Don Winiecki, a professor in the organizational performance and workplace learning department in the College of Engineering, and Noah Salzman, an assistant professor in the electrical engineering department and the IDoTeach program in the College of Education, were awarded Distinguished Paper for their paper, “Teaching Professional Morality & Ethics to Undergraduate Computer Science Students through Cognitive Apprenticeships and Case Studies: Experiences in CS-HU 130 ‘Foundational Values,’” presented at the Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing and Technology (RESPECT) conference.
The 2019 RESPECT conference was held parallel with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) in Minneapolis Feb. 27- March 2.
As a result of their award, Winiecki and Salzman were invited to present their work at SIGCSE on Feb. 28. SIGCSE is the largest computing education conference worldwide and organized by ACM. It involved more than 1,500 researchers, educators and others interested in improving computing education in K-12 and higher education.
Winiecki and Salzman reported some of their research and development with the Boise State Department of Computer Science in the Computer Science Professional’s Hatchery (CSP-Hatchery). They focused on the design, methods and outcomes in one course, “CS-HU 130 ‘Foundational Values,” and how it is effective in helping computer science students identify problems and develop systemic and sustainable processes to improve ethics and professional morality in computer science.
The CSP-Hatchery is part of an initiative sponsored by the National Science Foundation to revolutionize engineering and computer science departments. It is being funded by a $2 million National Science Foundation five-year award led by Amit Jain, chair of the Department of Computer Science.
Winiecki is active in research and development to infuse ethics, professional morality, inclusion, diversity and social justice into computer science education at Boise State. Winiecki also is active across the College of Engineering in research, developing and delivering curriculum, and supporting faculty efforts to infuse ethics and professional morality through engineering.
Salzman leads efforts in engineering education both in the College of Engineering, and through the IDoTeach program.