“It is very different from other classes. It really incorporated the concept of self-regulated learning, and I got to learn what I thought was important.” Allison Louie ’20  

“How can we make this easier and better for these students?” was the essential question that Alison Louie ’20 and her classmates considered in their redesign of experiences for incoming students. The group analyzed e-mails, website messaging, and printed communications that are sent by several campus offices, and conducted further research and tested ideas through meetings with PSU’s admissions team.

One of the key takeaways of Plymouth State’s new direction is that students are highly motivated to work on tangible, concrete issues. “We’re talking about some of the most important issues in the times that we live in,” says Jacqueline Lee ’19 about her signature experience in an INCAP focused on sustainability. “Everything we do in this class is important and valuable.”

“It is very different from other classes,” says Louie. “It really incorporated the concept of self-regulated learning, and I got to learn what I thought was important. If I want to be successful and get a job after college I need these skills, and I’m learning them in this class. It also really helped to know that this was real. We want to make a difference and to see this grow and continue after we graduate.”

The class used Twine, an open-source software application, to create its interactive web prototype, which can be viewed along with other course materials at https://cathieleblanc.com/is4220Student/.