A collaborative creation framework for experimental animation pedagogy integrating generative artificial intelligence...

The growing use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in art and design has accelerated image and video automation. In this landscape, preserving media experimentation, authorial judgment, and generative unpredictability has emerged as a critical focus in experimental animation education. While existing studies mainly focus on production efficiency, limited attention has been paid to how GAI supports concept development, motion translation, media organization, and creative decision-making in classroom practice. Addressing this gap through design-based research (DBR), this study introduced GAI and Vibe Coding into a five-week undergraduate experimental animation course. It further proposed a human-AI co-creation framework based on "generation-feedback-evolution" and examined students' creative processes and cognitive changes through process logs, creative portfolios, reflective texts, and three-stage questionnaires. The findings show that GAI extends far beyond mere production efficiency and actively intervenes in the decision-making process, prompting students to critically evaluate and revise their creative intentions, motion logic, and media expression. As human-AI interaction deepened, students moved from tool-based utility towards active selection, recombination, and transformation of AI-generated outcomes, reflecting a heightened awareness of their own creative agency. Questionnaire results indicate that, by the end of the course, students' perception of AI as a collaborative partner and their germane load had both increased, extraneous load had decreased, and intrinsic load remained relatively stable. Qualitative analysis reveals that students began to engage in critical negotiations with AI regarding creative intentions, motion rules, media specificity, and authorial position. Preliminary findings suggest that the proposed framework can effectively support human-AI collaboration in experimental animation pedagogy, offering empirical, classroom-based evidence for understanding the shifting dynamics of authorship and media relations under AI intervention.