This case study considers some of the ethical issues related to research involving artificial intelligence and education. It highlights balancing the need for data with obligations to protect privacy and intellectual property, challenges in obtaining informed consent from participants concerning technology that is complicated and ever evolving, power differentials between researchers and students, and potential conflicts of interest.

Ellie, a chemistry educator, has been asked by her HEI’s leadership to research the impact an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled learning management system (LMS) provided by a for-profit company. The LMS aims to enhance student outcomes in STEM subjects by collecting extensive data on student interactions and using an algorithm to adapt content to individual learners. Concerns about the LMS’s effectiveness, transparency and ethical implications have emerged. The company behind the LMS claims that the system improves engagement and learning outcomes but is vague about data use and strategy. This raises significant privacy concerns, particularly regarding how this data set is stored, who has access to it, and how it might be used beyond the educational context. While Ellie’s colleagues acknowledge that there is a need to improve STEM subject results, many are wondering whether all the data being captured and processed are really needed for the sake of learning.

Drawing on BERA’s Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, this case study discusses key ethical issues, including:

• researcher responsibility to act with integrity and ensure the commissioning body’s vested interests do not unduly influence research findings
• balancing the need for data with obligations to protect privacy and intellectual property, while maintaining confidentiality in the dissemination of results
• navigating the dual roles of researcher and insider and power imbalances between researchers and students
• ensuring participants fully understand what they are consenting to and how their input will be protected, communicating risk without overwhelming detail
• implications of using AI research tools in studying AI use

About this series

BERA’s Research Ethics Case Studies, edited by Sin Wang Chong and Alison Fox, complement BERA’s Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, fifth edition (2024) by giving concrete examples of how those guidelines can be applied during the research process. 

Annotations in the margins of each case study document indicate where, among the numbered paragraphs of BERA’s Ethical Guidelines, readers can find full advice on the issues raised. The annotations include hyperlinks to the relevant passages of the guidelines.

For a full account of ethical best practice as recommended by BERA, researchers should refer to our Ethical Guidelines, which these case studies are intended to illustrate without themselves offering guidance or recommendations.