Topic
Ethical Issues of Military Drones – A Case Study
Due Date
Week 7 - Monday, 2016 - 09:00 am
Worth
20% (40 marks – ITECH 3203)
20% (45 marks – ITECH 7203)
Course Objectives
This assessment task relates to the following course objectives:
• understand the principles of the Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics to IT professional practice
• value and understand the legal, social and ethical issues involved in IT professional practice within a cultural context
Background
Drones and other UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are revolutionary technology and have been in existence for many years now. UAVs are controlled by a remote pilot who could be thousands of miles away from the location where the UAVs are operating. UAVs are creating an enormous number of cost effective solutions in many applications. UAVs have already resulted in a huge benefit in saving of human lives and are being increasingly applied in many cutting edge applications such as safety, search and quick rescue missions, surveillance and monitoring, asset inspection, dangerous species protection, mineral exploration and targeted military operations.
However, there exist many serious legal and ethical issues related to the use of this developing technology across the community. These include, but are not limited to, the lack of regulations for controlling their operation, invasion of privacy, and lack of moral aspects and human feelings for military applications. Opponents of the utilisation of this technology in military operations argue that it will lead to an increase in war crimes.
Requirements
Read the following article titled ‘Moralization’ of Technologies - Military Drones: A Case Study (http://www.eir.info/2012/05/02/moralization-of-technologies-military-drones-a-case-study/).
You are required to identify the ethical dilemma and undertake an ethical analysis/discussion of the benefits and issues associated the use of military drones with respect to your identified ethical dilemma. You will prepare an essay which analyses the use of military drones through the lens of each of the FOUR (4) ethical philosophies presented in lectures, and ONE (1) value selected from the Australian Computer Society’s (ACS) code of ethics.
For assistance in essay writing techniques, see:
http://federation.edu.au/current-students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/essay-writing.
Essays should contain the following components in the structure indicated.
• title page
• abstract
• table of contents
• ethical dilemma
• introduction
• ethical analysis of the use of military drones o utilitarianism o deontology o social contract o character based o ACS code of ethics
• recommendations (ITECH 7203 students only)
• references
• appendices
The introduction section should provide context and background on the issue of the use of military drones.
It should provide an overview of how you intend to address the problem and proposed solution(s).
The body section of the essay should contain an overview of each of the four ethical theories, and the ACS code of ethics. It should include a discussion and proposed solution for the dilemma, from each of the four ethical theoretical viewpoints, and the ACS code of ethics. For utilitarianism and deontology ethical models, it should also include the solutions considering their respective act and rule-based forms. The discussion should show an analysis and synthesis of research undertaken and your own ideas.
Writing should be validated with concepts from other people’s work. Gather these references from various sources such as the Internet, assigned text books and readings etc. For assistance with in-text referencing and formatting your reference see: http://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/164121/FedUniGeneral-Guide-to-Referencing-2014.pdf.
Additional Task for Postgraduate (ITECH 7203) Students
Write a set of recommendations, on your overall preferred ethical approach for solving the ethical dilemmas posed, and include a discussion of the modern ethical approach in your answer. Explore each of the various options, and indicate why one option is preferred over another. Use references to validate your work.
Academic Writing and Presentation
Please refer to the General guide for the presentation of academic work, available electronically on the university’s website. URL: http://federation.edu.au/current-students/learning-and-study/online-helpwith/study-skills-and-writing-guides. Adhere to the academic writing standards such as correct grammar and spelling, and presentation and layout as outlined in the guide.
Supporting Materials
Weeks 2-4 study materials including lecture notes, tutorial problems and their solutions, online materials and relevant sections of the prescribed text.
1. Wilson, R. L. (2014). Ethical Issues with use of Drone Aircraft. IEEE International Symposium on Ethics in Science, Technology and Engineering, Pages: 1-4, Chicago, IL.
2. Drones and Other UAVs: Benefits and Risks - Exploring Ethics - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obSzr2NIEEM
3. Drones: A military revolution - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbnmpi49vg4
4. Ethical decision making - http://www.dimensionsofdentalhygiene.com/ddhright.aspx?id=8548
Submission
Please submit an ELECTRONIC copy in Microsoft Word format only via moodle. Please refer to the “Course Description” for information regarding late assignments, extensions, special consideration, and plagiarism. A reminder all academic regulations can be accessed via the university’s website. URL: http://federation.edu.au/current-students/essential-info/publications/handbook.

Assessment Criteria
ITECH 3203 Students
Students work will be assessed as outlined below:
• literature outline of each ethical theory, and a description and validation of the ACS code value selected and applied
• a discussion and analysis of the ethical dilemma that you have identified, including a proposed solution for the dilemma through the application of each of the FOUR (4) ethical theories and the ACS code of ethics. A quality discussion will investigate multiple solutions, provide validation for the approach and incorporate the application of an ethical decision making model (see e.g. Beemsterboer, 2010; Velasquez et al, 2009 from week 1 lecture)
• an essay presented in accordance with the suggested structure between 2000 - 2500 words, which adheres to academic writing presentation standards as outlined in the university style guide (see http://federation.edu.au/current-students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/studyskills-and-writingguides) and includes a formatted reference list, and in-text references which comply with the FedUni’s guide for referencing. A quality piece of work will provide a range of references for example, books, journals, reputable websites etc, in-text references should be used in such a way as to provide validation for the work
Assessment Feedback
ITECH 3203 Students
Student
Elements
Marking Scale
Poor Excellent
1 ................... 5
Identifying ethical dilemma 0
Outline of ethical theories & ACS code 0
Discussion & analysis – utilitarianism 0
– deontology 0
– social contract 0
– character based 0
– ACS 0
Academic writing & referencing 0
Total Mark [40 marks] 0.0
Total Worth [20%] 0.0
Comments
Assessment Criteria
ITECH 7203 Students
Students work will be assessed as outlined below:
• literature outline of each ethical theory, and a description and validation of the ACS code value selected and applied
• a discussion and analysis of the ethical dilemma that you have identified, including a proposed solution for the dilemma through the application of each of the FOUR (4) ethical theories and the ACS code of ethics. A quality discussion will investigate multiple solutions, provide validation for the approach and incorporate the application of an ethical decision making model (see e.g. Beemsterboer, 2010; Velasquez et al, 2009 from week 1 lecture)
• an essay presented in accordance with the suggested structure between 2500 - 3000 words, which adheres to academic writing presentation standards as outlined in the university style guide (see http://federation.edu.au/current-students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/studyskills-and-writingguides) and includes a formatted reference list, and in-text references which comply with the FedUni’s guide for referencing. A quality piece of work will provide a range of references for example, books, journals, reputable websites etc, in-text references should be used in such a way as to provide validation for the work
• a quality conclusion, will draw together all the ideas that have been presented and validated. The detail should arise clearly from the data given in the body of the report, and explain why one conclusion is preferred to another, including reference to the modern ethical approach. Also include a set of recommendations indicating the preferred solution
Assessment Feedback
ITECH 7203 Students
Student
Elements
Marking Scale
Poor Excellent
1 ................... 5
Identifying ethical dilemma 0
Outline of ethical theories & ACS code 0
Discussion & analysis – utilitarianism 0
– deontology 0
– social contract 0
– character based 0
– ACS 0
Academic writing & referencing 0
Conclusion & recommendations 0
Total Mark [45 marks] 0.0
Total Worth [20%] 0.0
Comments