Universities are being called to revise their approaches to education to incorporate greater attention to social responsibility, specifically for students expected to participate in technology development and innovation. Particularly given the fact that algorithms and artifacts may often be biased with regards to race or gender and manipulative of the public for social harm, students must learn to critically understand the responsibility of creating technologies and the long-term effects of their implementation.

With support from the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation, a team of researchers from the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT) and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) have been investigating faculty and student perceptions of education for social responsibility in technology. The research team is now convening a Faculty Learning Community housed in the Center for Social Science Scholarship to build upon the insights of this study and develop a framework for incorporating social responsibility in technology in the COEIT curriculum. 

Members of the Faculty Learning Community on Social Responsibility in Technology will be expected to meet biweekly in fall 2022 and spring 2023. They will work collaboratively in the development of pedagogical strategies for the education of COEIT students in social responsibility, potentially including the creation of: instructional materials, assessment rubrics, a micro-credential or certificate program bridging COEIT and CAHSS.

Faculty interested in joining the community should complete this brief google form.