The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2008: §2352    Home    Papers/Indices    prev (§2344)    Next (§2355) Fri, Nov 7, 10:00 - 11:25, Kachina B     Panel Discussion

Ethics in the Information Disciplines: Do they belong? Where? How do we get them there?

Roger Ferguson    [a1] [a2]
Grand Valley State University    [u1] [u2]
Allendale, Michigan, USA    [c1] [c2]

Frederick G. Kohun    [a1] [a2]
Robert Morris University    [u1] [u2]
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA    [c1] [c2]

Candace T. Grant    [a1] [a2]
Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management
Ryerson University    [u1] [u2]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada    [c1] [c2]

Don Colton    [a1] [a2]
Brigham Young University Hawaii    [u1] [u2]
Laie, Hawaii, USA    [c1] [c2]

Bruce A. White    [a1] [a2]
Quinnipiac University    [u1] [u2]
Hamden, Connecticut, USA    [c1] [c2]

There is increasing pressure on programs in the information-related disciplines (including IS, IT, MIS and CS) to add, or expand, coverage of topics related to professional ethics and ethical behavior to the curriculum. While there is no shortage of available models to choose from (e.g. the ACM Code of Ethics), there is a decided lack of consensus, if not outright confusion, concerning how best to go about actually providing the desired curriculum content. The question of incorporating academic coverage of ethical issues into the information disciplines has been addressed in the literature for much of the last two decades, and a diverse range of guidelines have been proposed. Popular alternatives include modules added to individual courses, complete courses on information ethics, and broader initiatives that span individual course and / or academic unit boundaries. Each of these paradigms has relative advantages and potential limitations. This panel brings together individuals from a variety of institutional and environmental contexts, with an appropriate range of relevant experiences, to compare the incorporation of ethics coverage in their respective programs. One size may not necessarily fit all, but while the experiences of individual institutions are indeed unique, there may in fact be a common element in the successful integration of ethics coverage.

Keywords: ethics, curriculum, standards, conduct

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