What grade should a student receive?

2021/07/21

Scenario

After taking the final exam, a student’s course grade is 59.5% (on a scale where passing is 60%).

Discussion

  1. Address the grade assignment using a virtue ethics framework.

    What grade would the virtuous professor assign? Would it make a difference if the grade was between an A- and an A? What virtues would be involved in the decision?

  2. Address the grade assignment using deontology.

    You have been asked to write a program that will determine grades so that the grade assignment is less subjective. Come up with an algorithm (for that program) for assigning grades when a student is near the borderline between two grades.

  3. Compare your answers from questions 1 and 2. How are they similar and/or different?

  4. The following items come from the ACM Code of Ethics. Once you have finished the exercises on the grade scenario, look over these items. Choose one of them and consider how it might influence a choice that you might have to make as a future software engineer or project manager. Be prepared to share it with the rest of the class.

Partial ACM Code of Ethics