For years, educators have framed curriculum development as an expert-led process: academics map outcomes, choose materials and craft assessments, and students enter a ready-made structure. But this model feels increasingly out of step with a sector committed to fairness, inclusion and authentic engagement. So, what if students were not simply the recipients of curriculum design, but genuine partners in it? And what if generative artificial intelligence could make this process easier, more creative and more inclusive?
By weaving educators’ pedagogical expertise, students’ lived experiences and GenAI’s strategic capabilities, we can build learning environments that reflect Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and uphold equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We can also strengthen the active blended learning cycle, a strategic mix of online asynchronous and synchronous and face-to-face activities to develop key skills and prevent passive learning.
How co-creation promotes UDL and EDI principles
UDL encourages us to design for variability and provide multiple pathways into learning. Yet without students’ insights, we can only approximate what those pathways should look like. Asking them directly transforms the theoretical ambition of “designing for all” into lived practice.
Similarly, EDI initiatives often focus on removing structural barriers and creating fairer systems. Co-creation invites us to go further by sharing power, acknowledging students’ agency and ensuring the curriculum reflects the diversity within the classroom. When students help shape the architecture of the course, they recognise their experiences and identities within it, which strengthens their sense of belonging and engagement. In this way, co-creation champions active learning, because students actively participate before teaching even begins.
GenAI as a co-creation tool
It is tempting to view GenAI as merely a sophisticated content factory without acknowledging its capacity to support collaborative thinking. GenAI can rapidly produce ideas, possibilities and prototypes that spark discussion. It should act as a facilitator, not as a replacement for human decision-making.
To put this into practice when designing assessments, begin with a workshop where students examine the module’s learning outcomes. Then introduce GenAI, using a prompt such as: “Generate a range of assessment formats that could demonstrate understanding of concept X for a diverse group of learners.” The tool can offer a list that might include podcasts, community briefs, interactive simulations, policy analyses and creative portfolios. Rather than dictating the assessment, you can then invite students to evaluate, refine and choose from these options. The outcome is a shared assessment strategy that offers flexibility, aligns with UDL and feels genuinely relevant to students’ aspirations and contexts.
- Spotlight guide: The practicalities of co-creation with students
- Principles and practicalities of partnership working with students
- Co-creation that treats students as collaborators, not consultants
The same approach can shape learning pathways. At the start of a module, discuss the core topics, then use GenAI to generate ways to engage with each one. A prompt such as “Suggest multiple approaches to explore topic X, including readings, media, real-world tasks and interactive activities” generates a menu of choices. Students can select methods that resonate with them or propose alternatives. This enhances representation, one of UDL’s central pillars, and ensures students start their learning journeys with a sense of ownership.
How to integrate co-creation and GenAI into the active blended learning cycle
Before you begin your course, run co-design sessions where students and staff use GenAI to prototype assessments, activities and resources. This early investment builds a sense of shared purpose and provides academics with a clearer understanding of the cohort’s needs.
During online learning phases, students engage with materials they helped select. They use GenAI to generate draft explanations, case studies or discussion prompts that they then critique or build upon. This keeps the partnership active rather than letting it slip into a traditional top-down dynamic once teaching starts.
Face-to-face sessions become more dynamic because students influence the course’s active learning methods. The educator’s role shifts from delivery to facilitation, guiding discussions, supporting enquiry and helping students connect ideas.
Across the module, feedback becomes an iterative co-design tool. The mid-module evaluation transforms from a space for complaints to one that facilitates constructive discussions: “Here is a list of activities generated by AI. Which ones should we keep, improve or replace for the second half of the module?” This enables quick, responsive adjustments and ensures students feel heard and valued.
When we adopt this approach, a great session is no longer defined by the clarity of a lecture or the neatness of a slide deck, but by the quality of the collaboration between the educator and students. GenAI handles the labour-intensive task of generating options, and humans do the work that matters most: building relationships, making decisions rooted in professional judgement and fostering a genuine learning community.
This partnership does more than refine curriculum design. It models the creative, participatory and adaptive mindset that students will need long after they leave university.
Patrice Seuwou is an associate professor of learning and teaching and the director of the Centre for the Advancement of Racial Equality at the University of Northampton.
If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.
comment