Transformative approach setting standard for AI-ready universities

Challenge

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming workplaces, industries and professions around the globe.

At universities, students have been quick to use the technology.

UNESCO has called for a human-centred approach to generative AI in education, emphasising its “ethical, safe, equitable and meaningful use” and the need for appropriate pedagogical design. 

This reflects a broader shift in higher education towards redesigning learning and assessment and equipping students to use AI critically and responsibly – an approach CQUniversity has already been advancing since 2022 through a range of initiatives. 

While carefully managing the risks associated with AI, CQUniversity has embraced its potential to enhance learning, strengthen critical and creative thinking, and improve graduate employability.

From CQU’s School of Engineering and Technology, the AI-Powered Pedagogy Toolkit and Structured AI-Guided Education (SAGE) are research-informed approaches transforming students’ tech-savvy skills, and academic outcomes. 

Solution

The Structured AI-Guided Education (SAGE) has been developed by CQU Senior Lecturer in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Dr Mahmoud Elkhodr and Professor of Intelligent Information Systems Ergun Gide.

The model is informed by years of peer-reviewed research validated with more than 1,500 students across more than 40 studies conducted in Australia, China and the United Kingdom.

The structured approach to integrating generative AI into curriculum design also trains students to critically evaluate, refine, and defend AI-assisted outputs. 

“These are not theoretical contributions – they are grounded in real classrooms, tested across multiple cohorts and refined over time,” Dr Elkhodr said. 

“Our students are among the first in Australia to receive structured training in how to use generative AI responsibly within their discipline, giving them a genuine advantage as they enter a workforce where AI is already embedded in daily practice.”

In 2025, Dr Elkhodr and Professor Gide edited the international volume Generative Artificial Intelligence Empowered Learning: A New Frontier in Educational Technology, published by Routledge. 

Solution: Future-proofing cyber careers

Another CQU project has had a particular focus on future tech practitioners, as the AI transformation affects vital sectors such as cybersecurity.

CQUniversity researchers, with academics from RMIT University and Victoria University, developed the AI-Powered Pedagogy GenAI Toolkit as part of a research initiative funded by the Australasian Council of Deans of Information and Communications Technology (ACDICT).

The research-informed resource outlines how GenAI-powered tools can enhance learning in the ICT discipline.

Impact

Launched at CQU in March 2025, the Toolkit has been adopted across ICT classrooms and informed teaching activities to improve engagement, critical analysis, and submission quality.

In one class, it boosted student success rates by 10 per cent.

The Toolkit was named a winner in the 2025 Regional Universities Network (RUN) Learning and Teaching Awards, showcasing practice that responded to and incorporated generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) platforms. 

The researchers intend the Toolkit to encourage further exploration of AI’s role in ICT education, and provide a foundation for educators, students and practitioners.

Lead researcher Prof Ritesh Chugh also flagged the broader application of the resource. 

“The toolkit not only provides valuable insights for ICT education, but also practical strategies that can be applied across multiple disciplines, to use Generative AI in a meaningful and responsible way,” he said.

Both the Toolkit and SAGE resources are available on Australia’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) GenAI Hub.

The Hub, from Australia's national higher education regulator and quality assurance authority, makes the initiatives accessible to other educators and institutions. 

Findings from both projects have also been shared nationally and internationally via publication, media coverage, presentations and sector events.

Through nationally recognised research, innovative teaching frameworks and practical classroom implementation, CQUniversity has emerged as a leader driving smart AI adoption in higher education.