What is the role of students in the development of curriculum?

Well, you should base your curriculum on general student needs for your population, and where the students need to get at the end of the program. Especially in online curriculum, you can't spring huge projects on students the week they are due. You have to let them know up front, and remind them frequently where they are headed and why. Same with the classroom. If the students don't know where they are going, they are likely to be overwhelmed when they find out about something large and panic. After your curriculum is being used, you should revise it, taking into account student feedback. If students are turning in the wrong assignment for instance, maybe you need to go into the course and correct the instructions or reevaluate the assignment to see what is confusing.