Wicked Course Design – A Workshop Series
In his new book, Creating Wicked Students – Designing Courses for a Complex World, Paul Hanstedt (2018) challenges faculty to both design and rethink courses in an effort to help create what he calls wicked students,* or students “who move into the world as questioning, informed, and thoughtful agents of change” (p. 3).
Hanstedt argues that our courses should provide students with more than just content knowledge, but help them develop the skills necessary to solve wicked problems in their fields, i.e., problems that are complex and that require collaboration and new ways of thinking.
In this 3-part workshop series, we’ll delve into how to accomplish this through course design, discuss three chapters in the book as a framework, and focus on workshopping the ideas in order to strengthen current syllabi or new course plans.
Each workshop is a stand-alone session, however we encourage you to enroll in all three sessions if your schedule allows. While not required, participants may find it helpful to read chapters, “Setting Goals for our Courses” and “Creating Wicked Assignments” in Creating Wicked Students, available as an e-book from Howe Library.
All workshops are co-facilitated by CTL Faculty Associates, Eva Cosoroaba and Kelly Becker.
» Session 1: Identifying Wicked Problems for Wicked Students
Tuesday April 12, noon-1pm
During this session, we’ll identify some of the wicked problems in our fields, those problems that are too large for one individual to solve and that require our students to think unconventionally. We’ll reflect on how we can foster the skills our students need to solve wicked problems, specifically, how we can shift a course’s purpose from sharing a body of knowledge, to creating opportunities for students to actively build and apply skills to solve the wicked problems in their fields.
» Session 2: Designing Wicked Course Objectives
Tuesday April 19, noon-1pm
During this session, we’ll take a closer look at our course learning objectives and consider them through the wicked framework. What does a student need to be able to do by the end of our courses so that they are ready to tackle the complex problems in our fields? How can we identify learning objectives that are both assessable and supportive of their development as independent thinkers?
» Session 3: Creating Wicked Assignments and Exams
Tuesday April 26, noon-1pm
In this last session, we’ll design assignments that will help students develop the skills they need to take on wicked problems and showcase their knowledge, problem-solving abilities, and outside-the-box thinking. We’ll look at several assignment examples provided by Paul Hanstedt and consider how they might or might not work for us.
*The word “wicked” has a variety of meanings. In the context of Hanstedt’s book, wicked students are seen as the answer to wicked problems. In Session 1, we’ll dig deeper into the terminology, what wicked problems are in our fields, and how we can help our students to step up to that level of wickedness.