Two faculty members crouch down next to a red container at the feed mill.

Project Details

Client

Adam Fahrenholz, Assistant Professor, Feed Milling
Marissa Herchler, Area Specialized Agent, Animal Food Safety
Prestage Department of Poultry Science
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Team

Caitlin McKeown, Instructional Designer and Project Lead
Arthur Earnest, Instructional Media Producer
John Gordon, Production Manager and Sr. Instructional Video Producer
Samantha McCuen, Lead Project Coordinator
Donnie Wrights, Sr. Educational Media Designer and Media Lead

Technologies

Feed Mill Layout Tool
Interactive PDF
Matterport Tour
Video

FM 425: Decision Tree for Model Feed Mill Development

With a Blended Learning grant, faculty from the Prestage Department of Poultry Science and a team of DELTA staff members designed and incorporated virtual tours of the NC State Feed Mill Education Unit across multiple courses to strengthen connections within the feed milling program and better assist students as they completed the “Build Your Own Feed Mill” assignment. In the revamped assignment, an interactive layout tool increases student engagement and enthusiasm through ownership and interaction with their own facility. Additionally, interactive PDF assignments help students create decision points and applications for the feed mill facility with real-world accuracy and applications.

Instructional Challenges

Feed Mill Tour:
- The face-to-face tour of the feed mill is limited in accessibility.
- Noise levels often limit communication.
- Not all processes are going on at the time of a tour.
“Build Your Own Feed Mill” Assignment:
- Students created their feed mill layouts in many different ways, from crayons to CAD software.
- The time and focus dedicated to the assignment varied from student to student.
- Standardized grading across widely different submissions was difficult.

Highlights/Solutions

Feed Mill Tour:
- Virtual 3D tour using Matterport technology captures spatial data and 360° scans of the environment.
- Scans are compatible with VR headsets.
- Users can freely move throughout the scan.
“Build Your Own Feed Mill Assignment”:
- Decision tree in the form of an interactive PDF prompts questions to guide a student’s progress.
- Flow diagram provides equipment students will need to emphasize the connectedness of each process in the feed mill.
- Layout tool allows students to drag and drop equipment from the flow diagram as they build their feed mill.
- Standardization facilitates improved grading and a more cohesive student experience.