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While constructivism enjoys considerable popularity in higher education, both in Australia and internationally, it nonetheless takes a variety of forms. These different interpretations make it difficult to draw strong conclusions about constructivism as a whole. In this essay, we therefore take a psycho-philosophical approach: reviewing and assessing three major versions of constructivism (radical, psychological and social), from both pedagogic and epistemic standpoints. We find no damaging psychological evidence against moderate pedagogic interpretations of constructivism that encourage a focus on how students learn, noting only that these must still be grounded empirically. We find several convincing philosophical arguments against particular epistemic interpretations, however, and against strong pedagogical interpretations that eschew all teacher direction. We conclude by encouraging Australian higher educators to discard the problematic epistemic and psychological versions of constructivism. To expose students to genuine disciplinary inquiry within the academy, we must retain only those versions of constructivism that are philosophically and pedagogically defensible.

Many educational researchers have experienced challenges in obtaining ethics approval. This article explores some of the reasons why this is the case, looking specifically at the participatory action research methodology. The authors' experience of seeking ethics approval for a project intended to introduce peer review as an enhancement process is described. Initially, ethics clearance was denied. Details are provided of the iterative process that ultimately resulted in ethics approval, with particular reference to the differing views regarding the concepts of "coercion" and "confidentiality".

In this article it is argued that communities of enquiry can and should be developed in courses delivered online. These communities make the most of the available technological resources and overcome some otherwise daunting challenges faced in online course delivery. Indeed, asynchronous tools like discussion boards offer a range of benefits for the creation of such communities that are unobtainable in the traditional classroom. Further, the authors also point to some simple measures that have been found to be successful in helping to create net-based communities. Finally, they draw on recent empirical evidence to demonstrate that online communication tools can, if appropriately employed, offer unique benefits for the creation of learning communities. (Contains 13 notes.)

This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review which sets out to explore the use of social network analysis (SNA) for investigating learning communities specifically, communities of practice (CoP) and community of inquiry (CoI) in higher education online learning (HEOL). The impetus for such a review originated from the reliance on extensive and time-consuming qualitative analysis typically required in research involving the CoP and CoI frameworks. The review consolidates and synthesizes existing research in HEOL in search of a methodological framework for structurally evaluating a CoP and/or CoI using SNA. We identified a handful of studies that integrate SNA measures and key structural components of the CoP and CoI frameworks and examined: SNA measures and corresponding theoretical components used; other analytical techniques used; limitations and; suggestions for further research. The selected studies reported disparate findings in terms of the relationship between SNA measures and the CoP and/or CoI components. The review also highlighted the need to complement SNA with a qualitative analytical technique. Therefore, whether SNA has the potential to be used as a stand-alone technique for structurally identifying communities remains to be seen. We also find a lack of consideration to attributional and performance variables in existing studies. In conclusion, we propose further research and the development of a fully integrated methodological framework which uses SNA to structurally evaluate a CoP and CoI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common goods are notoriously vulnerable to destructive overuse. Indeed, certain online activities, such as spam, can jeopardize the very existence of the Internet. We defend an account of the net as a common good that provides the grounds for assessing various strategies for spam reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]