easily leads to friction and misunderstanding in the workplace.

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THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONALISM IN THE CIT CURRICULUM Tomorrow's CIT professionals are today's students enrolled in university degree programs or training programs. The responsibility for preparing students to become the professional workers needed in the ~ture must be acknowledged by the instructors, the institutions sponsoring the degree or training programs, the curriculum model developers, the educational standards organizations, as well as the students themselves. This paper focuses on the responsibilities of CIT instructors and provides material to assist carrying out this obligation.

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INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS a. Communications (oral/written) b. Group work c. Behavior characteristics VALUES a. Ethical issues b. Professional responsibility c. Equal opportunity

WORKPLACE a. Hiring practices b. Evolution of computing c. Industry growth d. Supply & demand e. Quality initiatives f. Career opportunities

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QUALIFICATIONCRITERIA a. b. c.

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Curriculum models Certification/licensing Curriculum accreditation

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LEGAL a. b. c.

Government trade regulations Corporate liability Intellectual property rights

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Table 1: Matrix of professional areas as they relate to CIT curriculum areas

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Educating students to become professionals must go beyond the acquisition of individual technical skills. Students must also appreciate the impact of their work on individuals, on corporations, and on society as a whole. They must have experience in communicating at a professional level and effectively operating in groups. They must become lifelong learners, maintaining, enlarging and broadening their areas of expertise over time. And most importantly, they must be able to integrate this set of skills and knowledge to solve complex problems in a particular domain. Industry and workplace professionals recognize and advocate that skills beyond the purely technical are vital to the success of the graduate on the job. Historically, with the exception of some accreditation bodies requiring coverage of ethics and professional responsibility, CIT programs have had little motivation to include the broader aspects of professionalism in their courses. Often, instructors argue that these types of skills are best left to experience in the workplace, or that if they were included in curricula, it would be at the expense of the acquisition of technical skills. Associations in many countries have addressed some aspects of the concems of professionalism, but some curriculums have been slow to incorporate these topics. Yet, other professions have addressed these issues, without diminishing the explicit education of their students, by integrating professional practice as a part of their curricular structure. Medicine practices by diagnosis and treatment in clinical venues. Law practices by analysis and generation of cases. Architecture practices by designing. The performance of authentic tasks is the mechanism for integrating professional issues with the acquisition of technical skill. The example exercises we present (see Appendix) are generally intended to be a part of a course or integrated into a course.

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PROFESSIONAL AND C U R R I C U L U M AREAS

Table 1 presents professional areas as they relate to eight broad CIT curriculum areas. The professional areas consist of interpersonal relationships, values, workplace, qualification criteria, and legal. The check marks in the matrix show the range of coverage represented by the exercises proposed in this paper. An informal survey of the

Case studies Group projects Expert/group panels Oral presentations Internet research

Figure 1 is a list from the survey of pedagogical approaches that can be used when integrating professionalism and workplace issues into the CIT curriculum. This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Instead, it illustrates the' variety of approaches that can be used to implement exercises in any of the curriculum areas.

3.1

Professional Areas

Each of the broad professional areas can be described in terms of several specific categories that exemplify that area.

Interpersonal relationships consist of oral and written communications, working as a member of a group, and personal behavior characteristics. Figure 2 lists some of the behavior characteristics of a professional. It contains many of the characteristics presented by Maister [1997], as well as others suggested by the informal ITiCSE'99 survey. The ordering in Figure 2 reflects the relative importance assigned by the survey respondents, who were virtually unanimous that showing a personal commitment to quality is the most important characteristic.

Shows a personal commitment to quality Is honest, trustworthy and loyal Does whatever it takes to get the job done Becomes a team player Listens to the needs of those they serve Is open to constructive critiques on how to improve Anticipates and does not wait to be told what to do Understands and thinks like those they serve Takes pride in work Reaches out for responsibility Gets involved and goes beyond their assigned job Meets client/user expectations Thinks differently/creatively Figure 2: Characteristics of a computing professional

Values include ethical issues such as those identified by Granger, Little, et al. [1997], professional responsibility, and equal opportunity. The individual has a professional responsibility to conform to the guidelines and aspirations provided by various codes of professional practice set forth by professional associations or certification/licensing bodies. Equal opportunity includes issues such as equal access to computing, as well as employment and advancement regardless of gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity or race, or handicap.

Internships Professional associations Discussions Role-playing Videos

Figure 1: Pedagogical approaches

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international participants at ITiCSE'99 aided in the development of exercises in each of the professional areas.

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Workplace issues encompass hiring practices, computing industry evolution and growth, supply and demand for computing professionals, quality initiatives, and career opportunities. Quality initiatives include consideration of the reliability, accuracy, timeliness, cost effectiveness, and safety of computing systems. ISO 9000 and the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model are examples of quality management efforts that will change the workplace. Qualification criteria represent some aspects that are considered essential for the creation of a professional. These include: •

Curriculum models such as the ACM Computing Curriculum 1991;

•

Certification and licensing as represented by the Certified Computing Professional (CCP) designation;

•

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Table 2 lists the exercises contained in the Appendix. Each exercise is listed under the professional area (from Table 1) to which it is most relevant, and includes cross-references to the other professional areas with which it is associated.

Exercise 1.1 : Exercise 1.2:

Curriculum accreditation by such bodies as Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) in the United States or the British Computer Society in the United Kingdom.

Exercise 1.3: Exercise 1.4: Exercise 1.5: Exercise 2.1 :

Legal considerations include government trade regulations, corporate liability, and intellectual property rights.

3.2

EXERCISES

The Appendix contains sample exercises that illustrate the integration of professional and workplace issues into the computing curriculum. These exercises represent a variety of topics and approaches that can be used. They also illustrate the professional areas and curriculum content areas for which this material is appropriate. Some of the proposed exercises are very specific. Others are more general and represent a family of exercises.

Exercise 2.2: Exercise 3.1: Exercise 3.2: Exercise 3.3: Exercise 4.1: Exercise 4.2: Exercise 4.3:

CIT CurrieulumAreas

Each of the broad CIT curriculum areas in the matrix of Table 1 includes several different courses. Some of the courses relevant to each area include the following:

Technology overview includes courses such as a survey of information systems or computer literacy, or an introductory course in computer science. Programming

includes courses in introductory programming, object-oriented development, data structures, comparative languages, and concurrent programming.

Exercise 5.1 :

Systems analysis and design includes courses emphasizing

The Use of Role-Playingto Understand Professional Responsibility Researchand WritingDiversePointsof Viewin the ComputingField Peer Code Review ImpromptuReports Managing Group Projects Using ComputingHistoryin the Design of Future Systems Ethical DecisionMaking and CopyrightLaws The Perfect Job - Realityor Utopia? Is Homea Perfect Workplace? Is ConsultingA Job for Everyone? International ProgramAccreditation Designing a Mechanical Pencil Credentials for Certification in a Profession,Vocation, or Trade Corporate Trade Regulations

Table 2: Exercises contained in Appendix A

the analysis and design of systems, preparation of specifications, and software project management.

Software engineering includes courses that focus on the design and development of large software systems--that is, systems of substantial size and complexity, designed and implemented by teams of analysts and programmers.

Human-computer interaction includes courses that focus on the appropriate interface between computer technology and the user, either society as a whole or individuals.

Systems hardware and software includes courses in computer architecture, operating systems, compilers, real time systems, and system administration.

Telecommunications and networking include courses in data communications, network topology-local and wide area-and network management. Database includes courses in file structures, database management systems, information resource management, and data warehousing.

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OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Observations Professional development is an ongoing process requiring a commitment to lifelong continuing education. In a changing field like computing, there is a great deal to be learned about the "profession." Students, instructors, and practitioners need to participate in this endeavor. It is important to include professional topics and characteristics in the CIT curriculum. Various efforts in different countries and universities to incorporate topics of "professionalism" exist. However, it is agreed that it is difficult to "teach" appropriate behavior for the workplace, which is why the pedagogy for delivery of professionalism and workplace issues should include experiential learning.

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Exercises including professional issues into the CIT curriculum may be infused into existing classes and can combine many professional areas. Attempting to classify and catalog issues can result in a "tick list" approach by students; rigid compartmentalization should be avoided. Modes of instruction enhancing the behavioral aspects of professionalism in students include peer review, oral class presentations, writing and research exercises, internship presentations, role-playing exercises, and case study discussions. Exposure to professional communities through student clubs and local and national groups provide students with an early awareness of careers and professional issues.

5.2

Recommendations

Instructors in CIT should infuse "professionalism " into the curriculum. Exercises should be created to involve professional topics and encourage communication skills, self-assessment, ethics, and group dynamics. A central access site for exercises should be made available. This paper makes a start in that direction. There is also a need to develop more effective assessment and evaluation techniques. The view of professionalism should maintain an international perspective with comparisons among countries. Additionally, universities and industry need to work together to defme the attributes of professionalism for inclusion in CIT curricula. In conjunction with industry and professional associations, instructors should promote and participate in the development of acceptable standards of practice and codes of ethics. Educators, industry, and professional groups should support continuing education and advanced training in the CIT field. Besides curricular elements, instructors should encourage cooperative projects with companies. Graduates of programs that do not adopt these (or analogous) approaches may be technically competent, but lack many of the qualities needed for success in the workplace. Some disciplinary consensus on threshold standards for professional education in the CIT curriculum is essential.

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SUMMARY

Many studies of the "industry-academic gap" point to the dissatisfaction of many corporations with the products of academia. The criticisms of the capabilities of graduates suggest a need for the CIT graduates to have the ability to: "work in a team, work collaboratively, speak and write well, be creative, be innovative, show awareness of industry trends and changes, understand some of the relationships among corporations, understand something about responsibility and liability, evaluate some of the potential impact of a project on people, understand trade-off of quality expectations and cost, know some potential problems of retaining software ownership, show understanding of the historic

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background to current events, be aware of some of the international perspectives of the work, know some of the legal ramifications of worker responsibility, and understand potential ethical issues arising in the work itself." [Little, 1999] This paper raises the awareness of professional and workplace issues in the CIT curricula. It also provides exercises addressing some of the professional areas that may be integrated into CIT courses. It is hoped that others will be stimulated to create additional exercises and send them electronically to either of the co-chairs, Joyce Currie Little or Mary J. Granger, for inclusion in a planned electronic repository.

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REFERENCES

Anderson, R.E., Johnson, D.G., Gotterbam, D. and Perrolle, J. (1993) "Using the New ACM Code of Ethics in Decision Making" Communications of the ACM, 36, 2, 1-9. Benveniste, G. (1987) Professionalizing the Organization, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, California. Foyer, R. (1998) "Professionalism in IT: It's Really for the Buyer" Computing Canada, 24,4, 11-12. Granger, M.J, Little, J.C., Adams, E.S., Bjorkman, C, Gotterbarn, D, Juettner, D.D., Martin, C.D. and Young, F.H. (1997) "Using Information Technology to Integrate Social and Ethical Issues into the Computer Science and Information Systems Curriculum" Working Groups Reports and Supplemental Proceedings, 2nd Annual SIGCSE/SIGCUE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE'97, Uppsala, Sweden, June 1-5, 1997. Gotterbarn, D., Miller, K. and Rogerson, S. (1997) "Software Engineering Code of Ethics" Communications of the ACM, 40, 11, 110-118. Little, J. C. and Granger, M.J. (1999) "Integrating Professionalism And Workplace Issues Into The CS/IS Curriculum" Working Group Proposal for 4 th Annual SIGCSE/SIGCUE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE'99, Krakow, Poland, June 27-July 1, 1999. Maister, D. H. (1997) True Professionalism, The Free Press, New York, New York. Neumann, Peter G., (1992) "Where to Place Trust," Communications oftheACM, 35, 10, 138. Porter, M.E. and Millar, V.E. (1985). "How Information Technology Gives You Competitive Advantage" Harvard Business Review (July-August 1985). Rising, Linda (1986) "Conversation on the Net: The Professionalism Issue" SIGCSE Bulletin, 18, 2, 2-9,12. Texas Board of Professional Engineers web site URL: http://www.main.org/peboard/, June 1999

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FURTHER READING

Freeman, P. and Aspray, W. (1999) "The Supply of Information Technology Workers in the United States" URL: http://www.cra.org/wits/cra.wits.html, June 1999, Computing Research Association, Washington, DC. Kuras, M, Grabowski, M. and Zajac, A. (1999) "Changing IS Curriculum and Methods of Instruction" Proceedings of the 4 th Annual SIGCSE/SIGCUE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE'99, June 27 - July 1, 1999, Cracow, Poland, 36-39.

National Science Foundation (1998) From Awareness to Action: Integrating Ethical and Social Responsibility across the Computer Science Curriculum, Third Report from the Project ImpactCS Steering Committee, August 1998. Zoltowski, B., Boyle, R. And Davy, J. (1999) "Curriculum and Teaching Delivery Change in an International Context" Proceedings of the 4 th Annual SIGCSE/SIGCUE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE'99, June 27-July 1, 1999, Cracow, Poland, 33-35.

Appendix Exercises Exercise 1.1 The Use of Role-Playing to Understand Professional Responsibility Professional Areas

Communications, group work, ethical issues, professional responsibility [la, lb, 2a, 2b] Curriculum Content Areas

Technology overview, systems analysis and design, software engineering, human-computer interaction, project management Purpose of Exercise The purpose of the exercise is to understand professional responsibility in the workplace. Instructional Guidelines

The Case of the Killer Robot by Richard Epstein will be used in this exercise. The case is a series of fictitious articles concerning the death of a robot operator caused by an error made by a programmer. As the case develops, additional information is revealed which pertains to professional responsibility and raises many ethical issues. Before this session the students should read the Killer Robot Articles, which are available on the web. It is suggested that the students read one article each week for nine weeks and turn in a reaction paper. Activities Ask for volunteers to play the four main characters in The Case of the Killer Robot. The four main characters are Randy Samuels, a programmer; Sam Reynolds, the project manager; Michael Waterson, the President and CEO; and Cindy Yardley, a software tester. The rest of the class function as advisers to the four main characters thus forming four groups. For example, if there were a class of 24 students, each main character would have five advisers. For classes larger than 25 students, multiple cases could be

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used. The four groups would meet outside of classroom time to prepare for the role-playing. The goal of each group is to try to defend their own character as to why they were professionally responsible and to discredit the other four characters when it comes to professional responsibility. They will prepare a short statement for their character, questions they can ask other characters, and possible answers to questions that they might be asked. Each character will make a statement in turn, and then they will have an opportunity to ask questions of each other. The advisers may assist characters. Deliverables and Evaluation Students would be evaluated according to how well that they made their case and seemed to understand the dynamics of professional responsibility. In order to evaluate each student individually, a short one-page paper could be assigned to each student with the instruction to assess each character's professional responsibility. References Epstein, Richard; The Case of the Killer Robot, John Wiley & Sons, 1997.

Loui, Michael C; Role-Playing in an Engineering Ethics Class, University of Illinois, 28 February 1999, (http://onlineethics.org/text/edu/loui2.html). Online Ethics Center (http://www.onlineethics.org/text/ cases/roboffcalc.html) Killer Robot Articles.

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Web - Do we act different when not face to face? and (17) Privacy Rights and Computer Networks - who has access? It is possible to run this exercise without stipulating a topic list, but that can result in some inappropriate and lower quality activities.

Exercise 1.2 Research and Writing Diverse Points of View in the Computing Field Professional Areas Communications [ 1a] Curriculum Content Areas Technology overview Purpose of Exercise The purpose of the exercise is to have students use refereed journals or newspapers to argue a point of view, in an editorial writing assignment. The focus is on finding reliable information on an issue, arguing a point of view and defending a position. This is thus a development of communication and research skills. Instructional Guidelines Students must use articles from an electronic database referencing articles from major newspapers and refereed journals at their school. Students are to fred an article with which they disagree. This type of short paper involves analyzing facts and taking a stand. The format might be something like: (1) State your point of view about the subject, (2) Give background information from the article, and (3) Justify your opinion, indicating clearly the points of disagreement. A useful format is for the topics to be assigned by the instructor; an example list is given below. One variation is to have each topic assigned to two students. Students then have time to collect information on their topic. If students are not familiar with searching on whatever appropriate database research their school provides, then a librarian or the instructor should provide a demonstration. Some discussion time should be given to the reliability of articles taken from a refereed journal rather than a wide-open search on the Interact. The purpose is gathering information and preparing the argument. Peer assessment permits further dissemination of the opinion based on aspects of this work. Variation: Students could have a short lab on the basics of a presentation software application such as PowerPoint and present their view in a short oral presentation with a simple PowerPoint slide show. Activities Suggested topics to use are: (1) Spamming - proliferation of e-mail, (2) Cyber-addiction on the Intemet - Human Isolation, (3) Computer Use Policies in Schools and Business, (4) Gambling on the Intemet, (5) Chat Rooms on the Web, (6) Gambling on the Intemet, (7) Pornography on the Intemet, (8) Ergonomics, (9) Shopping on the Web - is electronic commerce safe?, (10) Should a personal computer selected by a college be a required part of college tuition?, (11) The freeware Movement - should software have free access?, (I 2) Software piracy and copyright laws, (13) Should we be worried about Y2K?, (14) Should we worry about viruses on our personal computers?, (15) Are powerful encryption programs, like PGP (pretty good privacy) for e-mail and business use essential?, (16) Netiquette - Etiquette on the

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Deliverables and evaluation The written assignment might be counted as a small class project. It should be graded on how effectively the student argues his viewpoint. Correct punctuation and grammar should be required. A useful variation is to copy the work and peer assess it by individuals in a scheduled class; if each student assesses the work of two others, there is a fair averaging effect. The teacher talks through an assessment scheme and the work is all done in about 30 minutes. This has the merit of quick assessment, and the oppomanities for students to read the opinions of others. Assignments should be made anonymous if this is done. Follow-up Exercises On a quiz, students might be asked to argue a particular point of view given a recent journal or newspaper article.

Exercise 1.3 Peer Code Review Professional Areas Group work, behavior characteristics, quality initiatives [lb, lc, 3e] Curriculum Content Areas Programming, systems analysis, software engineering Purpose of Exercise The purpose of this exercise is to work as a member of a group to improve the quality of the software product and to develop communication skills in describing program design and coding. Instructional Guidelines Plan to use this exercise in a second year or later course that has a design and programming component. Activities Lecture preceding closed laboratory (1.5 hours)--Introduce the fundamentals of software testing, including the goals for an appropriate software testing strategy, definition of static and dynamic testing techniques, and discussion of three static methods (desk checking, peer code review, and structural analysis). Stress the importance of peer code review in terms of software quality improvement and the need for programmers to be able to give and take constructive criticism. Illustrate the code review process by walking the class through a sample program. Closed laboratory exercise (1-1.5 hours)---Divide the class into groups of four to six students each. Designate one student in each group as the "Responsible Programmer"

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who presents the program that the student submitted for an earlier design/programming assignment in this course. (The program should contain at least 150 statements that the instructor has already critiqued and/or graded but not returned to the student.) Everyone in a group must have a hardcopy of the program being reviewed. Each group selects one student to be the "Recorder" who annotates the code listing and documents all of the significant comments made during the peer code review. The Responsible Programmer verbally leads the group sequentially through the logic flow of the program as it is in the listing, taking each logic branch at least once. Students should discuss the function of each statement and respond to questions, suggestions, and criticisms from group members. Design documents may be referenced in order to answer questions.

Instructional Guidelines It may be necessary if the class is large to solicit the cooperation of colleagues in parallel modules. Beyond that, only a short briefing is necessary, followed by a short interval (a few days) to guarantee opportunity for preparation.

Deliverables and Evaluation At the conclusion of the peer code review, each Recorder records the names of the students in the group on the comment sheet, and the student submits the reviewed program and comments to the instructor. Each group receives a single grade based on the completeness of its review with emphasis in these areas: undeclared or improperly declared objects and data variables; objects and data variables used before they are initialized, or initialized and never used; use of legal but unauthorized language forms--e.g., goto statement; ambiguous naming of data variables; overly complicated constructs-e.g., loops or conditionals nested too deeply or improperly; improper or inappropriate function use; unreachable logic, missing logic, and/or erroneous logic-e.g., potentially infinite loops.

Deliverables and Evaluation Select names randomly. If they are absent, or unprepared, be hard - award 0 on the exercise and let the others know that this happens. Allow the chosen student the determined interval to use as the student pleases. Encourage applause afterwards. This activity is a good "stocking filler" in lectures that can break things up in an otherwise straight delivery; there is no harm in doing it more than once within a given session. The instructor should determine the evaluation criteria and make them public. Obvious ones are audibility, clarity, and originality in use of resources. It is reasonable to be generous since most students find this very hard and rewarding courage is worthwhile. Always try to offer feedback personally afterwards (e.g., "Good ideas, but you need to speak up"). It can be hard to ensure this happens uniformly.

Follow-up Exercise As a follow-up exercise, have each group review the peer code submission of other groups and incorporate peer code reviews in subsequent programming assignments. Reference Pont, Michael J. Software Engineering with C++ and CASE Tools. Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley, 1996.

Exercise 1.5 Managing Group Projects Professional Areas Group work [lb] Curriculum Content Areas Project management

Exercise 1.4 Impromptu Reports

Purpose of Exercise The purpose of the exercise is to provide experience of group management that is probably unavailable elsewhere in the curriculum. The benefits are many and are summarized below.

Professional Areas Communications [ 1a] Curriculum Content Areas Any curriculum content area Purpose of Exercise The purpose of the exercise is to ensure that students have at least one experience of speaking to a large audience under strict time limits. They will have the benefit of seeing many others do the same exercise and this is a beneficial learning experience - they learn to avoid common mistakes before they perform themselves.

ITiCSE '99 Working Group Reports

Activities Students are given a short list of suitable topics (e.g., "Microsoft", "The origins of the Interact", "Personal Computer" - although any appropriate topic relevant to the module can be used) and warned that from a given date they may be called randomly to give a five (or other fixed interval) minute talk on the subject. Make quite clear what, if any, AV aids they are entitled to use; it is best to keep this simple.

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Instructional Guidelines Senior students are assigned to groups of junior students (one per group) in the role of manager. As part of their own studies, the junior students have to perform an elementary software-engineering task. A prerequisite is the senior students have previously taken this class. Close coordination is required between the junior and senior level courses. Mentoring sessions for the senior students are critical An understanding of group dynamics will facilitate

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interaction. feedback.

An emphasis should be placed in ongoing

Activities

However they please, the seniors meet the juniors once (at least) per week to "manage" their progress. How much discipline is used is for them to determine - it's part of the experience. The grade of the junior students' work is not factored into the grade of the managers, although the opinions of the manager are factored into the grade of the juniors - this gives them a managerial weapon.

to the problem, and (5) a specific instance of a company or institution that is addressing the problem. Research these areas and provide references (both hard copy and web sites) that focus on this issue. Write an essay (between 500 and 1000 words) describing Y2K relative to its impact on society. Delivcrables and Evaluation

A quality essay on the aforementioned activity. The evaluation of the essay will be based on both content and form including essay structure and grammar.

Deliverables and Evaluation

Follow-up Exercise

There are many ways to run this. A very successful model is to ask the seniors to submit:

Explain why the current "fix" for Y2K may still demonstrate professional irresponsibility by causing more problems in the future. Write an essay on this issue.

1.

a management log: a catalogue of meeting minutes detailing who did what and when.

2.

a group report: a summary of the views by seniors of the characteristics and potential involvement of each junior student.

3.

an experience log: a reflective account of what the seniors learned and how they may have performed differently.

Evaluation is weighted toward deliverable three with less emphasis focused on deliverables one and two. Reference

This exercise is fully described in the report: R D Boyle,

Exercise 2.2 Ethical Decision Making and Copyright Laws Professional Areas

Communications, professional responsibility, intellectual property rights [la, 2b, 5c] Curriculum Content Areas

Technology overview

Exercising management among IT graduates, School of Computer Studies, University of Leeds, Report SCS 95.21, 1995, accessible via anonymous FTP from

fip ://jqp.scs.leeds.ac. uldscs/doc/reports/1995/95_21.ps.Z

Exercise 2.1 Using Computing History in the Design of Future Systems

Instructional Guidelines

Professional Areas

Professional responsibility, evolution of computing [2b, 3b] Curriculum Content Areas

Any curriculum content area Purpose of Exercise

The purpose of this exercise is to raise the conscious level of students to become competent professionals and realize that the systems they currently help design can have a serious impact on society in the future. Instructional Guidelines

Plan to use this exercise in any one of a variety of courses, especially those that contain a design component. Activities

Consider the Year 2000 Problem (Y2K). Consider two aspects of Y2K from: (1) the overall impact of the problem on society, (2) the cause of the problem, (3) the methods of prevention, (4) the corporate and government liability due

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Purpose of Exercise

The purpose of the exercise is to engage the students' interest in ethical decision making through the use of a role-playing scenario. Because one of the contexts is a school and one is a business, there may be different viewpoints regarding the effect on stakeholders.

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The role-playing scenario can be used as an introduction to ethical decision making. Parts can be assigned by the instructor and clone as a class activity or it could be done in groups. After some initial class or group discussion, the situation could be discussed in terms of the four steps of ethical decision making and/or a short written analysis could be assigned. If this scenario is thoroughly discussed in class, another ethical topic from the book mentioned below or from the news could be used for the written assignment. If the class has a class bulletin board on the web, each student could read and evaluate one other student's analysis.

A Four Step Process for Ethical Analysis and Decision Making bv Kallman Step 1: Understanding The Situation." Summarize the relevant facts that raise an ethical issue and identify the stakeholders.

Step 2: Isolate the Ethical Dilemmas: Identify the ethical dilemma. Should someone do or not do something?

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Step 3: Analysis: C o n s i d e r w h o will b e n e f i t a n d w h o will b e h a r m e d b y e a c h a l t e r n a t i v e in t h e e t h i c a l d i l e m m a ? What rights may have been abridged? (Privacy, Property, Knowledge) W h a t duties m a y h a v e b e e n n e g l e c t e d ? (Personal and professional).

Scene 2:

Julie

I'm glad you're pleased with my work, and I think I can handle managing this new project. In fact, I'm really excited about it. And I want to tell how much I like using the InfoStat Program. It does everything! However, I recently learned that we never purchased it. Is that true? Do you think that we should buy that program, at this point?

Ted

My Gosh! That's a really expensive program, especially the fancy version that we have. I don't think that we can afford it yet. Right now we wouldn't be able to make competitive bids. Maybe in a year or two. Now, let's discuss your salary increase and the parts of the benefit package that kick in after 3 months...

Step 4: Suggest a decision and describe its implementation based on the above analysis: D e f e n d y o u r d e c i s i o n . W h a t steps w o u l d b e n e e d e d to i m p l e m e n t t h e d e c i s i o n ? H o w will the s t a k e h o l d e r s b e a f f e c t e d ? W h a t n e e d s to b e d o n e to a v o i d this p r o b l e m in the future? W h a t s h o u l d h a v e b e e n d o n e in the first p l a c e to a v o i d the d i l e m m a ?

Activities This role-playing scenario compares software piracy in a s c h o o l a n d a c o n s u l t i n g firm. S o m e i d e a s w e r e t a k e n f r o m the " T e a c h e r a n d the E n g i n e e r " c a s e s t u d y i n the K a l l m a n book.

Ted's Office at Witcomb Associates

Julie and Ted are meeting with regard to Julie's evaluation. Ted has just asked her to take on more responsibility and be in charge of the new International Market Projects.

Scene 3: Cafeteria

John and Sara are lunching at the Atkins Business College

Sara teaches accounting, and John teaches computer applications

Cast: Julie H e n d e r s o n , R e s e a r c h A n a l y s t at W i t c o m b

Sara

A s s o c i a t e s ; T e d E d g e c o m b , Julie's b o s s ; S a r a P r i n d l e , t e a c h e r at A t k i n s B u s i n e s s C o l l e g e ; J o h n A d l e s o n , Sara's f e l l o w t e a c h e r ; J a n e R o b e s o n , f r i e n d o f Julie a n d Sara.

I ate dinner with Julie Henderson, my college friend, Saturday. She recently moved to the area to work at Witcomb Associates. You know, they just moved into that attractive office building on Foster.

John

She's lucky. It's a very nice location. I ate at that restaurant at the top this weekend. How does she like her job?

Sara

Very much, but I was surprised to learn that they're using some pirated software for doing their studies. It reminds me a little of this place. I understand that we do the same thing sometimes in the software applications classes. Is that the case?

John

Actually it is. But we have to give students the latest version of the leading edge software, so that students will come to our school, and so they're prepared for employment when they finish.

Scene 1: Madeline's Restaurant Sara, Julie and Jane are having dinner. Julie has recently gotten a job at Witcomb Associates. Julie

I'm so glad we're all living in the same area now. We can get together regularly for dinner. Isn't this a nice restaurant?

Jane

It's one of my favorites. 1 think that this is a great area to live in. Julie, tell us all about your new job.

Sara

Julie

I'm a Research Analyst at a small company called Witcomb Associates. They're a fairly new consulting company, but growing very rapidly. I work mainly on marketing projects for telecommunication projects. They recently moved into a new high rise over on Foster and Athens.

Couldn't we use some of the decent freeware that's available? Do you think that it's a bad example for students when we don't follow the copyright laws?

John

I really think that we have a moral obligation to use the most upto-date tools with our students. But we do have budgetary constraints. Even the administrators turn their heads at the practice. Besides, when we expose our students to this software, they become potential customers for the companies, and it all evens out in the end.

Sara

Oh, you mean that new building with the restaurant on top? We could meet for dinner there sometime. That's so elegant. We only have a cafeteria at the Institute where I am, and the food's only ok.

Julie

Well, rm sure I won't be having dinner there regularly. It does seem to be a really nice place to work. Tomorrow I have my three-month evaluation, and I think that they're going to ask me to head one of the new international projects. It will probably involve some travel. I'm so excited! But I do have one concem.

Jane

It sounds great. What's your concern?

Julie

Well, rye discovered that one of the main statistical and survey packages that we use all the time was never purchased. It's a bootlegged copy. It's a terrific software application, but tomorrow I'm going to have to bring it up with Ted, my boss.

Jane

Do you think you could be mistaken? Do you think that your boss realizes the situation?

Sara

Somehow, with my experience at the College, the situation doesn't surprise me. Let us know what happens...

Deliverables a n d E v a l u a t i o n T h e w r i t t e n a s s i g n m e n t m i g h t b e c o u n t e d as a s m a l l class project. It s h o u l d b e g r a d e d o n h o w the student applied the four steps o f d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g to the situation.

Follow-up Exercise It is helpful i f the instructor b r i n g s u p current issues in the n e w s r e l e v a n t to c o m p u t i n g d u r i n g the semester. The instructor m i g h t select a n article appropriate for ethical d e c i s i o n m a k i n g a n d h a v e the class v i e w it w i t h r e s p e c t to the four steps o f ethical d e c i s i o n making. T h i s will r e v i e w the c o n c e p t s again.

Reference K a l l m a n , E.A. a n d Grillo, J.P. (1996) Ethical Decision Making and Information Technology, M c G r a w Hill: N e w York.

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E x e r c i s e 3.1 T h e P e r f e c t Job - R e a l i t y or U t o p i a ?

Purpose of Exercise The purpose of this exercise is to analyze different aspects of working at home.

Professional Areas Hiring practices, industry growth, supply & demand, career opportunities [3a, 3c, 3d, 3Q

Instructional Guidelines This exercise is geared toward employees' telecommuting possibilities. It does not take into account self-employed workers. Separate students into discussion groups. The instructor formulates a survey where students comment on the current and future possibilities of telecomrnuting. Questions should include: the type of work that could be done at home, task scheduling (results exchange, knowledge sharing), employee monitoring and evaluation, assessment and payment, necessary characteristics of telecommuters, and ethical aspects associated with working outside the traditional office environment. The survey could also include the pros and cons of: time management, social aspects, economic aspects, and other related issues. The enclosed table could be used as a template for group discussion.

Curriculum Content Areas Technology overview, software engineering, computer interaction, project management

hnman-

Purpose of Exercise The purpose of this exercise is to make students aware of different job attributes, which they should take into account when they start looking for a job. Instructional Guidelines Undertake a discussion of the attributes of the job descriptions listed below. Try to guide students to fred out at least these sub-items which are listed below. Analyze pros and cons of every item including: status (selfemployed, a free-lancer on a contract basis, salaried employees), working place (home, office, business trips), working hours (rigid schedule, flex schedule, overtime with and without compensation), management acceptation of antisocial working hours), salary (current, prospects for the future, place difference among regions/cities), possibility of professional growth (universal, specific skills), the possibility of promotion or changing a job as a next step in the career (a short term career planing, a long term career planing), atmosphere in the workplace (strong competition, co-operation), international aspects of looking for a job, and education (pay or not pay for it). Activities Discussions may include verifying the idea of a perfect job, whether it is possible to get a perfect job, or give examples from a real life job. Deliverables and Evaluation The instructor should have students discuss different job aspects. Follow-up Exercise The instructor should encourage students to engage in a job interview with a prospective employer. The instructor for the class through the career placement office could arrange a group interview.

Activities Begin the exercise with a short quiz whereby students are asked: would you like to work at home? The instructor should count the number of yes and no responses and use this as a springboard to facilitate discussion. After an initial discussion have the students complete the survey outlined above pertaining to current and future possibilities of working at home. After 10 minutes, the instructor can begin a discussion from the students' responses to the survey. After this second discussion, students are again asked: would you like to work at home? Deliverables and Evaluation The instructor should have students discuss different aspects of telecommuting. Current possibilities

Future possibilities

Pros

Cons

Type of work, which could be done at home Task scheduling - results exchange, knowledge sharing Employee evaluation

monitoring

and

Assessment and payment Necessary characteristics telecommuters

E x e r c i s e 3.2 Is H o m e a P e r f e c t W o r k p l a c e ?

Ethical aspects

Professional Areas Group work, hiring practices, industry growth, supply & demand, career opportunities [lb, 3a, 3c, 3d, 3f] Curriculum Content Areas Technology overview, software engineering, computer interaction, project management

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of

human-

Other aspects of working at home Time management Social aspects Economic aspects Other

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Follow-up Exercise Using the Internet, have students research how companies within two different countries view the concept of telecommuting. Prepare a short essay on the findings.

Exercise 3.3 Is Consulting A Job for Everyone?

Exercise 4.1 International Program Accreditation Professional Areas Curriculum models, certification/licensing, curriculum accreditation [4a, 4b, 4c] Curriculum Content Areas Any curriculum content area

Professional Areas Ethical issues, professional responsibility, hiring practices, career opportunities [2a, 2b, 3a, 3f] Curriculum Content Areas Technology overview, software engineering, humancomputer interaction, project management Purpose of Exercise The purpose of this exercise is to identify various aspects of the consulting profession such as ethical issues and professional responsibility. Instructional Guidelines Students are randomly divided into discussion groups consisting of four individuals. One student is identified as the scribe who records the highlights of the discussion. One student plays the role of leader and facilitates discussion. A third student will present findings to the class if called upon by the instructor.

Purpose of Exercise Provide the students with an understanding of the different accreditation standards for university programs around the world. They should acquire an awareness of why accreditation is important and differences in international approaches. Instructional Guidelines Form working groups of three students per group. Assign to each group two different countries. Plan a variety of country representations. Have the students seek out information regarding the accreditation of computing programs in those countries. Activities Access the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) web page, (http://www.csab.org). Find the accreditation guidelines for the assigned countries. Compare/contrast the assigned countries' accreditation. Deliverables and Evaluation

Activities Students discuss the issues of job description, ethical issues, and professional responsibility. Job description should include evaluating the workplace environment both inside and outside the office, payment procedures associated with activity performed by the consultant, and consequences of different payment procedures including delivering incomplete work products and doing work of others such as data base conversions and filling, computer system maintenance, and lack of work delegation. Consultants should also be aware of ethical issues associated with work along with their ethical responsibility to society.

Have each group prepare an essay of approximately five hundred words contrasting and comparing the accreditation standards for each country. Each group will prepare a tenminute presentation to the class on its findings.

Deliverables and Evaluation Group discussions on the topic and class presentations.

Computing Sciences (http ://www.c sab.org)

Follow-up Exercise Still working in groups, have the students create 'their' set of standards for accreditation of a university program. If time permits, students may present their 'accreditation standards'. References Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (http://www.abet.org)

Accreditation

Board

Follow-up Exercise Invite a professional consultant to address the class on the issues of consulting and to answer questions of the students. Students could also conduct individual interviews with consultants in specific discipline areas to see the different perspectives on the computing field. The following week several students could be selected to provide a five-minute class presentation based on their interviews. Reference

Independent Computer (http://www.icca.org)

Consultants

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Exercise 4.3 Credentials for Certification in a Profession, Vocation, or Trade

Exercise 4.2 Designing a Mechanical Pencil Professional Areas Communications, group work, curriculum models [la, lb, 4a] Curriculum Content Areas Any curriculum content area Purpose of Exercise This exercise offers students an opportunity to refine design skills by applying design recovery and forward design skills to a problem of medium complexity. Instructional Guidelines This may be used as a design exercise in an introduction to design class. The class is pre-disciplinary in form and emphasizes the development of design process skills. Students design a mechanical pencil for a person with hand impairments (for example, a person with arthritis). Review the design of three existing pencils and use them as models for constnaction design. Activities In Class 1, students present a review of the design of the existing pencils and define the constraints of their design space. In Class 2, students present the first version of their design. In Class 3, students present the second version of their design. In Class 4, students present the final version of their design. Deliverables and Evaluation Each class requires the students to offer their current designs to the class for critique by the class and instructor. The students submit a portfolio that consists of the evolution of their design and an essay on what they have learned during the exercise. The essay is a reflection on the exercise and assigned readings (Norman's Design of Everyday Things). The final design is evaluated against a set of criteria that extracts the students' design processes from their artifacts. Follow-up Exercise More complex design problems. References Norman, Donald A.; The Design of Everyday Things, Doubleday, 1990.

Newstetter, Wendy and McCracken, Michael W.; The Assessment of Design Learning, Journal of Engineering Education (in press).

Professional Areas Celrtification/licensing [4b] Curriculum Content Areas Technology overview, programming, systems hardware & software, telecommunications and networking Purpose of Exercise The purpose of the exercise is to have the student become aware of some of the ways certain job positions are regulated by the governmental agencies and the reason for the regulations. Students should become knowledgeable about the availability of existing certification programs, from the likes of, the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP), the British Computer Society (BCS), etc, and some of the specialized programs from vendors. Instructional Guidelines Introduce the topic of individual certification as an alternate way to gain recognition as a qualified computing and information technology specialist, helping them develop some awareness of regulation as it applies to several other disciplines. Compare voluntary certification to mandated licensing. Compare a profession to a vocation to a trade. Learn what credentials are now available for consideration by CIT workers. Activities Provide students with a list of questions to answer to determine their prior awareness of certification activities available to them, such as: (1) In what other disciplines are workers required to have a license to practice? (medicine, law, accounting, engineering, auto repair, insurance sales, financial advising, and beauticians), (2) Does your state or nation require computing specialists to be licensed or certified? (3) What does it mean to have a credential following your name such as M.D.?, (4) Does the acquisition of a credential serve as an alternative way to enter the computing and information technology discipline or does it serve as an additional recognition that supplements having a college degree?

Lead a discussion of their responses, having them participate in the development of characteristics of the certification and licensing requirements of several disciplines, such as: (1) Medicine: all doctors must be licensed to practice and must have an appropriate degree, (2) Law: all lawyers must be licensed to practice and must have an appropriate degree. Discuss the rationale for why some jobs are controlled and others are not, and ask students to provide some of the reasons for regulation (consumer protection, limit overcrowding in the field, collect governmental revenue, etc.). Assign students to perform investigative research into the origins of the ICCP and similar certification

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groups. Have them determine what computer-related examinations they offer, how much they cost, where the exams are given, etc. and compare them to the vendorspecific examinations available from manufacturers (Novell, Microsoft, etc.) Deliverables and Evaluation Students prepare a list comparing requirements for various professions/vocations/trades, preparation of a report on any one of the specific certifications available. Follow-up Exercise Have students prepare a short one-page report on any one of the specific certifications available. References CompTIA (http ://www.comptia.org) Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals, Des Plaines, IL (http://www.iccp.org)

Activities Access the Internet. Students seek out different laws and practices affecting the countries assigned to the group. Compare/contrast the assigned countries with regard to their regulated business practices. Deliverables and Evaluation Have each group prepare an essay of approximately five hundred words contrasting and comparing the business standards for each country. Each group will prepare a tenminute presentation to the class on its findings. Follow-up Exercise

Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com)

Have students play the role of being in charge of regulating the business practices of some artificial country. Have the students, still working in groups, create 'their' set of standards for business practices in this country. If time permits, students may present their 'standards for business practices'.

Novell (http ://www.novell.com)

Exercise 5.1 Corporate Trade Regulations

References American Antitrust Institute, (http://www.antitrustinstitute

Professional Areas Government trade regulations [5a] Curriculum Content Areas Technology overview, software computer interaction

Instructional Guidelines Form working groups of three students per group. Assign to each group two different countries. Plan a variety of country representations. Have the students seek out information regarding the regulation of business practices in those countries.

.org0 engineering,

human-

Purpose of Exercise The purpose of this exercise is to provide students with an exposure to different laws affecting the practice of business in different countries.

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Gleick, James; "Making Microsoft Safe for Capitalism," New York Times, 5 November 1995. Huber, Peter.; "Telecommunications Regulation: The Beginning of the End," Issues in Science & Technology, Fall 1993.

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