Exploring AI-Educator Co-Creation in Curriculum Design: Effects on Time Efficiency and Learning Outcomes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70232/jrep.v3i3.193Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence in Education, Curriculum Co-Creation, Teacher Professional Identity, Instructional Design, Educational Technology IntegrationAbstract
Rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the learning setting has dramatically altered the methods of curriculum design and the process of instructional planning. As technological efficiency and analytics of learners are often mentioned in modern studies, the actual experiences of the educators who take part in the process of co-creating the curriculum based on AI are rather under-researched. This qualitative phenomenological research examines the experiences of educators regarding the perception of AI as a co-developer of the curriculum, focusing specifically on the perceived time efficiency, the quality of instructions, and professional identity. The collection of data was performed with the help of semi-structured interviews with the participation of twelve educators and instructional designers who represented various institutional settings, including secondary schools, colleges, and universities. Thematic analysis showed that participants thought mostly that AI is an augmentative tool that facilitates the early phases of curriculum planning by lightening cognitive workload and speeding up structural drafting. The respondents also cited that the AI-generated recommendations helped to enhance the pedagogical fit and diversification of the instructional approaches; however, the quality of the meaningful curriculum remained left to contextual adaptation and professional judgment. Also, the interaction with AI systems was observed to promote more creative confidence and reflective pedagogical experimentation, and, at the same time, raise ethical transparency and over-reliance issues on automated outputs. The results highlight the fact that the successful implementation of AI in curriculum design is defined by a mutually beneficial co-creative relationship that does not undermine the agency of educators but uses the technological affordances. This work provides a contribution to the developing rhetoric in the adoption of responsible AI in the educational field with a focus on the relationships between human professionalism and intelligent systems.
References
Afzal, A., Rafiq, S., & Sami, A. (2026). Faculty readiness and ethical perceptions of artificial intelligence integration in higher education teaching and assessment. Higher Learning Research Communications, 16(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v16i1.1742
Ahmed, S. K., Mohammed, R. A., Nashwan, A. J., Ibrahim, R. H., Abdalla, A. Q., M. Ameen, B. M., & Khdhir, R. M. (2025). Using thematic analysis in qualitative research. Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health, 6, Article 100198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glmedi.2025.100198
AlAli, R., & Wardat, Y. (2024). Opportunities and challenges of integrating generative artificial intelligence in education. International Journal of Religion, 5(7), 784-793. https://doi.org/10.61707/8y29gv34
Ali, A. M. (2025). Evaluating artificial intelligence readiness within faculty in the higher education sector. Higher Education Quarterly, 79(4), Article e70061. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.70061
Ally, M., & Mishra, S. (2024). Policies for artificial intelligence in higher education: A call for action. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 50(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.21432/cjlt28869
Alwaqdani, M. (2025). Investigating teachers’ perceptions of artificial intelligence tools in education: potential and difficulties. Education and Information Technologies, 30(3), 2737-2755. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12903-9
Atchley, P., Pannell, H., Wofford, K., Hopkins, M., & Atchley, R. A. (2024). Human and AI collaboration in the higher education environment: opportunities and concerns. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 9(1), Article 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-024-00547-9
Ateeq, A., Alzoraiki, M., Milhem, M., & Ateeq, R. A. (2024). Artificial intelligence in education: Implications for academic integrity and the shift toward holistic assessment. Frontiers in Education, 9, Article 1470979. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1470979
Cheah, Y. H., Lu, J., & Kim, J. (2025). Integrating generative artificial intelligence in K-12 education: Examining teachers’ preparedness, practices, and barriers. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 8, Article 100363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2025.100363
Chiu, T. K., Xia, Q., Zhou, X., Chai, C. S., & Cheng, M. (2022). Systematic literature review on opportunities, challenges, and future research recommendations of artificial intelligence in education. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 4, Article 100118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100118
Crompton, H., & Burke, D. (2023). Artificial intelligence in higher education: The state of the field. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20, 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00392-8
Du, J., Gu, R., Tang, X., & Sugumaran, V. (2026). Systematic literature review of human–AI collaboration for intelligent construction. Applied Sciences, 16(2), Article 597. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020597
Edwards, J., Nguyen, A., Lämsä, J., Sobocinski, M., Whitehead, R., Dang, B., ... & Järvelä, S. (2025). Human‐AI collaboration: Designing artificial agents to facilitate socially shared regulation among learners. British Journal of Educational Technology, 56(2), 712-733. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13534
Elgohary, H. K. A., & Al-Dossary, H. K. (2022). The effectiveness of an educational environment based on artificial intelligence techniques using virtual classrooms on training development. International Journal of Instruction, 15(4), 1133-1150. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2022.15460a
Eyal, L. (2025). Rethinking artificial-intelligence literacy through the lens of teacher educators: The adaptive AI model. Computers and Education Open, 9, Article 100291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2025.100291
Garzón, J., Patiño, E., & Marulanda, C. (2025). Systematic review of artificial intelligence in education: Trends, benefits, and challenges. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 9(8), Article 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti9080084
Guo, W., Liang, Z., Wang, C., Li, X., Hu, H., Chen, S., Yu, Q., & Zhao, Q. (2025). Student-AI collaborative creative Problem-Solving: The role of human agency. Computers & Education, 239, Article 105433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2025.105433
Hopcan, S., Polat, E., Ozturk, M. E., & Ozturk, L. (2023). Artificial intelligence in special education: a systematic review. Interactive Learning Environments, 31(10), 7335–7353. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2022.2067186
Hwang, G., Xie, H., Wah, B. W., & Gašević, D. (2019). Vision, challenges, roles and research issues of Artificial Intelligence in Education. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 1, Article 100001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2020.100001
Ifenthaler, D., Majumdar, R., Gorissen, P., Judge, M., Mishra, S., Raffaghelli, J., & Shimada, A. (2024). Artificial intelligence in education: implications for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 29, 1693–1710 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-024-09747-0
Klopov, I., Shapurov, O., Voronkova, V., Nikitenko, V., Oleksenko, R., Khavina, I., & Chebakova, Y. (2023). Digital transformation of education based on artificial intelligence. TEM Journal, 12(4), 2625-2634. https://doi.org/10.18421/TEM124-74
Li, L., Wang, C., Chen, J., Sun, H., & Zhang, H. (2024, November). Artificial intelligence education policy analysis from international perspective. In Proceedings of the 2024 7th International Conference on Educational Technology Management (pp. 264-270). https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3711403.3711448
Long, D. Y., Wang, S., Md Rashid, S., & Lu, X. T. (2026). Artificial intelligence in higher education: A systematic review of its impact on student engagement and the mediating role of teaching methods. Frontiers in Education, 10, Article 1648661. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1648661
Milinthapunya, W., Nilsook, P., & Wannapiroon, P. (2025). Generative AI in higher education: A student perspective. In 2025 5th International Conference on Educational Communications and Technology (ICTAECT) (pp. 1-6). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTAECT67351.2025.11391308
Nguyen, A., Hong, Y., Dang, B., & Huang, X. (2024). Human-AI collaboration patterns in AI-assisted academic writing. Studies in Higher Education, 49(5), 847–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2323593
Selwyn, N. (2022). The future of AI and education: Some cautionary notes. European Journal of Education, 57(4), 620-631. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12532
Shen, Y., & Cui, W. (2024). Perceived support and AI literacy: The mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1415248. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1415248
Squire, C. M., Giombi, K. C., Rupert, D. J., Amoozegar, J., & Williams, P. (2024). Determining an appropriate sample size for qualitative interviews to achieve true and near code saturation: Secondary analysis of data. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, Article e52998. https://doi.org/10.2196/52998
Tang, K. H. D. (2024). Implications of artificial intelligence for teaching and learning. Acta Pedagogia Asiana, 3(2), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.53623/apga.v3i2.404
Tondeur, J., Howard, S. K., & Yang, J. (2021). One-size does not fit all: Towards an adaptive model to develop preservice teachers’ digital competencies. Computers in Human Behavior, 116, Article 106659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106659
Ungerer, L., & Slade, S. (2022). Ethical considerations of artificial intelligence in learning analytics in distance education contexts. In P. Prinsloo, S. Slade, & M. Khalil (Eds.), Learning analytics in open and distributed learning: Potential and challenges (pp. 105-120). Springer Nature Singapore. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-0786-9_8
Vieriu, A. M., & Petrea, G. (2025). The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on students’ academic development. Education Sciences, 15(3), Article 343. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15030343
Williamson, B., & Eynon, R. (2020). Historical threads, missing links, and future directions in AI in education. Learning, Media and Technology, 45(3), 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2020.1798995
Yang, S. J., Ogata, H., Matsui, T., & Chen, N. S. (2021). Human-centered artificial intelligence in education: Seeing the invisible through the visible. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 2, Article 100008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2021.100008
Zhai, X., Chu, X., Chai, C. S., Jong, M. S. Y., Istenic, A., Spector, M., ... & Li, Y. (2021). A review of artificial intelligence (AI) in education from 2010 to 2020. Complexity, 2021(1), 8812542. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8812542
Zuo, Z., Luo, Y., Yan, S., & Jiang, L. (2025). From perception to practice: Artificial intelligence as a pathway to enhancing digital literacy in higher education teaching. Systems, 13(8), Article 664. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13080664
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Zahraa Alkalefawi, Husnain Mukhdoom
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
