Brittany Johnson, Ph.D.

Ethics and Equity in Software Engineering (CS/SWE 795)
Spring 2023

Class meeting time: Thursdays, 4:30 - 7:10 pm
Location: Nguyen Engineering Building 1103
Office hours: Tuesdays (virtual) and Thursdays (in office), 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Course Syllabus
Article presentation template
Paper schedule
How to Write a Research Paper
Research Paper Rubric

Schedule

Date	Topic	Readings & Exercises	Assignments
Meet 1 Thu 1/26	Class Overview Intro to Ethics and Equity
Meet 2 Thu 2/2	The History of Ethics in Computing Is there an ethics of computing? Using the new ACM Code of Ethics in Decision-Making Managing Emergent Ethical Concerns in Software Engineering for Society Fairness and Abstraction in Sociotechnical Systems The Ethics of Computing: A Survey of the Computing Oriented Literature
Meet 3 Thu 2/9	The History of Ethics in Computing (cont'd) Ethical issues in software engineering research: a survey of current practice The public is the priority: Making decisions using the software engineering code of ethics Does acm’s code of ethics change ethical decision making in software development? “This is just a prototype”: How ethics are ignored in software startup-like environments A roadmap for ethics-aware software engineering
Meet 4 Thu 2/16	Ethics & AI The AI Effect: Working at the Intersection of AI and SE Mitigating bias in algorithmic hiring: Evaluating claims and practices Feeding the machine: Policing, crime data, & algorithms Identifying ethical considerations for machine learning healthcare application Bridging the gap between ethics and practice: guidelines for reliable, safe, and trustworthy human-centered AI systems
Meet 5 Thu 2/23	Supporting Ethics in Practice: Tools & Frameworks From what to how: an initial review of publicly available AI ethics tools, methods and research to translate principles into practices Ethical by design: Ethics best practices for natural language processing AI Ethics in Industry: A Research Framework Preventing undesirable behavior of intelligent machines The landscape and gaps in open source fairness toolkits Ethically aligned design: an empirical evaluation of the resolvedd-strategy in software and systems development context
Meet 6 Thu 3/2	Black Mirror Writer's Room (Extended Exercise) Episode Pilot Template		Project proposal due
Meet 7 Thu 3/9	Black Mirror Writer's Room Presentations
Thu 3/16	No class -- Spring Break! 😎
Meet 8 Thu 3/23	From Ethics to Equity, Starting with Diversity Why do we need personality diversity in software engineering? Software engineering team diversity and performance Gender diversity and women in software teams: How do they affect community smells? Challenges of and Opportunities for a Large Diverse Software Team Investigating the effects of gender bias on GitHub		Paper outline due
Meet 9 Thu 3/30	Engaging Marginalized Communities: Research Methods & Design Approaches Value-based software engineering: Overview and agenda Critical race theory for HCI Reflections on Assets-Based Design: A Journey Towards A Collective of Assets-Based Thinkers Engage for Equity: A long-term study of community-based participatory research and community-engaged research practices and outcomes Co-designing AI futures: Integrating AI ethics, social computing, and design
Meet 10 Thu 4/6	Engaging the Margins: Persons with Disablities Accessibility and software engineering processes: A systematic literature review Accessibility in software practice: a practitioner's perspective Categorization and comparison of accessibility testing methods for software development Design recommendations for chatbots to support people with depression Program-L: Online Help Seeking Behaviors by Blind and Low Vision Programmers
Meet 11 Thu 4/13	Engaging the Margins: Children and Aging Populations Developing social robots for aging populations: A literature review of recent academic sources Keeping kids safe from a design perspective: Ethical and legal guidelines for designing a video-based app for children Evaluating methods for engaging children in healthcare technology design Emotional artificial intelligence in children's toys and devices: Ethics, governance and practical remedies Understanding the Representation and Representativeness of Age in AI Data Sets If Alexa knew the state I was in, it would cry”: Older Adults' Perspectives of Voice Assistants for Health
Meet 12 Thu 4/20	Engaging the Margins: LGBTQ* Rethinking research ethics, power, and the risk of visibility in the era of the “alt-right” gaze Designing trans technology: Defining challenges and envisioning community-centered solutions Designing technology to support safety for transgender women & non-binary people of color How remote work can foster a more inclusive environment for transgender developers Gender-fluid geek girls: Negotiating inequality regimes in the tech industry
Meet 13 Thu 4/27	Engaging the Margins: Intersectionality & Positionality Intersectionality's Definitional Dilemmas A Framework for Intersectional Perspectives in Software Engineering Power and positionality: Negotiating insider/outsider status within and across cultures Positionality practices and dimensions of impact on equity research: A collaborative inquiry and call to the community Connecting intersectionality and reflexivity: Methodological approaches to social positionalities		Final paper due (extended to May 4)
Thu May 4 4:30 - 7:15 pm	FINAL PRESENTATIONS (schedule)
Thu May 11 4:30 - 7:15 pm	FINAL PRESENTATIONS (schedule)