CS3SC17NU-Social, Legal and Ethical Aspects of Computing

Module Provider: Computer Science
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Semesters in which taught: Semester 2 module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Pat Parslow
Email: p.parslow@reading.ac.uk

NUIST Module Lead: Shen Xiang
Email: 003408@nuist.edu.cn

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module provides students with a sound grounding in a range of social, legal, ethical and professional (SLEP) issues that might arise in their possible roles as working in technology related disciplines.

Aims:

• To provide students with the basic SLEP background to develop their professional role in the workplace, beyond simply performing technical tasks assigned to them.


• To encourage students to consider the impacts that technologies they are developing and using could have on individuals, local, global and business communities as well as the wider world around them.

This module also encourages students to develop a set of professional skills, such as diversity, global awareness, self-reflection, team working, creativity, organisation and time-management and personal development planning.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Understand the impact that new technologies have on individuals, businesses, communities and globally;


• Present compelling arguments about the social impact of new technological developments;


• Understand the legal and ethical implications of providing a service or product;


• Understand the legal and ethical issues of holding and using data.

Additional outcomes:

Explore the use of social media and impacts of instantaneous global communication, bots and analysis of profiles and activity.

Outline content:

The social impact of technological change will be taught using interactive lectures, presenting a topic to the class and giving a starting point from which the students can give their own ideas and reasoned arguments. Encouragement will be given for students to continue these discussions outside lectures both in person and using online discussion tools such as Blackboard.

Assignments (requiring self-directed research) will support the aims of the module, in the form of assessment for learning.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

The social impact of technological change will be taught using interactive lectures, presenting a topic to the class and giving a starting point from which the students can give their own ideas and reasoned arguments. Encouragement will be given for students to continue these discussions outside lectures both in person and using online discussion tools such as Blackboard.Ìý

Assignments (requiring self-directed research) will support the aims of the module, in the form of asses sment for learning.