Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

6-27-2025

Department

Department of Computer Science

Abstract

Ethical inquiry in computing has an evolving nature, where repeated critical questioning may lead to a series of reframings of the problem. Since many computing students have experience with agile project-based courses, an iterative approach can provide a familiar entry into ethics. Agile development, however, is typically oriented around satisfaction of customer goals, while ethical inquiry requires constant questioning that may cast those goals into doubt. Does the similarity between critical ethical inquiry and iterative development provide a helpful model or breed a false familiarity? To address this question, we examine student work in a computing ethics course, involving iterative exercises using the Ethical Cycle. Through a qualitative analysis of students' final projects, we examine the degree to which they take disruptive moves in their iterative inquiry, as opposed to steps of incremental refinement. We find that while most students are willing to make disruptive reformulations, the overall critical arcs of many students, including most of the high scoring students in our sample, have a refinement shape. We also find a pattern of expansive refinement that leads to a broad perspective on the moral problem with few disruptive moments. We also find critical arcs that do involve significant reformulations, but that this can indicate either a willingness to explore or a failure to engage fully in the moral problem.

Publisher's Statement

© 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1145/3724363.3729099

Publication Title

Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Iticse

ISBN

9798400715679

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Publisher's PDF

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