TA for Information Ethics
Starting with the Classics
One of my favorite parts of TAing for Information Ethics has been starting with the classic ethical theories: utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, the usual suspects. It's easy to think of these as dry philosophy, but they end up being the foundation for almost every modern debate we get into later in the semester.
Applying It to Tech and AI
Once students have those frameworks down, we start applying them to real problems: AI bias, data privacy, surveillance, algorithmic decision-making. It's one thing to define utilitarianism, and a completely different thing to use it to argue whether a company should be allowed to train a model on data it never explicitly asked permission for.
Helping Students Think for Themselves
My goal in discussions isn't to hand students an answer — it's to help them build their own. I try to push back on whatever position someone takes, not because I disagree, but because defending an idea is how you actually figure out if you believe it. Watching students go from repeating a talking point to forming a real, reasoned opinion has been the most rewarding part of this role.
Leading Discussions, and Sometimes Teaching
Most of my role is leading discussion sections, but every so often I get the chance to teach a full class period myself. Those days have probably taught me more than any single discussion section, since planning a lesson forces you to actually understand the material well enough to explain it, not just discuss it.