Ethics for the Information Age

CIS 415: Ethics and Computing Technology
Guidelines for ALL WRITING Assignments
It is recommended that you print this out for reference, since ALL WRITING Assignments need to
follow these guidelines to maximize points.
Writing Quality: While I understand this is not an English composition class, a common weakness voiced
by employers hiring KSU CS graduates is not their technical skills, but their communication and writing
abilities. Therefore, writing submitted as part of ANY assignment in this course is expected to be free of
distracting grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Points will be deducted from submissions that
contain these types of errors. Penalties may be severe if the errors distract from the content of the
paper. If writing is difficult for you, please make appointments with the Writing Center
(ksu.edu/english/writingcenter) to go over your assignments before submitting. The writing center on
campus offers free tutoring through in-person and online appointments. This includes help with
grammar and putting together the final research paper in a coherent manner..
According to the MLA guidebook, “Effective writing depends as much on clarity and readability as on
content. The organization and development of your ideas, the unity and coherence of your
presentation, and your command of sentence structure, grammar, and diction are all important
considerations, as are the mechanics of writing – capitalizations, spelling, punctuation, and so on.”
Although you are graded primarily on content and quality of research, be aware all written materials
must contain coherent content, proper grammar, proper spelling, and proper punctuation, otherwise
points will be deducted. You will also lose points for rambling, incomplete sentences, incoherent
thoughts or ideas, or improper use of the English language. It is vital to be able to effectively
communicate both orally and using the written word.
Analysis/Research assignments must be PROPERLY submitted to Canvas before the due date/time
(11:59pm) to receive FULL credit. They may be submitted up to 3 days late (10% penalty per day late).
Any paper submitted after the due date/time (11:59pm) will be considered late, regardless of reason
it was not submitted on time. It is the student’s responsibility to verify that the CORRECT file has been
PROPERLY submitted to Canvas. Only what is properly submitted to Canvas before the deadline will
be graded, so be careful when submitting your work. (Only a MS Word .doc /.docx file will be
accepted – no pdfs, unless otherwise stated)
Unless otherwise indicated, all assignments are to be double-spaced (with zero-spacing before/after
each paragraph) using either Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri 12-pt font with a 1” L/R and
Top/Bottom margin. No additional spaces between paragraphs. (0.5” Tab in at the start of each
paragraph is optional).
A Note on Arguments and Justification (Criteria used when grading submissions):
For many assignments in this class, you will be asked to “analyze the moral and ethical ramifications” of
an issue, “ethically or morally justify” an action, “discuss the ethics and morals” related to a situation, or
perform some similar task. In each of those cases, you are expected to use the tools and techniques that
you are taught in this class to complete the task, even if it is not explicitly stated in the prompt. This
includes using ethical theories, moral codes, professional codes of ethics, and other tools to support
your arguments, including ones you are familiar with which are not directly covered in the class.
Specifically, when asked to analyze, justify, or discuss situations, it is not enough to simply list the
moral/ethical issues; you must also describe why they are applicable using the appropriate argument
and providing a strong case to support your claim. You should clearly state the tool, theory, or code you
are using, cite the relevant clauses or issues if needed, and then build a concrete case for why it is
applicable in this situation. Even though the graders are familiar with these tools, it is very helpful to
write your responses assuming the reader may not be, since that will force you to more clearly state
your argument. If you use an ethical theory, briefly describe the relevant parts and compare those parts
to the current situation to support your argument. Similar techniques can be used for codes of ethics
and moral codes. Many prompts ask you to discuss both ethical AND moral issues, so make sure you
include both in your response when needed. They each use different tools and arguments in order to
support your claims, so make sure you are using the appropriate techniques.
I am generally not looking for your opinion unless you are specifically asked to give your opinion on a
topic, but instead a concrete analysis based on the information provided and the tools you have
available. Students who fail to properly justify their arguments using these tools may lose points on the
assignment, at the sole discretion of the grader. I will provide helpful comments any time points are
deducted to explain my reasoning so you can improve in the future.
A good overview on strong written arguments can be found at https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-andtools/
argument/
A quick example:
Prompt: “Is it ethical for a company to collect and share data from users without informing them?”
Poor Response: “I feel that this is unethical. The company shouldn’t be collecting data from users
because that is wrong.” – Does not provide any support other than “it is wrong,” which is a moral
argument at best. This is simply stating an opinion without making an argument. Why is it wrong?
Better Response: “I feel that this is unethical. The company goes against society’s expectations by
collecting data they didn’t get permission to obtain.” – Makes a mention of society and leads toward
social contract theory, but doesn’t explicitly make the case for what theory is used and why it is violated.
More justification is needed.
Best Response: “I feel that this is unethical because it violates social contract theory. (Quinn) The
company has an implicit contract with users to protect their privacy as part of our societal expectation
under social contact theory, and they have violated that contract by collecting data without their
consent. This is also a violation of the ACM Code of Ethics clause 1.7 “respect the privacy of others” since
the users’ privacy has clearly been harmed, and 1.8 “honor confidentiality” as the users’ data has been
released, among others. (ACM Code of Ethics)” This response clearly indicates the ethical theory and why
it is violated based on the definition of the theory. It also uses a professional code of ethics to further
support the claim. Finally, provides in-text citation of sources (assume they are fully listed in the
bibliography).
Be aware points WILL BE deducted if guidelines are not followed. Not a significant amount of points but
enough to possibly distinguish between an ‘A’ submission and a ‘B’ submission. Also, one page
MINIMUM doesn’t mean ¾ of a page. Suggest 1¼ to be safe. Of course, quality content matters too!
Reminder that all writing is expected to follow the academic integrity guidelines given in your syllabus
and within the Honor and Integrity System of KSU (http://www.k-state.edu/honor/), which basically
states: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this
academic work.”
If using ideas not your own, you must cite the source. If using words not your own, you must use quote
marks and cite the source. Otherwise, it will be considered plagiarism and will be considered a violation
of the K-State Honor Code. All assignments are to be done individually. Failure to do so will be
considered unauthorized collaboration, with ALL parties involved receiving, at a minimum, a zero on the
assignment and a report filed with the Honor Council. Since this is an ETHICS course, an XF may be
issued as the sanction for the violation.