Higher Education in the Age of AI: Instructional Innovation, Societal Equity, and Infrastructure Reliance
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Higher Education".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 4562
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming higher education by reshaping teaching, learning, and institutional practices. As universities adopt adaptive systems, intelligent tutoring solutions, and generative tools, new opportunities arise for pedagogical innovation. But risks of social stratification, algorithmic bias, and over-reliance on proprietary technologies also arise. Ensuring that AI promotes access, inclusion, and academic integrity, rather than reproducing existing inequalities or propagating misinformation, requires a comprehensive understanding of the interactions among AI, education, and organizational structures.
In this context, we are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for our Special Issue “Higher Education in the Age of AI: Instructional Innovation, Societal Equity, and Infrastructure Reliance”. We invite authors to critically examine how AI is transforming higher education and its societal impacts; to identify ethical and legal considerations in AI‐mediated pedagogical contexts; to explore both opportunities and pitfalls of AI‐enhanced teaching and learning; and to propose pedagogical strategies for addressing bias, hallucinations, and other technical challenges.
In doing so, we aim to bring together a wide range of perspectives and approaches to better understand the impact of artificial intelligence in Higher Education. Authors are encouraged to address some of the following topics in the context of Higher Education:
- AI‐supported pedagogical redesign in higher education;
- Approaches to algorithmic bias, fairness, and transparency in education;
- Societal change, social justice, and the digital divide;
- Dependence on proprietary systems and infrastructure risks;
- Ethical, political, and governance models for the responsible use of AI in Higher Education.
Prof. Dr. Isabel Steinhardt
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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 higher education
- pedagogical innovation
- societal responsibility
- technological dependency
- algorithmic bias
- AI hallucinations
- ethical governance
- digital divide
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