Inclusive AI-enhanced assessment design: Building social capital and belonging in global public health education

Amid emerging evidence linking AI to improved assessment accuracy and engagement (Christyodetaputri and Marwa, 2024), there are still limited insights on its role in equity.
This study explored the development of innovative, AI-supported assessment guides for a public health master's module with high ratio of international students, often experiencing cultural and social isolation contributing to HE attainment gaps (Floyd, 2015; Hu, 2024)
Social Capital (Bourdieu, 1995) offers a lens that AI-enhanced pedagogy can bridge improved academic learning and attainment (Isopahkala-Bouret, Siivonen and Haltia, 2023). This can help marginalised students to build social capital more aligned with Higher Education expectations.

Drawing on module documents and pedagogical expertise, detailed assessment guides were created for two masters-level assessments in public health. These were 1; Narrated presentation on health systems and 2; Critical analysis of health systems. Embedding Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS) (AIAS, 2026) principles were deployed in collaboration with generative AI technology to build detailed guidance aligned with module learning outcomes (MLO’s)

Explicit AI prompts and detailed elaboration of guidance points by academics provided detailed assessment guidance whilst retaining authentic authorship . Aligned with Bloom's Taxonomy Revisited (De Oliveira Olney and Kiss, 2021), his highlighted how AI enhances student learning. The guides included assessment structure, content and suggested word count, ensuring students develop from basic comprehension to more detailed critical analysis.

Additionally validation mismatches, such as excessive presentation times, which risked overburdening both students and markers were identified and mitigated refining the guidance design further.

Bourdieu's lens can show how improved engagement such as this supports the development of social capital, through strengthening academic networks and recreating meaningful habitus for marginalised students. This can support the student journey away from UK HE elitism (Reay, Crozier and Clayton, 2009) into equitable and safe spaces of belonging.