AI - The Emerging Episteme in Higher Education: New Epistemologies, Pedagogies, and Research Methodologies
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: educational development and innovation; engineering education; quality assurance and enhancement in engineering programmes; radiation detection and instrumentation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: Knowledge making; feminist research methodology; gender mainstreaming (higher education / private sector organizations); gender research evaluation; women and gender in development / disaster management / sustainable development; Sri Lankan poetry / women’s poetry; feminist critical theory; sexual and gender based violence.
Interests: technology for teaching in higher education; technology enabled flexible pedagogy; blended learning; online learning; technology-enhanced learning and flexible pedagogy; technology adaptation in teaching and learning in the face of the coronavirus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The meteoric advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies indicates a radical epistemic shift in the higher educational landscape that is, as of now, unclear and uncertain. At the same time, it presents unprecedented opportunities and challenges for educators, researchers, and learners. As a vast array of AI tools become increasingly integrated into learning environments, there is a growing need to rethink traditional ontologies, epistemologies, and pedagogical approaches in academia.
This Special Issue invites original research, theoretical contributions, and practical case studies that explore how AI is transforming teaching and learning practices, as well as posthuman interactions, in academia. We seek to highlight articles that are grounded in empirical evidence that can advance our understanding of effective pedagogies, personalized learning, research validity, academic ethics, and authentic assessment in the age of AI.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Pedagogies: The implications of AI-driven teaching and learning strategies that reshape instructional design, student engagement, and motivation in higher education.
- Assessments and Validation: Rethinking pedagogical decisions and assessment practices using AI-supported, data-driven, and formative approaches.
- Knowledge Production: Understanding how AI redefines knowledge production, validation, and transmission in academic settings (including epistemic bias and AI epistemologies).
- Ethics and Politics: Engaging with AI-related ethical and political dilemmas (including algorithmic governance, the political implications of AI in shaping educational norms, and AI authority) and student surveillance.
- Posthuman Justice: Addressing aspirations of access, equity, participation, diversity, and human rights (including gender justice) in AI-enhanced higher education, with a critical lens on empowering marginalized groups.
- Diversity in AI Engagement: Learning from comparative studies and cross-cultural insights into how AI is adopted, resisted, or adapted across different higher education systems.
- Sustainability Education: Positioning AI as a transformative force in sustainability education, global citizenship, and in preparing learners for complex futures.
We welcome interdisciplinary submissions that bridge education, epistemology, technology, cognitive science, and learning analytics. Contributions that offer critical reflections, propose new models and resolutions, or present empirical findings are particularly encouraged.
Prof. Kelum Gamage
Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe
Prof. Neil Gordon
Prof. Dr. Kelum Gamage
Prof. Dr. Maithree Wickramasinghe
Dr. Neil Gordon
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- • AI in education
- • Adaptive learning systems • Intelligent tutoring tools
- • AI-powered assessments
- • Equity and justice in AI education
- • AI and academic integrity
- • AI for inclusive learning
- • Ethics and AI pedagogy
- • Teacher roles with AI
- • AI and sustainability
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