Professional Ethics
This brick is concerned with Professional Ethics in the fields of software engineering and ICT.
This educational unit contains:
- 4 activities to mix and match according to the load that most suits your class
Learning Objectives
- The computing learning objective is to understand testing for certification and accreditation of critical systems
- The ethical learning objective is to gain understanding of how every line of code has an ethical implication
- The transversal learning objectives are
- to learn how to work in teams
- to be able to present analysis of a technical issue
Prerequisites
Foundational knowledge of software engineering, programming and testing.
Should I teach this?
- Suitable for teaching in Software Engineering courses
- Disciplines: Engineering, Law
Suggested teaching approaches
The delivery mechanism/teaching approach is based upon problem based learning O’Grady, Michael J. (2012).
The planned load is 3-9 hours of direct contact time with the students, and 3-9 hours of homework for students to prepare in their own time.
We suggest 4 potential cumulative paths:
- Activity 1 – Testing the hidden switch code and analyse the Volkswagen emissions case study (3 hours in class, 3 hours outside class)
- Activity 2 – Design of a fault tolerant sensor system using redundancy, and analyse the Boeing 737 Max case study (3 hours in class, 3 hours outside class)
- Activity 3 – Comparison of the case studies – inclusive of Activity 1 and 2 (6 hours in class, 6 hours outside class)
- Activity 4 – Review of Professional Ethics for Software Engineeers – inclusive of Activity 1, 2 and 3 (9 hours in class, 9 hours outside class)
Students are provided with code that simulates a hidden switch which may be used in unethical ways, such as seen with the Volkswagen car emission scandal. The students are asked to test the code for certification purposes. Only afterwards, they are introduced to the emissions scandal case study and asked to reflect on the testing that they carried out.
It should take 3 hours in class, 3 hours outside class.
It suits software engineering students.
Students are given a simulation of a critical sensor in a safety-critical sub-system. They are asked to evaluate whether the system is fault tolerant. This should lead to them identifying the need for redundancy. They are asked to redesign the original system to use redundant sensors. Only afterwards, they are introduced to the Boeing 737 Max case study, and asked to research the issue. It is hoped that they link this task to the redundant sensor design work they did previously.
It should take 3 hours in class, 3 hours outside class.
It suits software engineering students.
Students are asked to carry out Activity 1 and 2. Students are asked to compare and contrast the Boeing and Volkswagen cases and to try and identify the ethical issues that they have in common. This should help understand the meaning of “professional ethics” for software engineers.
It should take 6 hours in class, 6 hours outside class.
It suits software engineering students.
Students are asked to carry out Activity 3. Students are then asked to provide a short review of Professional Ethics for Software Engineers making references to the 2 case studies and others found by the students.
It should take 9 hours in class, 9 hours outside class.
It suits Software Engineering students.
Suggested assessment approaches
The delivery mechanism/teaching approach is based upon problem based learning O’Grady, Michael J. (2012). The evaluation is 75% technical – the coding, design and testing, and 25% ethical – the analysis and/or definition of Professional Ethics.
Resources
Videos
The real reason Boeing’s new plane crashed twice – Vox, April 2019
Boeing 737 MAX Crashes Immediately After Takeoff | Here’s What Really Happened to Flight 610 – The Flight Channel, December 2019
Volkswagen emissions scandal: A timeline – CNN Business, June 2016
Volkswagen’s diesel scandal, explained – The Verge, Sept 2015
Further reading
Papers
- Thornley, C., Murnane, S., McLaughlin, S., Carcary, M., Doherty, E., and Veling, L. (2018) The role of ethics in developing professionalism within the global ICT
community. International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals (IJHCITP), 2018 9(4): 56-71.
- Thornley, C., Murnane, S., McLaughlin, S., Carcary, M., Doherty, E., and Veling, L. (2018) The role of ethics in developing professionalism within the global ICT
Ethical issues (general)
- The ethics of computing: A survey of the computing-oriented literature. Stahl, Bernd Carsten, Job Timmermans, and Brent Daniel Mittelstadt. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 48.4 (2016): 1-38.
Ethical issues (Professional Ethics)
- AEpos – an instrument for the assessment of the ethical position in software development.Stefan Brandenburg and Michael Minge. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 20(2):153– 165, 2019.
- Ethics in DevOps, the attitude of programmers towards it.Muhamed Skenderi, Shkurte Luma-Osmani, and Florinda Imeri. Journal of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of UT, 5(9-10):69–85, 2020.
- The role of ethics in developing professionalism within the global ICT community.Clare Victoria Thornley, Sinead Murnane, Stephen McLoughlin, Marian Carcary, Eileen Doherty, and Louise Veling. International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals (IJHCITP), 9(4):56–71, 2018.
- Move Fast and Break Things.Moshe Y Vardi, Commun. ACM 61, 9 (September 2018), 7. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3244026
Ethical issues (Safety and Security)
- Are you sure your software will not kill anyone? Nancy Leveson. Communications of the ACM, 63(2):25–28, 2020.
Computing issues (Software Engineering)
- An overview and comparison of technical debt measurement tools. Paris C Avgeriou, Davide Taibi, Apostolos Ampatzoglou, Francesca Arcelli Fontana, Terese Besker, Alexandros Chatzigeorgiou, Valentina Lenarduzzi, Antonio Martini, Nasia Moschou, Ilaria Pigazzini, et al. . IEEE Software, 2020.
- Value-based software engineering: Seven key elements and ethical considerations. Barry W Boehm. In Value-based software engineering, pages 109–132. Springer, 2006.
Problem Domain (Transport)
- The Boeing 737 MAX: lessons for engineering ethics. Herkert, Joseph, Jason Borenstein, and Keith Miller. Science and engineering ethics 26.6 (2020): 2957-2974.
- Leadership, engineering and ethical clashes at Boeing. Englehardt, Elaine, Patricia H. Werhane, and Lisa H. Newton. Science and engineering ethics 27.1 (2021): 1-17.
- A case study of Volkswagen unethical practice in diesel emission test Mansouri, Nazanin.International Journal of Science and Engineering Applications 5.4 (2016): 211-216.
- Embedded software in crisis. Wolf, Marilyn. Computer 49.1 (2016): 88-90.
Code of Ethics
Other resources
- Boeing 787s must be turned off and on every 51 days to prevent ‘misleading data’ being shown to pilots. US air safety bods call it ‘potentially catastrophic’ if reboot directive not implemented.. By Gareth Corfield, The Register, 2 Apr 2020. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Aerospace
- Ethiopian Report on 737 Max Crash Blames Boeing.. By Simon Marks and Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, March 9, 2020. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Aerospace
- How the Boeing 737 Max Disaster Looks to a Software Developer.. By Gregory Travis, IEEE Spectrum, 18 April 2019. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Aerospace
- Volkswagen emissions scandal: mass lawsuit opens in Germany. By Jasper Jolly, The Guardian, 30 Sep, 2019. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Vehicular, Automobile
- Boeing’s problem was not engineering. It was a loss of corporate empathy.. By Gregory Travis, May 2019. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Aerospace
- Why We Need to Address Ethical Issues In Software Engineering. By Daniel Alcanja, Simple Programmer, October 9, 2019. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Software Engineering
- Post Office IT system that ruined lives ‘still faulty’, MPs told.. By Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 10 March 2020. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Software Engineering, Law
- Q&A: What led to Boeing’s 737 MAX crisis. By Dominic Gates, Seattle Times, Nov. 18, 2020 (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Aerospace
- Flight in ‘serious incident’ after every ‘Miss’ on board assigned child’s weight. By PA, Irish Times, April 2021. (Web archive). KEYWORDs: Professionalism, Safety, Transport, Aerospace
Evaluate your Teaching
Don’t forget to evaluate your teaching! Did the students meet the learning objectives? You can ask the class to fill a questionnaire to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The idea is that you can always improve your lectures and the resources based on the students’ feedback.
Let us know how we did
Do you think the resources can be ameliorated? Let us know how we can do better via email or leave a comment!