{"659848":{"#nid":"659848","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Award-Winning Paper Reveals Need for Strengthened Ethics Education for Computing Students","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe research, titled\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ESocial Responsibility Attitudes Among Undergraduate Computer Science Students: An Empirical Analysis\u003C\/em\u003E, won the best paper award for the ASEE Engineering Ethics Division, best paper for Professional Interest Council 1, and was also a finalist for best overall paper for the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.asee.org\/events\/Conferences-and-Meetings\/2022-Annual-Conference\u0022\u003E2022 ASEE conference\u003C\/a\u003E. The latter honor was only bestowed on the top five submissions out of approximately 2,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. student\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EQuintin\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EKreth\u003C\/strong\u003E, recent Ph.D. graduate\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EDaniel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ESchiff\u003C\/strong\u003E, and Director of Graduate Research Ethics\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJason\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EBorenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;represented the School of Public Policy. They conducted the research in collaboration with\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EEllen\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EZegura\u003C\/strong\u003E, professor and Stephen Fleming Chair in Telecommunications in the College of Computing, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJeonghyun \u0026ldquo;Jonna\u0026rdquo; Lee\u003C\/strong\u003E, research scientist in the Center for 21st\u0026nbsp;Century Universities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, the researchers note that while scientists and public figures have called for improved ethics and social responsibility education in computer science, there had been no empirical evidence that computer scientists felt less social responsibility than other professionals. The researchers therefore sought to understand how undergraduate computer science students currently view their social responsibilities, especially compared to students in other STEM fields.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter surveying 982 Georgia Tech students from both STEM and non-STEM majors, the research team found that computer science students have \u0026ldquo;statistically significantly lower social responsibility attitudes than their peers in other science and engineering disciplines.\u0026rdquo; They argue that these findings suggest a need for additional ethics education in undergraduate computer science programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Computing degree programs have the opportunity to help nurture a mindset within future professionals of sincere interest in protecting the public,\u0026rdquo; they write. \u0026ldquo;If not, computing risks diminishing the reputation of the profession even further, increasing regulatory scrutiny, and exposing the public to greater harms.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn giving the Georgia Tech team its awards, the reviewers praised the researchers for their clear writing and analysis, as well as the timeliness of their topic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was a great honor and surprise to receive this award,\u0026rdquo; said Kreth. \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m told student-led papers rarely win it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause they were a finalist for best overall paper, the authors have been invited to present their work again next year, at the 2023 ASEE conference, as part of a showcase event.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper is forthcoming and will be available online in the coming weeks at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/peer.asee.org\/\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/peer.asee.org\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A team of researchers composed of members from Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Public Policy, College of Computing, and Center for 21st Century Universities took home multiple awards from the ASEE\u0027s 2022 Annual Conference."}],"uid":"35403","created_gmt":"2022-08-02 14:35:00","changed_gmt":"2022-08-02 14:35:00","author":"Carly Ralston","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-07-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-07-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"659847":{"id":"659847","type":"image","title":"Ellen Zegura","body":null,"created":"1659450717","gmt_created":"2022-08-02 14:31:57","changed":"1659450717","gmt_changed":"2022-08-02 14:31:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250095","name":"ellen-zegura_1.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ellen-zegura_1.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ellen-zegura_1.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5788,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ellen-zegura_1.jpeg?itok=W-8pjGGH"}}},"media_ids":["659847"],"groups":[{"id":"545781","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187023","name":"go-data"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/author\/grace-wyner\u0022\u003EGRACE WYNER\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}