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This article examines underdetermination as a key theoretical assumption in an emerging body of educational research. Underdetermination is described as a broad philosophical position that assumes that social, scientific and technological phenomena cannot be reduced to linear relationships between antecedents and consequences, for instance through the canonical progression from scientific hypotheses to experimentation and then empirical truths. Rather, phenomena are underdetermined by constellations of social and material influences that make the choice of univocal explanations problematic. The principle of underdetermination is implicit in a recent strand of educational research that critiques orthodox interpretations of scientific practices, innovation processes and policy dynamics, recasting them as social, material and political "assemblages". In the article, I analyse the philosophical and epistemological tenets of underdetermination, in order to clarify its nature as a "first principle" in this emerging body of research. By doing so, the article brings into view a broader theoretical debate that has great bearing on future research efforts. The article critically considers the continued theoretical relevance of underdetermination, whilst acknowledging critical arguments mounted against it, namely ontological relativism and political weakness. Some supplementing theoretical ideas are explored in the conclusion. ; Este artículo examina la indeterminación como una premisa teórica clave dentro de un cuerpo emergente de la investigación educativa. La indeterminación se describe como una postura filosófica amplia en la que se asume que los fenómenos sociales, científicos y tecnológicos no se pueden reducir a relaciones lineales entre antecedentes y consecuencias, por ejemplo, mediante la progresión canónica desde las hipótesis científicas a la experimentación y más tarde hasta las verdades empíricas. Por el contrario, los fenómenos están indeterminados por constelaciones de influencias sociales y materiales debido a las cuales resulta problemática la elección de explicaciones unívocas. El principio de la indeterminación se encuentra implícito en una corriente reciente de la investigación educativa que critica las interpretaciones ortodoxas de las prácticas científicas, los procesos de innovación y las dinámicas relativas a las políticas, remodelándolas como "ensamblajes" sociales, materiales y políticos. En el artículo, analizo los postulados filosóficos y epistemológicos de la indeterminación con el propósito de aclarar su naturaleza como un "primer principio" en este cuerpo de investigación emergente. Al hacerlo, el presente artículo pone el foco en un debate teórico más amplio que tiene un gran peso de cara a los esfuerzos de investigación en el futuro. El artículo aborda de manera crítica la relevancia teórica continuada de la indeterminación, al tiempo que reconoce argumentos críticos que se aducen contra ella, concretamente el relativismo ontológico y la debilidad política. En la conclusión se exploran algunas ideas teóricas adicionales.

This article examines underdetermination as a key theoretical assumption in an emerging body of educational research. Underdetermination is described as a broad philosophical position that assumes that social, scientific and technological phenomena cannot be reduced to linear relationships between antecedents and consequences, for instance through the canonical progression from scientific hypotheses to experimentation and then empirical truths. Rather, phenomena are underdetermined by constellations of social and material influences that make the choice of univocal explanations problematic. The principle of underdetermination is implicit in a recent strand of educational research that critiques orthodox interpretations of scientific practices, innovation processes and policy dynamics, recasting them as social, material and political "assemblages". In the article, I analyse the philosophical and epistemological tenets of underdetermination, in order to clarify its nature as a "first principle" in this emerging body of research. By doing so, the article brings into view a broader theoretical debate that has great bearing on future research efforts. The article critically considers the continued theoretical relevance of underdetermination, whilst acknowledging critical arguments mounted against it, namely ontological relativism and political weakness. Some supplementing theoretical ideas are explored in the conclusion.

This article examines underdetermination as a key theoretical assumption in an emerging body of educational research. Underdetermination is described as a broad philosophical position that assumes that social, scientific and technological phenomena cannot be reduced to linear relationships between antecedents and consequences, for instance through the canonical progression from scientific hypotheses to experimentation and then empirical truths. Rather, phenomena are underdetermined by constellations of social and material influences that make the choice of univocal explanations problematic. The principle of underdetermination is implicit in a recent strand of educational research that critiques orthodox interpretations of scientific practices, innovation processes and policy dynamics, recasting them as social, material and political "assemblages". In the article, I analyse the philosophical and epistemological tenets of underdetermination, in order to clarify its nature as a "first principle" in this emerging body of research. By doing so, the article brings into view a broader theoretical debate that has great bearing on future research efforts. The article critically considers the continued theoretical relevance of underdetermination, whilst acknowledging critical arguments mounted against it, namely ontological relativism and political weakness. Some supplementing theoretical ideas are explored in the conclusion. ; Este artículo examina la indeterminación como una premisa teórica clave dentro de un cuerpo emergente de la investigación educativa. La indeterminación se describe como una postura filosófica amplia en la que se asume que los fenómenos sociales, científicos y tecnológicos no se pueden reducir a relaciones lineales entre antecedentes y consecuencias, por ejemplo, mediante la progresión canónica desde las hipótesis científicas a la experimentación y más tarde hasta las verdades empíricas. Por el contrario, los fenómenos están indeterminados por constelaciones de influencias sociales y materiales debido a las cuales resulta problemática la elección de explicaciones unívocas. El principio de la indeterminación se encuentra implícito en una corriente reciente de la investigación educativa que critica las interpretaciones ortodoxas de las prácticas científicas, los procesos de innovación y las dinámicas relativas a las políticas, remodelándolas como "ensamblajes" sociales, materiales y políticos. En el artículo, analizo los postulados filosóficos y epistemológicos de la indeterminación con el propósito de aclarar su naturaleza como un "primer principio" en este cuerpo de investigación emergente. Al hacerlo, el presente artículo pone el foco en un debate teórico más amplio que tiene un gran peso de cara a los esfuerzos de investigación en el futuro. El artículo aborda de manera crítica la relevancia teórica continuada de la indeterminación, al tiempo que reconoce argumentos críticos que se aducen contra ella, concretamente el relativismo ontológico y la debilidad política. En la conclusión se exploran algunas ideas teóricas adicionales.

Focusing on the UK context, and drawing on freely available information about online learning and the underlying commercial agreements between institutions, Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms and Online Program Management (OPM) companies, this article shows how digitization and universities' global expansion strategies are involved in forms of transnational marketization. In particular, the article shows that the online learning marketplace in the UK shows signs of segmentation, with 'premium' offerings in the high-to-middle tier targeting socially advantaged students-as-consumers, and a bottom region of low-ranking institutions drifting towards low-grade 'unbundled' provision that targets middle-to-low income groups. The article argues that the current global landscape of online education is a shifting, unequal market place, and that more research is needed on how different groups from a range of socio-economic backgrounds successfully or unsuccessfully navigate an increasingly fragmented and 'unbundled' educational terrain.

Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) language models has grown considerably following the release of 'generative pre-trained transformer' (GPT). Framing AI as an extractive technology, this article details how GPT harnesses human labour and sensemaking at two stages: (1) during training when the algorithm 'learns' biased communicative patterns extracted from the Internet and (2) during usage when humans write alongside the AI. This second phase is framed critically as a form of unequal 'affective labour' where the AI imposes narrow and biased conditions for the interaction to unfold, and then exploits the resulting affective turbulence to sustain its simulation of autonomous performance. Empirically, this article draws on an in-depth case study where a human engaged with an AI writing tool, while the researchers recorded the interactions and collected qualitative data about perceptions, frictions and emotions.