Computing, Ethics, & Society

CS 396: Winter 2021

Computing, Ethics, & Society

Assignments > Speculative Fiction or Public Education Piece

Due on Fri, 03/19 @ 11:59PM.

At the end of the day on Thursday, please fill out the relevant questionnaire:

You will have two choices for the final project:

Option 1: Speculative Fiction

The first is an individual paper based in the genre of speculative fiction. Imagine the state of the world in 2100. You are free to imagine based on how you see the current world evolving, or you can imagine a totally alternative reality based on your wildest dreams or fears. Using key texts from the class, you will describe in rich detail the socio-technical features of this world, and your analysis will describe the systems, policies, and decisions that got us there. If you wish, you have the option of submitting your final paper to the BreakPoint journal for publication. Shoot for 4-6 pages.

Option 2: Learning Module

The second option is to work in groups of 2-3 to create an educational tech/ethics module designed around the social and/or ethical dimensions of any of the technologies discussed throughout the quarter. Of the themes in the class, what are some key ideas that you would want to communicate to others? To do this, you will:

  1. Identify learning objectives and a target audience of learners for your module (e.g. a 7th grade social studies class, a network of human rights lawyers, a Congressional subcommittee, etc)
  2. Create a set of learning and teaching resources which might include lesson plans, assessments, podcasts, interactive demos, etc).

With your consent, your module can be archived and shared as a featured learning resource of the TREE lab – as part of a larger public education and engagement mission.

Past Examples

If you would like to see some examples of effective (and inspiring) final papers / projects from last quarter, please see the hw3-samples-do-not-share folder. Don’t over-think it, but if you’re curious about how others have approached this assignment, check them out!