In Creating Wicked Students: Designing Courses for a Complex World, Paul Hanstedt outlines strategies educators can use to redesign courses and assignments that help their students develop "wicked" competencies. Wicked students have a sense of authority and believe they are capable of addressing wicked problems, or problems that are messy, evolving, and have no clear solutions. Such problems are often divisive in the sense that stakeholders disagree on what the problem is, or what the solution should be. In other words, most real-world problems are wicked.
Ohio State faculty, associated faculty, and lecturers from all disciplines and colleges are encouraged to apply to a new learning community supported by the Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning. Led by Mark Moritz, Professor, Department of Anthropology, and Jane Hammons, Associate Professor, University Libraries, a cohort of ten participants will read and discuss Creating Wicked Students and explore teaching strategies together. By the end of the year, participants will have a designed or redesigned a course with wicked learning outcomes and assessments in mind.
Participants who complete the (re)design project for the learning community will be eligible for professional development funds from the Drake Institute in the amount of $1,150.
Participation Schedule
The learning community will meet 10 times over the course of the 2025-2026 academic year. Autumn semester meetings will be held in-person on the Columbus campus (location TBD) from 2-3:30 p.m. on the following dates:
- September 2
- September 23
- October 14
- November 6
- November 25
Spring semester meetings dates have not yet been determined.
Apply to Join
Please submit your application to the learning community by Friday, August 15. You will be asked to share your motivation for participating in the community and a short description of the course to be (re)designed.
Applicants will be notified of their application results by Monday, August 25.