The shape of the lesson
By the end of the lesson, learners can
- Why computing needs ethics: The law sets the minimum a person must do.
- Joining a professional body: A professional body is an organisation for people working in a profession.
- Acting ethically, or not: Exam questions give a situation and ask you to explain the impact of acting ethically or unethically.
- Ethics: moral principles about right and wrong; they go beyond the law.
- Bodies: BCS and IEEE publish codes of conduct, offer recognised status and CPD, and discipline members.
- BCS duties: public interest, professional competence and integrity, relevant authority, the profession.
- Scenarios: name the stakeholders, the duty involved, and the consequences of both the ethical and the unethical choice.
One picture every idea returns to
Ethics are the moral principles that guide what is right and wrong in how a person behaves. A computing professional needs them because the systems they build affect the public, their employer or client, their colleagues and the profession. Professional bodies such as the BCS (British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT) and the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) publish a code of conduct that members agree to follow. Acting unethically can cause harm, break the law, lose trust and end careers; acting ethically protects users and builds trust.
Forty-five minutes, phase by phase
| Time | Phase | What happens in the room | Grouping |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 min | Hook: predict | Open with the question in the title, Doing the right thing.. Software now runs hospitals, banks, cars and elections, so the people who build it make decisions that affect millions. Put the figure on the board: it is the one picture every idea in the lesson returns to. | Whole class, then pairs |
| 5 to 13 min | Teach and check: Why computing needs ethics | The law sets the minimum a person must do. | Whole class, then pairs |
| 13 to 21 min | Teach and check: Joining a professional body | A professional body is an organisation for people working in a profession. Your turn: Give two benefits to a software developer of joining a professional body such as the BCS. | Pairs |
| 21 to 30 min | Teach and check: Acting ethically, or not | Exam questions give a situation and ask you to explain the impact of acting ethically or unethically. Model the worked example Release date pressure on the board, one line at a time. | Corners |
| 30 to 36 min | Check | The four Stage 1 questions from the student lesson, answered on mini whiteboards or by show of fingers. Re-teach the one most get wrong. | Individual, then whole class |
| 36 to 43 min | Plenary | The exam-style questions from Stage 2, one at a time: thirty seconds alone, then a random call. The feedback lines in the key give the examiner's wording. | Individual, random call |
| 43 to 45 min | Exit and homework | Set the worksheet below (6 questions, 17 marks). Learners self-assess against the objectives before they leave. | Individual |
Protect the parts that carry the learning
The sequence carries about fifty minutes of material, so the lab is driven by one student while the class predicts rather than explored freely. Times are a guide.
Protected: the check at 30 minutes. It is the only individual read on whether the key idea landed, and it is not cut.
Cut first if the build overruns: the last check in Acting ethically, or not, never the check or the plenary.
In a 60 minute block: run worksheet questions 1 to 3 in class as a Rally Coach set and model both the hardest worked example and its check live.
Corners
Put one answer or viewpoint in each corner of the room. Students move to the corner they agree with, justify the choice to a partner there, then hear one voice from each corner before the reveal.
The full structure, with its variations and the other twelve, is on the cooperative-learning page.
What to head off, and how
| Trap learners fall into | Teaching move that pre-empts it |
|---|---|
| "Ethics means obeying the law" is not enough. | Something can be legal and still unethical, such as releasing software you know has not been tested properly. Show that ethics are about moral choices, beyond what the law requires. |
| In a "discuss the impact" question, one side is not enough. | Marks go for the consequences of the ethical choice and of the unethical choice, for named stakeholders. |
Ethics and professional codes of conduct: worksheet
6 questions, 17 marks. Written in the style of the papers; no past paper question is reproduced.
Explain why a computing professional needs to act ethically.
Name two professional ethical bodies that a computing professional could join.
Describe two benefits to a computing professional of joining a professional ethical body.
A software tester discovers that a banking app sometimes shows customers other people's account balances. Her manager tells her not to report it because the launch is next week. Explain the impact of the tester acting ethically and acting unethically.
A programmer writes software for a company and then takes a copy of the source code to use in his own business. Identify three ways in which he has acted unethically.
Explain why acting legally is not always the same as acting ethically, using an example from computing.
Answer key and marking notes
- Their software can affect large numbers of people, including their safety, money and privacy.
- Clients and the public cannot easily check the work, so they must be able to trust the professional's honesty and competence.
- BCS (British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT).
- IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) (or ACM).
- A code of conduct ...
- ... gives guidance on how to behave when faced with an ethical dilemma.
- Recognised membership or qualification (e.g. CITP) ...
- ... shows employers and clients that they meet a professional standard, so they are trusted (or: CPD keeps skills up to date; networking gives access to expert advice).
- Ethical: she reports the fault so it is fixed before launch; customers' privacy is protected.
- Impact: the launch may be delayed and the manager may be annoyed, but the bank keeps customers' trust and obeys the law.
- Unethical: she stays silent; customers' private data is exposed to others.
- Impact: the bank could face fines and lawsuits under data protection law and lose customers; the tester could lose her job or professional membership.
- He has broken the duty to his employer (relevant authority) by misusing the employer's property.
- He has broken confidentiality: the code is the employer's confidential information.
- He has been dishonest, lacking integrity, and has likely broken copyright law and his contract (and damaged the profession's reputation).
- The law sets a minimum standard and may not cover new technology; ethics are moral principles that go further.
- Example: collecting more personal data than an app needs, with consent hidden in long terms, may be legal but is unethical (or any valid example).
6 multiple-choice questions on this lesson
From the topic question bank. Assign them in the app for a marked score in your gradebook, or run the topic as a class game.
Which statement best describes ethics for a computing professional?
- AMoral principles that guide what is right and wrong in how the professional behaves, beyond what the law requires
- BThe laws that a computing professional must obey, such as copyright and data protection law
- CThe technical standards that program code must meet before it can be released
- DThe rules an employer sets for working hours, holidays and pay
Which pair are both professional bodies that publish a code of conduct or code of ethics for computing professionals?
- AThe BCS and the IEEE
- BThe BCS and the OSI
- CThe IEEE and the FSF
- DThe FSF and the OSI
A programmer is asked to lead a project in a programming language she has never used, and tells the client she is an expert in it. Which BCS duty has she broken?
- AProfessional competence and integrity
- BDuty to the profession
- CPublic interest
- DDuty to relevant authority
Which is a benefit to a software developer of joining a professional body such as the BCS?
- AAccess to continuing professional development (CPD) to keep skills up to date
- BA licence that allows the developer to copy any commercial software free of charge
- CLegal protection from being dismissed by an employer for any reason
- DThe right to ignore data protection law when working for a member company
A manager tells a programmer to release a medical device's software update before testing is finished, to meet a deadline. Which response follows the BCS Code of Conduct?
- ARefuse to sign off the release and explain the risk honestly, because public safety comes before the duty to the employer
- BRelease the update as told, because the duty to the employer always comes first
- CRelease the update but delete the test records, so the company cannot be blamed if it fails
- DResign immediately without telling anyone why, because the problem is no longer the programmer's concern
A developer is asked to make a free torch app secretly collect users' contacts and location to sell to advertisers. Which is the most complete statement of the ethical issues?
- AThe data is not needed for the app to work, users have not given informed consent, and it is dishonest and likely to break data protection law
- BThere is no issue because the app is free, so users have agreed to give up their data
- CThe only issue is that the app will run more slowly while it uploads the data
- DThe only issue is that the developer may not be paid for the extra work
Quiz key
Ethics are moral principles about right and wrong conduct; they go further than the law. Laws are the legal minimum, not ethics as such. Technical coding standards are about quality, not morality. Terms of employment are contractual rules, not ethics.
The BCS (The Chartered Institute for IT) and the IEEE are professional bodies with codes that members agree to follow. The Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative are concerned with software licensing, not the conduct of professionals.
Professional competence and integrity requires members to take on only work they are competent to do and to be honest about their skills. Duty to the profession is about the profession's reputation in general. Public interest covers health, safety, privacy and the environment. Duty to relevant authority covers care for the employer or client and confidentiality; lying to the client also harms them, but the core breach is claiming competence she lacks.
Professional bodies offer CPD, recognised qualifications such as CITP, networking and a code of conduct for guidance. They do not grant rights to copy software, protection from all dismissal, or exemption from the law; in fact they expect members to obey the law.
The public interest, including health and safety, takes priority, so the programmer should raise the risk honestly and not approve an untested release. The duty to the employer does not override safety. Deleting test records is dishonest and could break the law. Walking away without raising the concern leaves the public at risk and does not act in the public interest.
Collecting unneeded personal data in secret breaches privacy, lacks consent, is dishonest and is likely illegal, so the developer should refuse or raise it. Being free does not mean users consented to secret collection. Performance and pay are minor concerns compared with the harm to users.
Slides for this lesson
A projectable deck for every pack is on the way. Until then, present the student lesson full screen: its sections, figure and lab tabs follow the same order as the plan above.