Abstract:

The rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education has triggered a proliferation of tools, local guidelines, and isolated pilot projects. While these responses reflect institutional urgency, they have also produced fragmented pedagogical practices, inconsistent assessment criteria, and growing uncertainty among faculty and students. This paper argues that the central challenge of AI integration in higher education is not technological, but systemic: how institutional decisions about learning design, assessment, and governance are coordinated.

Moving beyond tool-based adoption and policy-driven compliance, the paper proposes Design Thinking as a human-centered framework for systemic AI integration at institutional level. Reframed not as a classroom methodology but as an institutional governance approach, Design Thinking enables universities to engage with AI as a “wicked problem” requiring collective sense-making, iterative decision-making, and value-based alignment rather than definitive technical solutions.

The paper develops a conceptual framework that positions Design Thinking as a mechanism for pedagogical governance, supporting coherence without uniformity across curricula, assessment models, and faculty practices. It examines how design-oriented principles contribute to curriculum coherence in AI-enhanced programmes, reframe student agency through decision-making rather than output production, and enable assessment approaches that prioritise authentic learning evidence over product verification alone. Particular attention is given to the reframing of faculty as pedagogical designers, the role of prototyping in reducing uncertainty and resistance, and the function of communities of practice as engines of institutional learning.

Rather than presenting isolated cases or specific AI applications, the paper offers a transferable framework for academic leaders and institutions seeking to move from fragmented experimentation toward intentional, human-centered AI integration. By positioning Design Thinking as an institutional governance framework, the paper contributes to current debates on AI in higher education by articulating a pathway toward pedagogical coherence, reflective leadership, and institutional maturity in the age of artificial intelligence.

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence in higher education, pedagogical governance, Design Thinking, assessment in AI-enhanced learning, academic leadership, institutional maturity.