Wake Tech's new Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is Solve It! Say It! Problem-Solving With an Emphasis on Communication. The QEP has a dual focus:

• Improving students' problem-solving skills
• Supporting faculty and staff in building problem-solving exercises and guidance into their courses and services

Students and faculty will be able to earn competency-based recognition for their efforts through digital badging programs.

The QEP is a cornerstone of Wake Tech's reaccreditation and is aligned with the Reach and Rally strategic plan. It will guide the college in an important quest for improvement over the next five years.

Problem-solving is one of the top skills sought by employers, and Wake Tech has established it as one of the core competencies for students in its general education courses. Written and oral communication are two other core competencies.

But data collected by the college show a large percentage of Wake Tech courses that assess learning outcomes aligned with problem-solving didn't meet standards in 2021 or 2022. Wake Tech graduates and current students also indicate in surveys that the college could do a better job of teaching problem-solving.

Research shows the most effective way to improve problem-solving skills is by teaching a process and providing students an opportunity to apply it. A team of Wake Tech faculty has developed a standardized problem-solving process and strategies to help faculty to teach it. The process will help students learn and develop solutions that should increase their economic mobility and personal fulfillment. The use of student-friendly language in the process will also create more welcoming learning environments that reach across racial, ethnic and gender differences and account for disability status.

To assess how well students are grasping the problem-solving process, data will be collected from eight courses, some or all of which are required for most Wake Tech programs:

• ACA-122
• MAT-110
• MAT-143
• MAT-152
• MAT-171
• HUM-115
• PSY-118
• PSY-150

Programs that do not require at least one of these courses will assess students' learning of the problem-solving process in a program-specific course. All data will be graded using a common standard that includes a definition and categories of the process and criteria for mastery.

Students will be able to earn digital badges when they demonstrate problem-solving competencies in their courses. The badges can be used to demonstrate to employers that they have attained problem-solving skills at Wake Tech.

The ultimate goal of the QEP is for students to implement problem-solving skills in their chosen careers.

Wake Tech's Board of Trustees approved the QEP in June 2024, and the plan was submitted to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in August 2024 for review. Once approved by SACSCOC, implementation will begin in January 2025.

For more information, email QEP Director Dr. Doug Hummer at [email protected] or Senior Professor Adrianne Leinbach, the faculty QEP lead, at [email protected].