1. Cathie LeBlanc Plymouth State University Plymouth, NH
Wicked Problems in Popular Culture An Open Pedagogy Experiment in Engagement
Cathie LeBlanc
Plymouth State University
Plymouth, NH

2. Agenda First Year Seminar Goal: ENGAGEMENT
Wicked problem focused
Project based learning (using design thinking)
Meaningful work that extends beyond the walls of the classroom (open pedagogy)
Goal: ENGAGEMENT
Revised Goal: STUDENT AGENCY (“own” their education)

3. Wicked Problems
“A wicked problem is a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems.” 1 1.

4. Projects and Design Thinking
Can’t solve wicked problems in a FYS
Can make a difference in some way
Do something! (Bias Toward Action)
Non-linear design thinking process 2 2.

5. Meaningful Work and Open Pedagogy
Much work in a traditional class is “disposable”
“the disposable assignment where students’ work (and feedback from the instructor) often end up in the class recycling bin at the end of the semester.” 3
Meaningful work lives beyond classroom walls in impact, time, or both
Opens the classroom in some way
Called “renewable” by the open community
Open Pedagogy: involve students in decision-making about work they will do
3. DeRosa and Robison, “From OER to Open Pedagogy: Harnessing the Power of Open,” in Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science, Edited by Rajiv S. Jhangiani and Robert Biswas-Diener, Ubiquity Press,

6. My First Year Seminar Wicked Problem: Fake News My vision
Engage in some activities, become curious about sub-problems, become excited about learning more and about trying to do something, students drive the rest of the course
Focus on design thinking strategies of “Fail early, fail often” and “bias toward action”
Big unknown: How much scaffolding do students need in order to take control of the course?

7. My First Year Seminar What I would provide Students would determine
Schedule for first 3 weeks of 16 week class
Extensive list of fake news resources (articles, books, videos, games, web sites, infographics)
Final activity
Students would determine
Attendance policy
Items to be graded on (including any projects)
Grading scheme
Schedule of classes including materials to engage with outside of class

8. My First Year Seminar What happened Problems with daily homework
Attendance policy
Options they chose were very traditional even though I suggested some non-traditional policies (even at end of semester)
Graded items
Daily homework – one third
Projects – two thirds
Problems with daily homework
Where it came from

9. Projects Problems with projects
First Project: Flyers (everyone) or Survey (one big group)
Second Project:
Open Educational Resource (OER) on fake news (
Entries for the Digipo project (
Open letter to Mark Zuckerburg
Expressed concern about the ‘I’ button (an attempt to deal with fake news on Facebook)
Sent to a list of newspaper outlets
Fake news lesson for high school teachers to use with students
Worked with PSU faculty member who trains tech integrators
Sent to their high school teachers
Problems with projects
Using what they learned in first project
Only did 2 projects (fail early, fail often?)
Coming up with ideas

10. Observations Students have a traditional view of education
Had trouble really grasping what we were trying to do
When they got it, excitement!
Made traditional choices (even at end of class)
Had difficulty making decisions (as a group and individually)
Students don’t know what they don’t know
Thought they knew everything about fake news
Pop culture topics: good because students already know something about them but challenging because students think they already know everything there is to know about them
Never assigned themselves “research”
Students don’t see themselves as agents
They don’t know how to learn from failure
Had trouble thinking of their next projects

11. Conclusion https://cathieleblancblog.com/ cleblanc@plymouth.edu
Challenges were worth it because it lays the groundwork
Can we deliver on the promise?
Meaningful projects will change your students’ learning and your teaching
Example: Intro to Media and Cultural Studies