Challenging the Status Quo in a Computing Ethics Course, One Water Cooler Conversation at a Time

This work explores computing ethics education through a sociological lens, focusing on education's dual role in reflecting and challenging Silicon Valley's hegemonic force. We present a case study of a one-unit computing ethics course at a R1 public university. Discussion-based assignments can foster accessible ethical discussions and scaffold "water cooler" talk among students; these informal conversations provide a starting point for critical engagement with ethical dilemmas. However, as a standalone offering, the course can reinforce the perception of ethics as secondary to technical skills, further highlighting the need to reimagine an embedded computing ethics education that better prepares students to critically engage with and reshape sociotechnical systems.