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 learning-centered 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 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 and 2024 we presented Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions: (Y)Our Health. In 2025, we will offer Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions: (Y)Our Changing World. WPWS is available for free to all incoming NC State students. Through 2024, over 5,600 students have completed WPWS.

 

HHMI Inclusive Excellence Scholar Workshops

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

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