On Aug. 27, 2026, the educator community gathered for a lively conversation titled "Redesigning your Curriculum - A Reflection." Hosted by Zac Chase, the discussion featured Dr. Shelli Wynants, learning design coordinator in the Faculty Development Center and faculty member in Child and Adolescent Studies at California State University, Fullerton. Drawing from her 30-year career in higher education, Wynants shared insights from her participation in the assignment redesign cohort, examining how instructors can navigate institutional shifts, preserve pedagogical intent, and thoughtfully integrate artificial intelligence into their courses.
The core message of the conversation was clear: sustainable curriculum transformation begins with pedagogy, not technology. While systemic shifts often bring anxiety and a sense of disruption, framing change around instructor curiosity, peer collaboration, and structured frameworks allows faculty to maintain autonomy while modernizing their teaching practices. Rather than treating AI as a high-stakes mandate, educators can leverage it as a low-stakes, 24-hour pedagogical partner to refine assignments, enhance clarity, and foster equitable learning environments.
Navigating Systemic Change with Empathy: From Forced Pivots to Intentional Transformation
Reflecting on three decades in higher education, Wynants noted that the emergence of generative AI represents one of the most significant shifts since the rapid pivot to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while the emergency online transition primarily impacted course delivery formats under forced conditions, the integration of AI influences course design, assessment strategies, and academic integrity simultaneously. This broader footprint requires institutions to recognize that adapting to new educational paradigms involves navigating change as a process of loss - letting go of long-standing routines while building new competencies.
Faculty readiness relies heavily on institutional culture. Unlike secondary education settings where professional development can often be mandated, higher education honors academic freedom, requiring professional growth to be driven by intrinsic motivation, peer support, and institutional encouragement. Instructors need dedicated time and safe environments to explore options without fear of failure.
"I think what we struggle with most is giving faculty the time and support needed to explore alternatives and kind of figure out what works best for them, their disciplines, their particular classes because it's so nuanced." - Dr. Shelli Wynants
Pedagogy First: Operationalizing Frameworks Over Tools
A central insight from the cohort experience is that effective curriculum design prioritizes pedagogical clarity over tool selection. Wynants emphasized the value of utilizing established frameworks—such as Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT), GRASPS (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Product, Success Criteria), and Interactive, Constructive, Active, Passive (ICAP) - to structure assignments. Rather than viewing these frameworks as rigid administrative checklists, instructors can treat them as flexible tools on a teaching belt to address specific learning challenges.
Using AI to audit assignments against these frameworks enables educators to identify gaps in instructions, refine learning goals, and re-examine student roles. For example, applying the GRASPS framework allowed Wynants to re-imagine a course design project by integrating gamification elements, establishing authentic student roles, and creating engaging scenario-based tasks that might otherwise have been constrained by time limitations.
"The potential's there. I think faculty learned to get out there outside their comfort zone and try some new technologies when COVID happened... The one thing that we are really strong at in higher ed is we can have really good communities of practice where folks share ideas and that's what we need is people in the room sharing." - Dr. Shelli Wynants
AI as a Creative Sparring Partner and Equity Driver
Reframing the narrative around technology allows educators to move past anxiety and engage with curiosity. When positioned as a 24-hour sparring partner, generative AI offers instructors a low-pressure sounding board to push back on assignment logic, suggest alternative disciplinary angles, generate instructional visuals, and simulate student perspectives. Starting with personal utility—using AI to ease administrative burdens or brainstorm creative elements—helps instructors build confidence before introducing AI tools to students.
Furthermore, thoughtful AI integration supports educational equity and student identity. By leveraging AI to tailor course content—such as contextualizing chemistry problem sets for regional student populations like those in Guam—educators can make abstract concepts culturally relevant and accessible. Reframing technological adoption around concepts like courage and transformation ensures that equity remains central to assignment redesign.
Practical Takeaways for Faculty
- Focus on one small experiment: Avoid complete syllabus overhauls. Identify a single assignment or course friction point, design a low-stakes iteration, and evaluate the outcomes.
- Build peer-to-peer partnerships: Pair up with a colleague to test prompt ideas, discuss assignment design, and share feedback in a supportive environment.
- Explore personal utility first: Use AI to assist with personal workflow tasks—such as creating rubric variations, drafting visual aids, or brainstorming case studies—before incorporating it into student coursework.
- Use frameworks as diagnostic tools: Apply pedagogical frameworks like TILT or GRASPS to audit existing assignment instructions, ensuring goals, expectations, and criteria are transparent.
- Treat AI as a collaborative sounding board: Prompt AI to review assignment prompts from a student's perspective, identify potential ambiguities, or offer alternative real-world scenarios.
What's Next?
- Join the September Cohort starting September 7th, 2026
- Integrating core values into professional development: Design leaders are embedding terms like courage and curiosity into upcoming campus workshops to inspire reflective teaching practices.
- Updating Module One for upcoming cohorts: Community coordinators are adding a pre-populated assignment sampling exercise to Module One of the September cohort so participants can practice auditing sample assignments before evaluating their own.
- Contributing to the artifact bank: Cohort members are encouraged to share redesigned assignments and prompts to the communal resource repository to support fellow educators.
- Exploring institutional collaborations: Campus leaders interested in tailoring cohort frameworks to their institutional strategic plans can connect with the community leadership team to explore campus-specific partnerships.
Shared Event Resources
- Curricular Resource Bank: Explore peer-submitted assignment redesign artifacts, prompts, and pedagogical templates.
Related Google AI Educator Series Content
- Pedagogical Applications: Remixing to gain deeper insights - This session addresses a fundamental teaching challenge: supporting diverse learning needs without compounding our prep time.
- Foundational Understanding: Introduction to Google NotebookLM - In the landscape of modern education, we’re moving beyond simple digital tools and into the era of the "instructional assistant." Google NotebookLM is your AI research and thinking partner, grounded only in the content you provide.
- Pedagogical Applications: Create process-based assessments - In this session, we'll demonstrate how to use Gemini as a creative partner to generate frameworks and then create rubrics that can be used for evaluation.
