Summary

In 2014 a gathering of representatives mostly from elite U.S. universities released this document describing principles for education research. The authors view education research as a scientific process that "can improve higher education and should proceed through open, participatory, and transparent processes of data collection and analysis that provide empirical evidence for knowledge claims."
The principles were "informed" by the 1973 Code of Fair Information Practices, and by the Belmont Report of 1979, and were also based on "the promise of education to improve the human condition", as expressed by two tenets of educational research: to "advance the science of learning for the improvement of higher education", and to share "data, discovery, and technology among a community of researchers and educational organizations" (Stevens & Silbey, 2014).
The document also appears to what are represented as widely shared ethical norms. "Virtually all modern societies have strong traditions for protecting individuals in their interactions with large organizations, especially for purposes of scientific research, yet digital media present problems for the inheritors of those traditions. Norms of individual consent, privacy, and autonomy, for example, must be more vigilantly protected as the environments in which their holders reside are transformed by technology" (Ibid).
The document's six principles begin with "respect for the rights and dignity of learners," then assert the need for beneficence and justice. Consistent with the requirements of scientific research, the document includes a principle of openness representing learning and scientific inquiry as "public goods essential for well-functioning democracies." The principles also underline the "humanity of learning" as well as "continuous consideration" (Ibid).

Content

Force:yes