School of Education Ethics Modules
Abbey Lynch (at left), a gradute student in school counseling, does a puzzle with Charles Welfare in the mental health clinic at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center. Photo by Sam Palmer for Virginia Tech.
Scholarly Ethics and Integrity
The Virginia Tech School of Education (SOE) offers graduate certificate programs as well as Master's, Educational Specialist, and Doctoral degrees. All SOE graduate students must complete requirements in scholarly ethics and integrity, as outlined by the Graduate School.
SOE Requirements for Graduate Students
To meet this requirement, all graduate students in the School of Education must:
- Engage with four online learning modules on the following topics:
- Violations of the Graduate Honor Code
- Proper Citations, Acknowledgements, and Research Ownership
- Ethical Standards in Teaching, Mentoring, and Professional Activities
- Avenues to Report Alleged Misconduct
- Complete a culminating online quiz with a score of 80% or higher
- Forward the email showing their passing quiz score to their advisor
An Introduction and Why It Matters
Ethical behavior is defined as “conforming to accepted professional standards of conduct, such as codes of ethics used by professional societies in the United States to regulate the manner in which their professions are practiced” (Virginia Tech Graduate School, 2025, p. 1) . Differences in culture, environment, institution, and supervision, teaching, and instruction lend themselves to diverse understandings of what is, and what is not, ethical and what constitutes intellectual and academic integrity. For that reason, it’s important to understand Virginia Tech’s specific Graduate Honor Code, which is part of the Virginia Tech Graduate Honor System (GHS) and outlined in the Constitution of the GHS.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Virginia Tech: Ethical Considerations
AI, particularly generative AI, is more ubiquitous on campus now than it has ever been. Since we are still relatively new to using it in academic and professional spaces – and because it continues to evolve rapidly – there are newer considerations relative to the work in which graduate students engage and how they utilize AI in that work.
At Virginia Tech, it remains important in all of our endeavors to apply ethical behavior and integrity to the use of AI.
Virginia Tech "is committed to harnessing the transformative power of artificial intelligence while maintaining our values and protecting our community” (Virginia Tech, 2025) and has identified the following seven principles for the responsible and ethical use of AI in our roles as students, scholars, mentors, and teachers:
As a graduate student, you should use AI only if it is “enhancing learning, fostering discovery, promoting engagement, improving the human condition, advancing knowledge, and mitigating potential harms” (Virginia Tech, 2025).
As a graduate student, you should “explore new AI tools boldly while weighing benefits against risks” (Virginia Tech, 2025). Such risks can be to individuals, communities, the academic enterprise, or the environment.
When using AI as a graduate student, it “should extend – not replace – human insight, creativity, and well-being” (Virginia Tech, 2025).
As a graduate student, you should “consider environmental impact, intellectual property rights, and social consequences before deploying AI” (Virginia Tech, 2025).
As a graduate student, you should disclose your use of AI.
As a graduate student, you will need to make decisions for yourself. You may use AI to influence and propel your decision-making but should not use AI to make decisions for you.
As a graduate student, you may be privy to personal and institutional data. When using AI, you will need to consider the protection of such data and the people it represents.
Learning Modules
“Building a graduate community for quality graduate education depends upon the professional and ethical conduct of both faculty and students. Each party in the graduate process . . . has particular responsibilities and expectations in ensuring the achievement of these primary goals” (Virginia Tech Graduate School, n.d.).
Four learning modules were designed to help graduate students in the SOE understand those responsibilities and expectations:
MODULE 1
MODULE 2
MODULE 3
MODULE 4
*Click boxes above to access learning modules.
Each of the four learning modules in this series includes information about the considerations relative to using AI in the different roles you will play as a graduate student in the SOE.
Task Overview: You will complete each of the four modules in sequence, followed by the 10-question quiz. Plan to spend about an hour (60 minutes) on this activity.
Ready to get started?
References
Virginia Tech. (2025, September). Virginia Tech AI principles. https://ai.vt.edu/principles.html
Virginia Tech Graduate School. (2025, August). Constitution of the Graduate Honor System. https://graduateschool.vt.edu/content/dam/graduateschool_vt_edu/graduate-honor-system/Constitution2025.pdf
Virginia Tech Graduate School. (n.d.). Expectations for graduate education overview. https://graduateschool.vt.edu/academics/expectations/expectations-for-graduate-education-overview.html