Project Details

Team

Jill Anderson, Lead Instructional Technologist, DELTA

Clément Bordas, Director of Marketing and Communications, EMAS

Todd Buker, Lead Instructional Media Design/Developer, DELTA

Michael Castro, Lead Instructional Media Designer/Developer, DELTA

Jonathan Champ, Associate Director of Data, Integrations and Custom Applications, DELTA

Karen Ciccone, Lead Librarian for Public Science, NC State University Libraries

Paul Couture, Research Specialist, DELTA

Derek DeStefano, Cinematographer and Production Assistant, DELTA

Jason Flores, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Caroline Funkhouser, Assistant Director of Communication, Office of Undergraduate Admissions

John Gordon, Assistant Director, Instructional Media Production, DELTA

Jane Lubischer, Associate Department Head, Biological Sciences

Relly Moorer, Associate Instructional Cinematographer/Post-Production Specialist, DELTA

Melissa Ramirez, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Rebecca Sanchez, Senior Instructional Designer, Digital Learning, DELTA

Helen Velk, Communications Specialist, DELTA

Jeff Williford, Senior Graphic Designer, DELTA

Chris Willis, Assistant Director of Planning and Assessment, DELTA

Merranie Zellweger, Director of Project Management, DELTA

Technologies

Moodle

Google

H5P

PlayPosit

Zoom

YouTube

Soundcloud

WolfWare

Timeline

Summer 2020 - Ongoing

Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions (WPWS)

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, DELTA created an innovative experience for incoming first-year and transfer students in a 10-week time span. The goal of this free, two-credit course was to create a multidisciplinary online experience that encourages students to explore various disciplines, to connect with the broader NC State community and to apply and reflect on what and how they are learning. In addition, since in-person orientations were canceled, this course was a way to introduce students to WolfWare, NC State’s learning management system, and other online educational resources.

The Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions course has been offered each year since and while the goals remain the same, the topics change. Course iterations have included: Pandemics, Global Change, The Future of Food, and (Y)Our Health. The different courses are offered in a rotational pattern every two years with updates and additions to ensure the timeliness and relevance of the material. Creating the WPWS courses is truly a collaborative effort between several NC State departments and individuals.

Instructional Challenges

The primary goals of WPWS are to increase interdisciplinary thinking, ease the transition to NC State, increase student intentionality in their college experience, and promote a sense of connection and community for incoming first-year and transfer students.
Instructional challenges include creating a cohesive and meaningful course that resonates with all incoming students while involving presenters from across the university, keeping students engaged in an optional course conducted over summer or winter break, and designing a course that is simultaneously cutting-edge and evergreen.

Highlights/Solutions

During course development, the full project team meets every 2-4 weeks while working groups meet more frequently. These smaller and more nimble working groups include course design, content production, communications and evaluation. The project relies on a shared Google Drive and a central meeting notes document so all team members can see notes from working group discussions.
The course is designed as a self-paced, online experience and offered during a five-week summer session and again over winter break. Assignments are reviewed for completion, but not assigned a letter grade. Content delivery is primarily through multimedia presentations, podcasts and short readings. Instructional design principles are rooted in Quality Matters and Universal Design for Learning guidelines.
Communicators campuswide work together to promote the course via email, websites and social media promotions.
Students are introduced to NC State campus tools and learning technologies such as Moodle, Google, H5P, Zoom, YouTube, Panopto and WolfWare.
Weekly surveys and pre- and post-course evaluations are conducted to provide feedback to instructors and course designers. The results indicate that a high percentage of incoming students (85-94%) felt that the NC State community cares about each other, can be counted on to support one another and has a “family” feeling among community members.
At the completion of the summer 2024 session, 5,558 incoming students have completed the course since it was first offered in 2020.
Public-facing platforms created include a dedicated program YouTube Channel, a website, and a PubPub site.