Discovering new ways to impact key results can take an investment of time, resources, and expertise many institutions lack. WGU Labs conducts small-scale exploratory pilots at WGU that identify solutions for real learner challenges — an approach we call Solutions Lab. With Solutions Lab we engage in cutting-edge research to uncover new approaches and rapid-test answers so postsecondary stakeholders can be confident in solutions before investing at scale.
Every engagement starts by first examining learner data to identify challenges. Our team of researchers and learning design experts regularly analyze WGU student data and pinpoint moments of friction in the learner experience, with particular attention to inequities in experiences and outcomes. From there, the relevant WGU teams are invited to participate in specific pilots that further explore the challenge and identify solutions.
Each project has:
Understanding Rising Talent through continued secondary analysis, deep dive qualitative analysis, and designing and testing solutions to engage these learners in post-secondary pathways.
Understanding the psychology of student success to build students' identity in scholarship, confidence in accessing and engaging learning pathways, and sustaining through inevitable challenges.
Harnessing generative AI to design, deliver, personalize, and improve the learning experience.
Increasing the value and benefit of higher education to build stronger and data-driven connections between learning and opportunity.
Every project lasts six to eight months and is conducted in four phases. The short timeframe delivers quick results and enables teams to be agile in addressing learner challenges.
Teams co-identify challenges via WGU data, discussions, and discovery analysis. Then we present research plans to involved teams within the first month of engagement for review and recommended involvement.
Our team ideates and designs a potential solution, then presents the idea for feedback. Approved ideas are piloted. We provide timing, location, and solution implementation support.
These phases are iterative. We aim to engage in multiple design-research phases in a single project, iteratively designing and testing solutions – beginning with a simple MVP and small-scale pilot rapidly evolving toward a more refined solution and larger-scale study meeting requirements for impact analysis.
We produce a final report from the study findings and recommendations, then present the findings and opportunities to scale the solution.
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