Sustainability Issues in the Computing Curriculum

"Sustainability" or ("green-ness") has a significant role to play in the teaching of information systems in higher education. There is considerable variation possible in breadth and depth of content, and raises the question of appropriateness, suitability of material and targeting at an appropriate level. There also exists considerable potential for variation of emphasis in presentation according to students’ motivations. Institutions have adopted different approaches, some utilising specialised courses as components of wider programmes, or in their own right. Others have integrated the topic into undergraduate teaching, perhaps as a component of systems analysis and design courses, treating environmental impact as a design constraint within a solution. Computer science programmes may use their computer architecture-themed modules to introduce the relationship between hardware design and energy use or the ethics and professionalism strand may be developed through consideration of electronic waste or the legal issues around the need for compliance with legislation. This paper reports our study of these variations, and introduces some of the teaching materials we have developed as part of a recent HEA ICS project, along with an introduction to a community site to enable colleagues interested in this topic to share ideas and resources.