Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Let’s Teach Computer Science Majors to Be Good Citizens. The Whole World Depends on It.

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I think the world might be better served teaching MBAs and Business graduates to be good citizens, but the problem remains the same in either case: how exactly do you teach them to be good citizens? You can't just tell students to "work to foster justice in the world" and expect great results. This article suggests incorporating more education about morality and ethics or drawing computer science back into the liberal arts. But you can't just plug some external discipline into the program and expect it to take. I mean, it's not like all the "ethics for MBA students" have had any impact. The values reflected by the students are the values of the discipline (and these values may well have been what attracted these students in the first place). You would have to change the discipline itself. And being a good citizen isn't exactly a value in computer sciences (or business).

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 2:24 p.m.

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