DELTA collaborates on Award-Winning Food Safety Educational Materials

May 5, 2015 Sherry Stallings

Assistant Professor of Food Science Clint Stevenson was awarded a 2015 Gertrude Cox Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning with Technology April 14 for the “Howling Cow Case Study.” The award was created to honor the creative pedagogy of NC State’s faculty and technical staff and their work in integrating new technologies into effective teaching strategies.

Dr. Stevenson, along with two co-nominees in John Gordon and Mike Cuales, were nominated for the award. Since Gordon and Cuales are not faculty, they were not eligible for the award, Stevenson wants them and their teams to get the recognition they deserve.

Stevenson says, “I have worked with three different types of video groups: the DELTA team, a firm in Atlanta and a freelancer. John’s crew knows how to do it right. I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else!”

The idea to train students for food manufacturing jobs and making it real-world is what led to the collaborative effort that created the “Howling Cow Case Study.” Stevenson uses the films in at least three NC State classes as well as one he offers for professionals and he can tell a significant difference in the students’ understanding. “I just can’t say enough good things about how the project helps the students’ learning,” he adds.

“It was so good to work with John and his crew and Mike and his team. We did a number of things to make sure the learning was detailed, real-world and rigorous,” says Stevenson. “The crew was exceptional and even volunteered to go to an early 2 a.m. shoot to work around the clock and film in real time because that is when the dairy plant daily operations begin. They wanted to get everything right.”

Gordon says, “The entire production team was motivated by Clint and the great people working at Howling Cow. At every step of the process there was respect, a desire to help, and appreciation for the team.”

The case study consisted of more than just one video, the team created an interactive plant tour using 360-degree imaging and hotspot technologies, and interactive 2D videos, a “Howling Cow: A Case Study for Online Learning” blog page, as well as a Food Safety Education and Training Youtube channel. Real-world assessments are built into the interactive activities.

The project was featured in an article titled “Team Up for Food Safety” in the 2013-2014 DELTA Annual Report. The case study has been implemented in several courses within the Food Safety Manager’s certificate program (FS 295 Basics of Food Safety & Quality, FS 350 Intro to HACCP, and FS 416 Quality Control in Food Processing), as well as a variety of other courses within the FBNS Department and others.

So who were on the DELTA team members involved?

As Broadcast and Emerging Media Manager, John Gordon led the video production side of the developing the cross-disciplinary team. Gordon’s crew included Arthur Earnest, Michael Castro and Bert French.

Part of Associate Director, Creative & Multimedia Mike Cuales’ team included former part-time students including Kelly Fish and Stephen Minervino, and Ben Scott whose research and development into 360 video environments was an integral component of the final product.

Former Instructional Designer Brook Corwin worked on the team as well.

There are plans for a Howling Cow virtual inspection video to be added to the resources, as well.