Co-creation in higher education: a conceptual systematic review

Co-creation constitutes a novel pedagogical approach for enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. When students and staff collaborate to improve curriculum, pedagogical resources, and the development of students' roles as peer-mentors or teaching assistants, it has led to increased learning outcomes, more inclusive practices, empowered students, and improved relationships between students and staff. In this conceptual systematic review of 222 research articles, we investigate characteristics of research on co-creation and analyse how the interactions constituting co-creation have been conceptualised. We identified dialogue, positioning, agency, and voice as core concepts describing co-creational interactions. These concepts are highly interconnected and were examined both as products of co-creation and as vital elements for co-creation to be productive. Based on these findings, we developed an analytical framework serving (a) to inform analyses of co-creational interaction and (b) as a model for educators designing co-creational activities. We further contribute to the theoretical underpinning of co-creation by discussing how dialogic theories can inform investigations of co-creational interactions in future research. We argue that there is a range of research questions related to the interactions constituting co-creation that are not sufficiently investigated. We suggest that future research should be directed towards observational studies of these interactions to develop knowledge on how educators can interact inclusively with students, fostering agency and positioning students as significant contributors to educational processes in higher education.