There has been a recent increase in attention to ethics and ethical conduct in adult education as well as other professions.
Ethics has both a philosophical and a practical side.
As philosophical inquiry, ethics can be thought of as an analysis of moral concepts such as good or bad, right or wrong, or as an inquiry into the nature of moral actions. In practical terms, ethics can also refer to a set of principles or beliefs that guide our human interaction and conduct. This also differentiates this educational activity from the activity of evaluating students' learning which is often called student assessment. Ethics should be a concern in academic program review for a number of good reasons. Program review is a human activity, an educational activity, and a research activity.