2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Ethics in AI Engineering Education: A Systematic Review of Innovative Curricula and Ethics Frameworks

Presented at DSAI-Session 4: Ethics, Policy, and the AI-Integrated Engineering Workforce

Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) has advanced rapidly, yet scholars and practitioners remain uncertain about how to embed ethical reasoning into AI driven learning contexts. To illuminate current practice, we conducted a systematic review of 25 peer reviewed studies (2021–May 2025) that explicitly taught AI ethics to higher education students. Using PRISMA and Covidence, we extracted information on intervention types, ethics frameworks employed, evaluation methods, and learning outcomes. Most interventions were course level, delivered online or hybrid, and rooted in engineering or computer science disciplines (32%). Interestingly, only 44% of the studies explicitly tied their curricula to an established ethics framework. The most frequently referenced frameworks in the literature were the UNESCO AI Ethics Guidelines, the EU HLEG Trustworthy AI, and ACM’s Code of Ethics, although each appeared in just a few studies. Evaluation methods varied, with mixed methods designs predominant; 20 of the 25 studies (80%) reported substantial improvements in ethical understanding, while 5 studies (20%) revealed gaps in depth, tooling, and institutional support. Our synthesis reveals a disciplinary enthusiasm for ethics in AI Education but a persistent shortage of coherent, philosophically grounded, and consistently applied ethics frameworks. We conclude that a shared, actionable ethics framework –grounded in philosophical traditions– is needed to guide curriculum design, assessment, and stakeholder engagement in AIED.

Authors

Mrs. Clelia Perez-Medina University of Florida [biography]

Clelia Perez‑Medina is a Ph.D. student in Educational Technology at the University of Florida and a Fulbright Scholar. She holds a Master’s degree in Marketing and Advertising, a specialization in Consumer Psychology, and a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. She has teaching experience at several accredited universities in Colombia and served (from 2022 to 2024) as the Director of Graduate Programs in Consumer Psychology. Her current research focuses on ethics in artificial intelligence in education, particularly AI ethics frameworks, AI trustworthiness, and their applications within educational settings.
Woorin Hwang http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7260-3431 University of Florida [biography]

Woorin Hwang is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Technology at the University of Florida. Her research is focused on integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in teaching and learning, with ongoing projects related to AI literacy, Internet of Things (IoT), and engineering education. Prior to joining the University of Florida, Ms. Hwang worked as a teacher and instructional designer in South Korea, where she led several projects in learning content design and the development of educational systems.
Loraine Cisternas-Garcia University of Florida
Andrea Ramirez-Salgado http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-0001-2672 University of Florida [biography]

Andrea Ramirez-Salgado is an Instructional Assistant Professor in Engineering Education at the University of Florida, where she teaches courses in artificial intelligence and data science. Her research examines how instructional practices shape students’ identities in engineering and computer science, and how these
identities affect their career goals and persistence. She is particularly committed to creating inclusive, engaging learning environments that support diverse learners.
Dr. Pavlo Antonenko [biography]

Pavlo "Pasha" Antonenko is an Associate Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Florida. His interests focus on the design of technology-enhanced learning environments and rigorous mixed-method research on the effective conditions for tec

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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