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Course Syllabus

SE 3140 Ethics and Craftsmanship

  • Division: Natural Science and Math
  • Department: Computer Science & Engineering
  • Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 3; Lab: 0
  • Prerequisites: CS 2450
    CS 2860
  • Corequisites: SE 3630 SE 3830
  • Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
  • Semester Approved: Spring 2026
  • Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2030
  • End Semester: Fall 2031
  • Optimum Class Size: 18
  • Maximum Class Size: 24

Course Description

This course examines ethical and social issues in computing and explores practices for producing quality software. Moral Philosophy is considered along with the IEEE Code of Ethics. This study of philosophy helps students deepen their critical thinking and writing skills which are sought after in the Software Industry. This course also discusses practices and behaviors that help individuals improve their own software quality.

Justification

This course is required as part of our Bachelor of Software Engineering. Software engineers must learn to think critically about ethical implications while adopting practices that lead to successful projects. This course helps develop the moral reasoning and professional craftsmanship necessary for responsible software engineering.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate professional practices that produce high-quality software creating value for stakeholders. 
  2. Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to bring a variety of ethical frameworks and industry standard codes to analyze software engineering scenarios. 
  3. Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors. (ABET SLO 2)
  4. Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts. (ABET SLO 4)

Course Content

This course will help students use a variety of software engineering practices that promote sustainable development of high-quality software with a focus on continuous learning and improvement. Specific topics will be selected based on current industry trends and established best practices. The course will also cover a variety of ethical philosophies, industry codes, and other tools for reasoning such as virtue ethics, deontological ethics, consequentialism, social contract theory, the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, and analysis of logical fallacies.