sustainable development and social responsibility making it professional

1
sustainable development and social responsibility
- making it professional

• Neil Gordon
• Department of Computer Science
• University of Hull, Hull
• HU6 7RX England
• n.a.gordon_at_hull.ac.uk
• http//www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssnag/
• Talk at the 2009 HEA ICS Annual Conference
• August 2009.

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Brief plan of the session

• We will consider some of the aspects around
  teaching Sustainable Development (S.D.) within
  the computing curriculum
• In particular, the views of students to this type
  of material
• We will also consider how we can use SD to
  motivate the teaching of ethical and social
  aspects alongside the issues of professional and
  career development

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Introduction

• To start with we consider a couple of key
  questions
• What is sustainable development
• What is Education For Sustainable Development
• How does this relate to professional, career and
  personal development.

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Write down what you believe Sustainable
Development is

• In pairs, discuss and summarise your own ideas of
  what Sustainable Development (S.D.) encompasses
• Decide on a word which reflects your consensus on
  what S.D. is about
• Report back the word(s) have you found?

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What is Sustainable Development

• What is isnt it isnt just about the
  environment (but that is a large part of it)
• Sustainable Development covers a wide range of
  topics

• The obvious ones the environment and the green
  issues, as well as some which are perhaps less
  obvious, but reflect the idea that society should
  be long lasting
• Sustainability is being promulgated through a
  number of channels.

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Some principles for Sustainable Development

• Meeting the needs of today without compromising
  the ability of future generations to meet their
  own needs
• The U.K. government has identified four priority
  areas
• Sustainable Consumption and Production
• Climate Change and Energy
• Natural Resource Protection and Environmental
  Enhancement
• Sustainable Communities.

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Computing and SD

• Computing has links and applications in many of
  these areas
• Particularly to
• Consumption
• Energy use
• communities

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What are the professional aspects of SD?

• Initially write down your own ideas of what these
  may be
• Next compare with a neighbour
• Report back the main professional theme(s) (if
  any).

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Professional development and practice

• The environmental impact of computing is become
  of increasing concern.
• Within the U.K., government bodies are beginning
  to recognise this and DEFRA has been implementing
  a green I.T. strategy
• professional bodies such as the British Computer
  Society (BCS) are also recognising this.
• In terms of industry, employers are beginning to
  consider the awareness of sustainable development
  of potential employees

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Professional conduct related to SD

• the BCS includes professional practice and ethics
  in its code of conduct and accreditation guidance
• EU Code of Conduct for Data Centres
• the Green I.T. Foundation award
• Practitioner Certificate for data centre
  operators

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Ethics and social responsibility

• Within I.T. teaching for example, good examples
  of the environmental impact can be found
• the huge costs of continuous upgrading of
  hardware.
• Software costs
• the potential need to upgrade or replace
  machinery in order to run the latest version of
  operating systems or applications,
• actual running costs of the software (processor
  intensive programs increase power usage).
• The financial and social costs to individuals,
  institutions and nations of these examples
  provides an opening for teachers to explore
  numerous topics, and to develop awareness

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Embedding Sustainable Development within the
curriculum

• SD provides a focus for developing ethical
  issues
• It can provide a case studies and examples
• It can expand the context of discipline based
  teaching in particular opening up cross
  curricula and International aspects
• Many external bodies expect/require it
• It links with Personal Development Planning.

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Example learning activity

• Modelling power usage of a typical set of devices
  (computer, hi-fi, cooker, tv,..)
• Compare off vs stand-by vs on costs
• Calculate electricity usage, financial cost,
  carbon footprint
• Potential for links with web services etc.

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Case Study

• A traditional level 4 (first year) core module
  for computer science
• Module in question covers IT and professional
  skills
• Embedding SD allowed the previously disparate
  ethics and IT to be integrated
• Considering Ethics and social impact of computing
  is a requirement of the accreditation of our
  degrees
• SD content embedded through some lectures and
  workshops. Approx 140 students

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Students views and perceptions of sustainable
development
Chart indicates number of each category who
answered positively
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Initial Student views on SD

• Some quotes from students
• planting trees where ever they get cut down
• Im not sure
• A way of having and maintaining a continuous
  supply of energy
• development which leaves the environment
  unharmed.

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Views following the learning of SD material in
situ

• Students seem positive about SD
• Some felt that undergraduates, especially those
  that have gone on to university straight from
  school are less aware and less concerned
• They felt that mature students had more life
  experience and are more aware of the impact
  that humanity is having on the environment etc.
• felt SD to be important and should be included
• A lack of awareness that SD had been taught.

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SD and its relevance to career development and
professional practice

• Employers are beginning to take account of SD
• Public bodies in particular such as the civil
  service and education
• Individual students are influenced in their
  choice of industry sector and individual
  employers
• The last point can also link SD with Personal
  Development Plans as students consider their long
  term plans.

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Conclusions

• Sustainable Development is on the agenda of many
  of our stake holders the government, HEFCE, the
  HEA as well as industry and students themselves
• For some students SD may be a good way to engage
  with them and also play a part in encouraging
  them to consider SD
• Given the professional dimension, embedding it
  within our teaching can provide a way to engage
  with employability and professional development
  aspects for students across disciplines.

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Thanks

• This work was carried out with colleagues Dr
  Lindsey Atkinson, Mr Tony Taylor and Dr Steve
  Hanson at the University of Hull. Thanks to them
  for their efforts and contributions
• The work was supported by a Higher Education
  Academy Mini-grant thanks to the HEA for
  supporting this work.

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Resources

• Higher Education Academy, Sustainability pages
  http//www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/sustai
  nability
• Roberts, C and Roberts, J, 2007, Greener by
  Degrees Exploring Sustainability through Higher
  Education Curriculahttp//www.glos.ac.uk/ceal/res
  ources/greenerbydegrees/index.cfm
• Stern Reporthttp//www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/indepe
  ndent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_chang
  e/sternreview_index.cfm
• United Nations Sustainable Development Page
  http//www.un.org/esa/sustdev/index.html