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Learner Bots: The Role of Technology on STEM Students’ Ethical Perspectives

A Thesis Presented to the

Senior High School Department

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject

Practical Research 1

Christian Jay Danganan

Patrick Laurence Garcia
Lc Lee Gayle C. Guanlao
Ashley Herrera
Therese Martin
Alex James Mendoza
Matt Renzo Miguel

February 2025
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page …………………………………………… 1

Introduction …………………………………………… 2

Method …………………………………………… 6

References …………………………………………… 18

Appendices …………………………………………… 20
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Learner Bots: The Role of Technology on STEM Students’ Ethical Perspectives

Introduction (Minimum of 10 rrl/rrs at most is 10 year before)

In today's era, technology is everywhere, shaping people on how to think, make

decisions, learn and interact with the world. Social media, artificial intelligence and other
digital tools are door for us to new ideas, culture, and ethical dilemmas. Therefore, how
does this technology impacts our understanding of right and wrong? Does it guide them
to a clear pathway towards becoming more ethical, or does it fade the path between right
and wrong?
This research aims to explore and understand the role of technology on students'
ethical perspectives. With the internet assistance , students can easily access information
about ethics. Consequently, there are also a disadvantage in using technology. For
instance, cyberbully, cheating, hacking, misinformation and threats to privacy are some
negative effects of technology being mishandled .
It is very crucial for parents, educators and society to understand how technology
shapes the students' ethical perspectives. By addressing this issue, we can find and list
way to ensure that technology promotes positive morals rather than undermining them.
Furthermore, ethics, often known as moral philosophy, is the study of the moral
precepts that influence human conduct. It entails organizing, justifying, and endorsing
notions of appropriate and inappropriate conduct. Since Al has created significant ethical
and sociopolitical issues that require careful philosophical and ethical analysis, it is
imperative that ethical considerations be included in Al. People uses technology
frequently, particularly artificial intelligence (Coeckelbergh, 2020). Therefore, it is the
morality of a person and this research understands how technology can affect ethical
perspective of students.
It has been demonstrated that ethics are valuable during periods of growing
complexity and can direct the creation and application of new technologies in higher
education (de Vries, P., 2022). The effectiveness and morality of assessment processes
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are greatly influenced by students' understanding of ethical concepts and how they are
used in the context of AI technology (Lazăr, A. M., Repanovici, A, [Link]., 2024). People
that uses technology to simplify their lives are probably utilizing artificial intelligence
(AI), which allows computers to carry out jobs that have historically required human
intelligence (Congressional Research Service, 2018). With the emergence of Internet
technology, Internet ethics has become an important issue for academics and practitioners
(Wang, Y. Y et. al. (2022).
On the other hand, many technologies utilized in the field of education is
artificial intelligence (AI). Numerous forms of artificial intelligence (Al) technologies are
employed in education (Nemorin et al., 2022). Although technology can be beneficial, it
can also impact one's ethical perspective. In general, Al's ethical problems and issues
include innovation cost, consent issues, abuse of personal data, illegal and malicious use,
freedom, and autonomy and loss of decision making (Stahl B. C., 2021).
Additionally, the originality of technology is founded on the establishment of
exceptional conditions in which students are given the opportunity to construct
knowledge for themselves, which stimulates their interest in the field and sparks
creativity (Song, T., Ustin, P. N., Popov, L. M. [Link], 2017). Preventing and minimizing
ethical difficulties associated to the right use of digital resources necessitates the creation
of programs that educate students and professors in higher education (Mâță, L., Poenaru,
A. G., & Boghian, I. ,2022. The most typical ethical challenges that digital natives will
confront are software piracy, plagiarism, and cheating when using ICTs (Cilliers, L.,
2017).
Robert A Ellis, Ana-Marie Bliuc (2019) Concluded that educational
institutions increasingly adopt online learning technologies, the level of
student engagement with these tools significantly affects their learning
quality. In numerous cases, research efforts aimed at examining the
influence of online learning technologies on quality outcomes have not
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explicitly clarified their roles and contributions. This article employs a

Student

Approaches to Learning framework to explore the role of online

learning technologies in relation to inquiry by evaluating the
connections between students' interactions with these
technologies, their perceptions of the learning environment, and their
academic performance. The findings demonstrate clear and consistent
patterns of relationships among different elements of the learning
experience, underscoring the impact of online learning technologies on
students' perceptions of their educational experiences.
Ewelina Lacka, TC Wong, Mohamed Yacine Haddoud (2021) a
study that Digital tools like Virtual Learning Environments and social
media have become increasingly common in Higher Education , yet
there remains a gap in understanding how these tools help students
achieve their Higher Education objectives. Although online learning can
assist students in attaining their higher education aspirations by
offering additional inputs, those who use social media exhibit the least
effectiveness. This underscores the necessity for more initiatives
aimed at fostering a more deliberate approach to the integration of
virtual learning and social media in higher education.
Moreover, in a study of Laura Rueda, Jose Benitez, Jessica (2017),
conventional educational technologies allow instructors to engage
students, enhancing their learning outcomes, which subsequently
results in increased student satisfaction, and that social media
platforms can strengthen these connections. The empirical analysis,
utilizing partial least squares path modeling on survey and secondary
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data from 94 Spanish students enrolled in a management course,

validates our hypothesis.
According to Rahat Raja, PC Nagasubramani (2018) the
influence of technology in education is multifaceted: it is integrated
into the curriculum, utilized as a teaching tool, offers support to
educators, and acts as a resource to enrich the educational experience
as a whole. Education plays a crucial role in both corporate
environments and academic institutions. In the corporate sphere,
training or education aids employees in adjusting to new methods of
executing their tasks. In academic settings, the focus is on cultivating
curiosity in students. In both cases, incorporating technology can
enhance students' comprehension and retention of concepts.

Technology can significantly enhance teaching and learning by

facilitating better formative assessments of students' skills and
knowledge throughout the instructional process. Offering timely
feedback during formative assessments, which aims to boost student
performance, is essential for effective learning and teaching. This just
shows how important technology is to us. As stated by Ismail Elmahdi,
Abdulghani Al-Hattami, Hala Fawzi (2018).
From the study of Dang. [Link]. (2023), the ethical implications of
AI in education, analyzing current policies and guidelines. It proposes
principles to guide stakeholders in
developing and deploying ethical AIED, aiming to catalyze future
impact studies. This study has significance to the current study since it
looks into how AI effects students' ethical decision-making and
academic integrity.
Ethical Observatory for AI in Education addresses ethical
concerns in AI integration, promoting informed dialogue among
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educators, policymakers, and technologists to enhance educational

equity and exclusivity (Amin. [Link]. 2023). This contributes to the
current study's purpose of studying how technology influences
students' sense of good and wrong.
In line with this, AI ethics, provides practical case studies and
resources for AI educators to integrate AI ethics into general courses
and teach a stand-alone ethics course. The integration of ethics into
educational curricula encourages responsible digital citizenship, which
has a strong connection to students' ethical perspectives in academic
settings (Burton. [Link]. 2023).
Bhattacharya. et. al. (2022), conducted a qualitative thematic
analysis to examine the advantages and challenges of online learning
from the perspectives of learners and educators in higher education
institutions. The study's findings are crucial for comprehending how
students deal with ethical dilemmas in online learning, especially those
pertaining to academic integrity and responsible technology use.

Lastly, high school students face ethical dilemmas in technology-

rich environments, including academic integrity and online behavior,
due to lack of supervision. This is similar with the current study’s
exploration of how technology shapes students' ethical behavior in
school, emphasizing the necessity of ethical awareness and
accountability in digital interactions (Thomas. [Link]. 2021 & Zhao et al
2020).
The study will be conducted in Mary the Queen College campus
of San Matias, Guagua, Pampanga. The researchers chose MQC it is
observable that a lot of students uses technology in their academic
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performances. Each student has used technology before, and it might

have affected their ethical perspective. In turn we decided to cover this
information for our study.
Moreover, for the convenience of the researchers we decided
upon conducting the research location on Mary the queen college
(Pampanga) incorporate (MQCPI), to further investigate The Role of
Technology in Students Ethical perspective.
Even though digital ethics is a field of increasing interest, little is
known about how technology affects students’ concepts and
perception of ethics. Most of the prior work focused on general digital
actions and some ethical dilemmas, only few examined the detailed
role of educational technology on the students' moral reasoning and
decision- making processes. It aims to understand and explore the role
of technology on students’ ethical perspective. This study will serve as
an eye opener to everyone to use technology as a guide not a crutch.
In summary, technology plays a big role everywhere nowadays.
It affects not only the development of society but also students on how
to make ethical choices. While it offers access to new ideas and
cultures, it also has disadvantages. This study examines whether
technology helps students develop a strong sense of right and wrong
or makes ethical boundaries less clear. Additionally, it aims to explore
both the benefits and drawbacks of digital tools, including AI, in
shaping moral reasoning and decision-making.

By understanding these impacts, the research seeks to encourage

responsible technology use and greater ethical awareness among
students.
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Statement of the Problem

This study aims to explore how technology influences students'

understanding of right and wrong in school.

Specifically, it seeks answers to the following questions:

[Link] does technology affect students' ethical perspective in
academics?
[Link] do students navigate the ethical challenges of balancing
technology with academic integrity?
[Link] is the effect of technology in students’ ethical behavior in
school
[Link] are the benefits that can get on using technology among
students?

Theoretical Framework (for Qualitative only)

This study is anchored from the “Coherence Theory of Empirical

Justification”. This theory is proposed by Laurence Bonjour (1985). At
its core, BonJour’s Coherence Theory suggests that our beliefs are not
justified by standalone, self-evident truths but by how well they fit
together as a whole. Imagine your beliefs as puzzle pieces—each piece
makes sense only when it connects smoothly with the others.
According to BonJour (1985), a belief is justified when it harmoniously
aligns with the rest of your belief system, meaning that every new
piece of information is evaluated based on whether it supports or
disrupts this overall picture.
This theory is especially relevant when we consider how students
form their ethical views about technology. Students deal with digital
obstacles including determining whether it is appropriate to use AI for
assignments, crossing the narrow line between
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sharing and oversharing on social media, or dealing with concerns

about digital privacy. These ethical decisions are not made in isolation
they’re part of a larger network of personal values, educational
influences, and social norms. When a student encounters an AI tool
that can write essays, they don’t simply decide if it’s good or bad
based solely on the tool itself. Instead, they compare this option
against their existing beliefs about honesty, academic integrity, and
fairness. If the student's use of the tool goes against
these established ideals, they may change their position and beliefs to
find a better balance. This approach resembles BonJour's concept of
coherence.
In essence, as students interact with technology, their ethical
perspectives are continually evolving. Their moral reasoning adapts
through constant feedback from their experiences, in a school setting.
This ongoing process of adjusting and integrating new information
helps maintain a coherent and justifiable ethical outlook, illustrating
how technology plays a significant role in shaping students’ ethical
perspectives.

Significance of the Study

The significance of this study may be viewed under the following

perspectives:
Students. This study can benefit students by making them
understand the role of technologies in students ethical perspective.
Teachers. Teachers are the guides of students in school, the
product of this research can be a guide for a better learning
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environment, maintaining the use of technology without having any

harmful effect for the students.
School Heads and Administration. The findings of this study
can be used to make programs about understanding technology in
ethical perspective for a healthier campus.
Future Researchers. This study will benefit the future
researchers by making these a reference to expand their ideas or
research

Scope and Delimitation

This study explores the role of technology in shaping the ethical

perspective of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) students. The research paper focused only on how
various technological advancement and digital tools influence the
decision-making and ethical awareness of students in academic. This
study examines areas such as academic integrity and the ethical
implications of emerging technologies.
This research is limited to STEM students and does not
include students from other strand. Additionally, findings are specific to
the selected institution and do not aim to build a universal ethical
framework.

Definition of Terms

Artificial intelligence (AI). A technology that allows computers to perform tasks that
usually require human intelligence. It's a broad term that includes a variety of algorithms
and technologies (Hunt, E. B. 2014).
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[Link] make a chemical reaction happen or happen more quickly by acting as a

catalyst. This term is used to symbolized the future impact of studies (Holmgren, S. D.
[Link]).

Ethics. Are set of moral principles that guide people's behavior and decision-making.
Ethics are also known as moral philosophy. The term "ethics" comes from the Greek
word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character, or disposition. This study involves
ethics of students in the role technology (Dewey, J., & Tufts, J. H. 2022).

Malicious. Having or showing a desire to cause harm to someone (Dornhackl, H. [Link]).

Perspective. A way of thinking about and understanding something (such as a particular

issue or life in general)(Garrison W Cottrell, et. al). As used in this study it pertains to the
kind perception one has on technology.

Sociopolitical. Used to describe the differences between groups of people relating to

their political beliefs, social class, etc (Greenblatt, M. )(1977). This term is used in our
study to say that students have a role in the involvement of technology.

Technology. It refers to the application of scientific knowledge for

practical purposes, especially in industry, medicines, and systems to
solve problems, improve efficiency, and enhance human life.
Technology comes to a Greek word "Technologia" means systematic
treatment, and it become "Technology" (Salomon, J. J. 1984).

Acronym
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For the better understanding of the future readers of this study,

the following acronym are spelled out:
STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
MQCPI - Mary the Queen College (Pampanga), Incorporated
AI - Artificial Intelligence
ICT - Information and Communication Technology