This blog post was co-written by the GenAI literary course project team
Introduced in 2024, the Students as Partners (SAP) program was championed by DVCES Kylie Readman and funded from SSAF. It supports student-led projects to investigate issues that UTS students felt were affecting their learning experience. There were 18 applications, which resulted in 10 group and 2 individual grants.
Staff from across the University have been enthusiastic to work with students on projects to create real improvements: students are working on a variety of issues from embedding AI literacy to the experience of Pasifika students to improving the timetabling interface for students.
Sascha Jenkins; Director, Experience and Quality, UTS Library
In this blog post, we focus on one of the successful grants: AI Across Disciplines: Embedding Artificial Intelligence Literacy in UTS Education. This student-led initiative aims to empower leaners from all disciplines to understand and apply AI principles confidently and ethically.
Developing a user-first, practical course
The Generative AI (GenAI) literacy course has become one of twelve projects focused on enhancing inclusivity, supporting academic practices and advancing learning design. The provision of a SAP grant allowed the project team to develop a short, self-paced and online course that provides students a foundational understanding of GenAI.
The course reflects UTS’s commitment to student-centred learning by making essential AI concepts accessible to undergraduates and postgraduates across all faculties. It covers GenAI basics, key tools, prompt engineering, ethical considerations and AI’s impact on future workplaces. It also aligns with UTS’s ethical principles for AI use, encouraging students to engage with technology thoughtfully and responsibly.
To ensure the course resonates across faculties, the project incorporated user testing early in development, gathering input from students via moderated prototype testing to refine the course’s structure, content and user experience. The resulting curriculum is an engaging mix of interactive quizzes, videos and resources that make complex AI concepts approachable for non-technical learners and valuable for those with some technical grounding.
Each component of the course was developed to be relevant and practical, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to understand AI in the context of their disciplines. By making AI literacy accessible to all, this SAP project supports UTS’s broader educational mission to foster adaptability and ethical awareness in students facing a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
A collaborative effort
While the course is student-focused, the success of the project was made possible through collaboration across the UTS community. Dr Antonette Shibani from the TD School served as offering her expertise in AI and natural language processing (NLP) to ensure the content was technically sound and educationally meaningful, while the project was managed by staff from the Education Portfolio.
Central to the course design were student partners Shayaan Malik and Yasaman Mohammadi. Shayaan led the design and development of the course, bringing her unique insights from her studies to craft an engaging, user-friendly learning experience. Yasaman initiated the project proposal with a fellow student, Ya-Ping Liao, from the Master of Data Science and Innovation program, and she contributed significantly to shaping the course’s AI content. Learning Designer Marko Antic supported the project with pedagogical expertise to ensure the course’s structure, interactivity and accessibility.
Learn more about this initiative
The SAP program not only provided financial support through the provision of a grant but also fostered a collaborative environment where students and staff worked side-by-side to innovate and create. The SAP grants for 2024 focused on projects that promote inclusivity in learning, innovative teaching practices, and academic support – all of which are embodied in this AI literacy course.
The course’s framework will be showcased at the upcoming ASCILITE Conference in Melbourne, where the team will present their abstract on students as collaborative partners to embedding AI literacy in higher education. Shayaan and Yasaman will also present at the UTS Learning & Teaching Forum on 29 November, sharing insights into the project’s development and future applications.
You can also register for a showcase on 2 December to find out about the full suite of SAP grants – RSVP by 26 November.
Image: Yasaman Mohammadi and Shayaan Malik at work on the project (Photographer: Ridha Fardian)