Instructor: Dr.

Abdenour BounsiarProfessional Responsibility

King Faisal University

College of Computer Sciences and Information Technology
Professional Responsibility

Assignment #2
WRITING AN IT CODE OF ETHICS

DATE SET: Week 11

DATE OF SUBMISSION: Week 13
ASSIGNMENT VALUE: 5%
SUBMISSION: (Hardcopy + softcopy) to be handed/sent to the Course Instructor
_______________________________________________________________________

1. OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

This assignment is designed to give students awareness and understanding about IT
Code of Ethics. In addition, the students will examine existing professional codes of
ethics. Specifically the assignment tasks include:

● Writing their Code of Ethics as an IT student.

● Checking the existing Code of Ethics of the College, the University and/or the
Deanship of IT in the University, and criticize it.
● If such code does not exist or is not complete, students should complete it,
propose modifications or propose new principles. Any of these should be well
documented, explained and motivated.

For assistance, as a starting point, students may check the international IT codes of
ethics provided in References (Section 6).

2. ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS

● This is a group assignment. Each group will compose of 3 students (maximum).

● Each group will develop their Codes of Ethics as an IT student as well as critique a
Code of Ethics.
● Assignment is 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages, no less than 800 words. Words
counting is from Introduction to the end of Conclusion excluding any annex.
● Include the evaluation criteria table on a separate page just after the title page
● Provide a cover-page for your assignment in which you state clearly:
o University and college names
o the assignment title: Writing an IT Code of Ethics
o the course name
o your group number and members names
o ** the contribution of each group member **
● The assignment should address ALL of the following information:
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Instructor: Dr. Abdenour BounsiarProfessional Responsibility

3. ASSIGNMENT TASKS
The assignment should address the following required tasks by following the suggested
organization:

Introduction
Give a brief description of the contents and structure of your Code of Ethics as an IT
Student as well as the Code of Ethics studied.

My Code of Ethics as an IT Student

Write your own Code of Ethics reflecting what should be your professional
responsibilities and ethical conduct as an IT student. (includes at least 10 guidelines) in
outline form followed by short paragraph (not more than 5 sentences) after each
guideline explaining it and stating the importance or value of such guideline/reason for
including it. Your written code should cover all major issues of ethics and responsibility.

Detailed Discussion of an IT Code of Ethics

Describe clearly with sufficient details and comments the IT Code of Ethics of the College,
the IT Deanship or the University. Student may start by looking at information and
documentation which is available on the University website. If such information is not
available, students may request documentation directly from relevant administration.
Students will then have to read, analyze and criticize the code. If the code is incomplete
or is not well written as compared to international standards, the students should
complete it, propose modifications or even propose new principles. Any of these should
be explained, motivated and well documented.

Conclusion
Provide a brief paragraph reiterating the importance of having a Code of Ethics, the
focus of Code of Ethics you have written and summarize your comments, proposed
changes/additions to the Code of Ethics studied.

Appendix (if necessary)

Contains the Code of Ethics studied (if it is existing)

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Instructor: Dr. Abdenour BounsiarProfessional Responsibility

4. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Criteria Description of requested information Mark

Writing requirements
□ Includes all information listed in Requirements section. /5

Writing style
□ Good English writing style without grammatical errors and /10
correct punctuations.
□ Writing in terms of paragraphs; not bullets.
□ References (if any) are properly cited.
Effective Introduction
□ Includes a brief description of the Code of Ethics studied /5

including historical background.

□ Includes a brief description of its contents and structure, as
well as the contents and structure of your own Code of
Ethics.
□ Identifies type/s of stakeholders being addressed.
My Code of Ethics as an
IT Student
□ States clearly the guidelines in the code. /15

□ Has sufficiently covered relevant aspects.

□ Has clearly defined each guideline.
□ Identifies clearly the importance of each guideline.

Detailed Discussion of a
□ Have provided a meaningful analysis of the Code of Ethics /20
Code of Ethics
□ Describe clearly with sufficient details the comments
□ Justify clearly if found sufficient
□ Includes new meaningful modifications/new principles or
guidelines if found not sufficient
□ Explained the reason for changing/adding guidelines in the
code
□ Have proposed new meaningful principles/guidelines
□ Includes sufficient rationale for the proposed
principle/guidelines
□ Have explained clearly the proposed principle/guidelines
□ Have provided justification for adopting a Code of Ethics
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Instructor: Dr. Abdenour BounsiarProfessional Responsibility

Conclusion
□ Reiterates the need for a code of ethics. /5

□ Summarize the content of their Code of Ethics

Appendix (if any) □ Recalls the comments made on the Code of Ethics studied
□ Includes the studied code of ethics.

Total Mark / 60

Assignment mark Total mark divided by 12. /5

Before submitting your assignment, in order to maximize your mark, please go through
the evaluation criteria and check that all requested information is provided.
5. IMPORTANT REMARKS
The students should observe the following:
● References should be properly cited.
● Plagiarized assignment will get 0 marks.
● Late submitted assignments will not be accepted.

6. REFERENCES

[1] ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics for Software Engineering:

http://www.computer.org/cms/Computer.org/Publications/code-of-ethics.pdf

[2] ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct:

http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics

[3] Code of Ethics by the Computer Ethics Institute:

http://cpsr.org/issues/ethics/cei/

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