How to teach the study of algorithms
- Experiences from the field
Lecturers
Date
- 08 May 2023–10 May 2023 Graz, ST, Austria
Keywords
Technology Studies, Computer Sciences, Social Studies of Science
Abstract
Due to the ongoing digital transformation, algorithms and data are increasingly permeating our societies. From public administration over surveillance to entertainment: Algorithms increasingly play significant roles in a wide range of activities. Given their omnipresence, it has become increasingly important to make their role in society a topic in computer science/informatics curricula. In this work, we present the concept and contents of the course “Critical Algorithm Studies” and our experiences from teaching that course for six years at TU Wien - with about 5000 computer science students one of the largest universities in the German speaking world. As the course title implies, it is dedicated to the critical and social study of algorithms. This field of enquiry is decidedly interdisciplinary, which is reflected in the range of literature it draws upon, with contributions from Computer Science, Media Studies, Legal Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Exposing computer science students to this body of knowledge challenges their assumed authority to be the primary experts when it comes to algorithms and sensitises them to appreciate their limits of knowledge. While issues and concerns related to algorithms are increasingly commonplace today - academically, in policy processes as well as in the public debate - this was not yet the case when this course started. Being held the first time in 2016, this course’s topics have moved from niche to mainstream significance. Being a niche topic at the time of its origin, it was the work of students to initiate, design and largely run the course. In the following years the course has been successfully institutionalized, its relevance acknowledged and the structure and content stabilised. Given the involved lecturers’ engagement with STS, concepts, theories and sensibilities from STS have increasingly become the foundation of the course. The development of the course parallels the institutionalisation of topics such as fairness, accountability and transparency as well as AI ethics in academia, industry and regulatory debates, as evidenced by the increasing number of conferences and publications on these topics. Despite this success story, the course’s continuation has always been a challenge. Despite an increasingly stable structure, the question what topics should be taught under the umbrella “Critical Algorithm Studies” continually challenges the design and content of the course. Two additional issues arise from the interdisciplinary character of the course. On the one hand, there’s constant pressure to argue how it is relevant to the education of computer scientists, on the other hand the precarity of academic careers is an issue: Over the six years of its existence most of the course’s lecturers joined and left the institution. At the same time, the number of people knowledgeable in the course’s content at TU Wien, who research at the intersection of computer science, STS and other disciplines, is limited, making the search for suitable successors difficult.
Title of Event
STS Conference Graz 2023
Location
Address
- Graz, ST, Austria
- Austria