Inclusive Courses

Excellence in teaching is defined by student success in learning, and both require an inclusive pedagogical approach that actively supports all students, removes arbitrary barriers to learning and takes a student-centered approach in course design and implementation.

Many factors influence the ability of students to learn and to demonstrate their learning, and these factors include the classroom culture and climate, as well as teaching decisions made by the instructor. Infusing our courses with inclusive excellence (IE) pedagogy is essential to the success of our students and, therefore, to our university. IE@NC is working to transform classroom environments by helping faculty learn IE best practices and apply them to their teaching.

The IE@NC team has also been actively involved in helping to create a new, common course experience for all students entering NC State. The course — Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions (WPWS) — demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinarity and inclusivity in addressing big problems. As one presenter put it, we have to bring together all sorts of people, with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and with many different areas of interest and expertise in order to creatively and effectively address any wicked problem. The inaugural 2020 WPWS offering focused on the wicked problem of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 WPWS offering focused on the wicked problem of global climate change. In 2022 we hosted our third offering on The Future of Food, and in 2023 we present Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions: (Y)Our Health. Every wicked problem includes social equity issues, so every Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions course addresses social inequities in the context of that year’s focus. WPWS is available for free to all incoming NC State students. Over 2500 students completed WPWS through the first three offerings.

 

HHMI Inclusive Excellence Scholar Workshops

The HHMI Inclusive Excellence Scholar Workshops provide Life Sciences faculty and advisors an opportunity to learn about IE pedagogy and work together to change their courses or develop a new course using IE best practices.

Course-based Research Experience (CRE) courses: Faculty who are interested in developing a course that uses research experience as a means of teaching, can sign up to participate in an additional one-day training focusing on how to create a course using research as pedagogy.

Faculty participants will receive a stipend for completing the workshop and teaching an IE-improved course. Participants who complete the additional CRE training and course development will receive an additional stipend. For more information, please contact InclusiveExcellence@ncsu.edu