Journal of Ethics in Higher Education

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Personalization in the Digital Transformation of Education

Santiago Tomás Bellomo — 2024-12-30

AI arrival promises to solve the needs of personalization in education. The following paragraphs aim to shed light on the concept of personalization by providing a philosophical conceptualization that enables an analysis of its scope and applications within the framework of the digital transformation of higher education. The paper explains the reasons why the goal of personalization is so deeply rooted in the digital transformation. It also describes the five meanings attributable to the concept and details their philosophical underpinnings. This helps clarify the distinction between the extrinsic and intrinsic orientations of personalization, which, in turn, allows to apply this distinction within the framework of the digital transformation of education.

Publish-or-Perish in Business Academia: Ethical Considerations

David S. Fowler — 2024-12-30

This commentary critiques the publish-or-perish culture in business academia, driven by accreditation requirements, which pressures faculty to prioritize quantity over quality in research. It examines the impact of these pressures on research credibility and the rise of predatory journals. Ethical concerns regarding the necessity and impact of the resulting research are discussed. The article calls for reevaluating research priorities and advocating for high-quality, impactful studies that address significant business and societal challenges. By fostering ethical research practices and combating predatory journals, business academia can enhance the credibility and relevance of its contributions.

The Footsteps on the Sands of AI for Higher Education: Moving Beyond Ad-Hoc

Julie Lindsay — 2024-12-30

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers an array of challenges and opportunities for higher education (HE). What once seemed like science fiction has become ubiquitous with AI now used to support the intellectual and creative work of faculty and students. The authors have been experimenting with AI, trialling and testing ways to meaningfully utilise the tools for teaching and learning. The University of Southern Queensland, a successful distance education regional university in Australia, has over 70% of its enrollment learning online. This paper shares a timely contextual perspective on AI support of Academic Efficiency, Learning Design, and Assessment. It discusses moving beyond an ad-hoc approach to a seamless integration of AI.

Human-centered Approach to the Governance of AI in Higher Education

Ratna Selvaratnam — 2024-12-30

A recent study in Australasia (Selvaratnam & Venaruzzo, 2023) revealed some challenges and gaps in the governance of AI and data in higher education, mainly from the human-centeredness perspectives of accessibility, inclusivity and wellbeing. This paper is a narrative review to discern principles of a human-centered approach to the governance of artificial intelligence (AI), benchmarking literature, policies and practice across diverse geopolitical contexts for higher education, synthesizing the review results to provide guiding principles that can support this.

Equifinality in Career Pathways

Joyce Exusper Nemes — 2024-12-30

There are diverse pathways to becoming an academic, yet personal histories of successful academics who have taken non-traditional routes often remain undocumented. This qualitative and autobiographical study is guided by the theories of equifinality and career construction (von Bertalanffy, 1968; Toya, 2020; Savickas, 2005), aiming at filling this gap by documenting a personal journey from classroom teaching to academia. The study findings reveal that career pathways are marked by significant milestones, challenges and strategic decision-making processes that shape the career trajectory.
The results underscore the validity of equifinality in academic career development and active role individuals play in constructing their career narratives. It is recommended that institutions and policymakers in higher learning institutions should recognize and value non-traditional career paths as valuable assets within individuals’ career development.

The Learner’s Role as an Acting Person and Emerging Technologies

Irene Ludji — 2024-12-30

The approach to empower learners as the subject in the use of AI is in line with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s AI and Education Guidance for Policy-Makers and is pursued in recognition of the three paradigmatic shifts in the use of AI in educational setting. To strengthen the role of learners as leaders in the use of AI, this article uses the idea of the acting person from Karol Wojtyla. The concept of the acting person focuses on moral responsibility founded in human consciousness and conducted through human actions. The moral act of an acting person leads to responsible use that requires the commitment to the common good. In the first part, I will describe the history and development of AI technologies. In the second part, I will discuss the idea of the acting person and the AI as an acting machine. In the last part, I will present an analysis of the importance of grounding educational policy on the use of AI in learners’ ethical role as the acting person.

Harnessing AI for Enhancing Student Support Services

Rajni Chand — 2024-12-30

In the unique educational landscape of small island countries in the Pacific, the University of the South Pacific (USP) has embarked on an innovative approach to augmenting student support services by integrating Generative AI technology. This initiative specifically caters to its diverse and dispersed student body across 12 countries and five time zones, addressing a critical need for accessible and empathetic support systems in higher education. To do so, the Semester Zero, an online preparatory course using GPT 3.5-Turbo, was created. Designed for all incoming students, it showcased the potential of AI to enhance student support services in institutions with far less challenging environments than USP.

Africa Dreams of Artificial Intelligence

Helen Titilola Olojede — 2024-12-30

Artificial intelligence (AI) has recently emerged as a transformative force in teaching and learning practices, with profound implications for open and distance learning (ODL), which relies heavily on technology. Despite its global impact, the extent of African societies’ engagement with AI remains trivial. This paper critically reflects on the ethical, legal, social, pedagogical and technological implications of AI in ODL in sub-Saharan Africa, drawing insights from the Nigerian experience. Adopting the scoping review methodology, the paper explores and synthesises existing literature to foreground a critical analysis of the implications of AI in the African context.

Peace Spirituality Through Interreligious Engagement

Imanuel Geovasky — 2024-12-30

Historically, Yogyakarta had enjoyed the reputation of being a bastion of interreligious tolerance in Indonesia. Still, a growing spate of events that were manifestations of religious intolerance calls for a rethinking of that narrative. This paper examines public space civility, peace spirituality, and interreligious engagement in Yogyakarta. Through a quantitative survey approach, it is found that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between positive public space civility and peace spirituality. Apart from the positive correlations of public behaviour and peace spirituality, there is also a theory-practice gap, in that most measures seemed to make the Muslim and Christian participants alike appear very insecure. The current study extends earlier research and underlines how grassroots interreligious engagement can stand in front in peace-making, enhancing spirituality, and religious tolerance.

Primary School Curricula Towards Sustainable Peace Education in Post-genocide Rwanda

Edouard Ntakirutimana — 2025-01-07

Rwanda is a country that experienced the tragic genocide against Tutsi in 1994. In the aftermath of this, a number of initiatives were taken in the country for sustainable peace through reconstruction and reconciliation. In the education sector, peace and values education is part of the school curricula. The study at hand explores, through document analysis, the perspectives of peace education in primary school curricula of Rwanda. This study aims at explicit and implicit perspectives in which primary school curricula reflect peace education.
Though the identified perspectives seem to be promising as far as sustainable peace education is concerned, further empirical studies are recommended to explore how the stated topics, values and teaching methods are put into practice in teaching and learning process.

Beyond Crisis: Discernment in Decision-making for Sustainable Church Health

Hardiyan Triasmoroadi — 2025-01-07

This study explores the integration of discernment into the decision-making framework. Focusing on the financial crisis within the East Java Christian Church, which led to opposition, distrust, and the collapse of peace within the Church, it identifies a disconnection between decision-making and spiritual awareness. By examining social discernment, Ignatian discernment, and contemplative artistic practice, the researcher proposes practical steps for implementation. Ultimately, this essay advocates for a comprehensive approach to discernment that not only addresses immediate crisis but also lays the groundwork for sustainable institutional health, trust, and peace within church communities.

Restorative Justice and Post-Genocide Reconciliation: Ethical Implications and Community Healing in Rwanda

Jonas Musengimana — 2025-01-08

This paper explores the role of restorative justice in post-genocide reconciliation in Rwanda, focusing on its ethical implications and impact on community healing. Following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda faced the challenge of addressing survivors' trauma, fostering national unity, and reconciling a divided society. Key initiatives, including the Gacaca court system, emphasized dialogue, accountability, and forgiveness to promote healing. Using restorative justice and social reconstruction theories as its conceptual frameworks, this study examines how restorative justice fosters trust, dignity, and relationship restoration, while addressing ethical challenges. Also, through a desk review of existing literature, reports, and case studies, this study synthesizes key findings on the effectiveness of restorative justice.