WIP: Generative AI as an Instructional Resource in a Computer Science Ethics Course

This work-in-progress research paper reports our initial attempt at integrating generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) into our two credit hour ethics course required for computer science majors. Course content includes ethical frameworks, presentations, current event and stakeholder analysis, formal debates, job seeking, and codes of conduct. Given the wide applicability of computer ethics and the crowded schedule in the course, our inquiry seeks to find ways of utilizing Gen AI to streamline content delivery, to provide opportunities for independent student exploration, and to aid students during preparation for class activities. In this paper, we first describe a novel assignment integrating Gen AI given to students enrolled in the Spring 2024 offering of our computer science ethics course. The findings from a survey addressing student use of Gen AI before and during the assignment and the analysis of assignment artifacts submitted by students are then reported. Finally, we present additional student data and results from our separate experimentation, both of which focus on the use of Gen AI for debate preparation. Our efforts reveal that Gen AI can be a useful instructional tool for a computer science ethics course but should be integrated carefully.