Strategic synergies

Learning designers at the centre of assessment transformation for artificial intelligence

Abstract

This Pecha Kucha will explore how a large metropolitan Australian university is strategically investing in the pedagogically expertise of learning designers (Lodge, 2023) to lead institutional wide assessment transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) capability development.

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in higher education (Perkins, 2024), institutions face mounting pressure to ensure the integrity and relevance of student learning outcomes. In response, learning designers are being placed across faculties to lead both systemic change and targeted support for educators, navigating a complex digital and cultural shift. Their nuanced understanding of discipline-specific needs enables them to co-design solutions that balance assessment security, AI literacy, and pedagogical integrity (Lodge, 2023).

Applying a hub-and-spoke model that connects nuanced disciplinary expertise with a centrally driven strategy, the team of learning designers are collaborating with academics to drive change at scale and lead educational innovation. These designers work closely with teaching staff to adapt assessment practices in ways that are contextually relevant and pedagogically sound. At the same time, they are bridging institutional silos by co-developing cross faculty resources, contributing to academic integrity frameworks, curating and disseminating exemplars of effective practice, and facilitating professional learning. Their work includes mapping assessment against program outcomes, redesigning tasks for authenticity and AI resilience, supporting the development of academic and student AI literacy, and enabling scalable approaches to feedback and moderation. This coordinated approach ensures that local innovation aligns with institutional priorities, enabling meaningful and sustainable assessment transformation.

This presentation will showcase one faculty’s approach which includes a scalable and sustainable series of workshops aimed at engaging hundreds of academic staff, delivered through multiple school-specific sessions, fostering collegial dialogue around AI, assessment design, and quality assurance, providing educators with the tools and confidence to adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape. In practice, participants are invited to critically evaluate the broader assessment architecture of their courses – asking whether tasks align with course and program learning outcomes, whether the chosen methods best capture intended learning and how principles like UDL and authenticity are embedded. These sessions also explore opportunities to meaningfully integrate AI, not as a threat but as a catalyst for pedagogical innovation. Drawing on the framing of AI as a “wicked problem” (Corbin, et al., 2025), educators are encouraged to shift from seeking perfect solutions to making continuous professional judgements in conditions of permanent uncertainty. This approach builds resilience – not just to AI, but to the future challenges yet to emerge – by treating assessment transformation as a strategic, adaptive and context-sensitive process (Dawson, et al., 2024).

This institutional initiative demonstrates how human expertise, through collaboration, trust, and pedagogical design—can effectively guide AI adoption at scale. It also illustrates the vital role learning designers play in balancing institutional priorities with discipline-specific aspirations.

Session attendees will gain insights into the power of strategic collaboration between central and faculty teams, and how learning designers are enabling ethical, innovative, and future-ready learning environments.