The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable and drastic changes to teaching and learning, forcing many teachers to adopt an online pedagogical approach. This disruption has caused traditional universities to change how their curriculum is delivered and also revisit how learning occurs. While we are indeed living in challenging times, we argue that this defining moment will become the impetus for pedagogical reform wherein new methods of teaching and learning will emerge. In this paper, we bring together three broad subjects of teaching and learning scholarship: (a) learning design, (b) critical pedagogy, and (c) student partnership. We contend that together, these three fields provide room for students to become actors and agents of their own learning through student-led learning design. Using critical participatory action research (CPAR) spanning 4 years and 22 projects, this case study offers a starting point for learning designers and student partners to work together in nine different instructional design models.