Over the 2024–2025 academic year, the DELTA grants supported these 13 projects represented across the Exploratory, Course Design, and Hybrid Learning Grants, delivering a wide range of interactive, media-rich instructional tools and prototypes. Several high-profile projects allowed for new technology exploration and set the foundation for future grant proposals. The DELTA grant program also provides support for Hybrid Learning, Course Improvement, Faculty Fellows, and Program Design Grants each year.

• Course Design – PSY 230 (Lori Foster),  ETS 220 (Kelly Larson)
• Hybrid Learning – CSC 481 (Alexander Card)
• Exploratory – AA 500 (Sarah Egan Warren), FM 425 (Marissa Cohen, Adam Fahrenholz), SSC 201 (Amy Johnson, Christina Kranz), MEA 493 (Douglas Hamilton) , CH 221 (Ryan Chiechi, Jeremiah Feducia, Naish Lalloo) HS 201 (Jodi Driedger), BUS 444 (Sarah Kahn), HES 106 (Renee Harrington), BIO 183 (Melissa Ramirez, Maria Gallardo-Williams, Jason Flores), CSC 246 (Shuyin Jiao, David Sturgill)

VR Present: Increase student confidence through virtual presentation simulations (AA 500)

By expanding upon a pilot VR prototype, the DELTA project team and faculty addressed the challenge of providing students with realistic, low-stakes environments to build stronger public speaking skills. The team developed three high-fidelity virtual reality experiences capturing real footage of students, faculty and staff as audience members, and the actual spaces where students present during the course. To enhance the authenticity of these simulations, the team explored sensory variables such as stereoscopic vision, spatial audio, and the use of physical “anchor” props, while also integrating the ability for students to embed and advance their own slide decks within the Quest 3 headset environment. This comprehensive approach, supported by detailed instructional guides and safety materials, was further refined through focus groups and evaluations to ensure the tool effectively prepares students for real-world professional engagements.

Bridging the gap between abstract milling concepts and real-world spatial awareness (FM 425)

To bridge the gap between abstract milling concepts and real-world spatial awareness, the team overhauled a decade-old Matterport tour by integrating previous DELTA content with updated 3D scans and improved wayfinding. This collaborative effort addressed the challenge of teaching complex, large-scale operations by developing a custom companion web application that utilizes simplified 3D models and 2D flow diagrams to visualize the entire ingredient-to-finished-feed process. By incorporating new outdoor areas into the virtual facility tour, implementing an AI-based virtual docent, and partnering with the DELTA Research and Analysis team for formal impact assessment, the team successfully transformed a dated resource into a cohesive digital learning ecosystem that clarifies both the equipment roles and the physical layout of the NC State research feed mill.

Digging into Soil Horizon identification and integration of immersive technologies (SSC 201)

The goal of this project was to replicate the on-site experience of studying a soil pit using a multimodal XR approach, thus solving the logistical and accessibility challenges of bringing students to the pit in person for their lab. 360° video, as well as drone- and handheld-based 3D scans, are interacted with via a headset to create an immersive experience without having to leave the on-campus lab, supplemented by physical soil samples, a Matterport tour, and detailed digital scans of soil structures. The resulting suite of apps and overall lab experience aims to be an approach that can scale to other soil sites around North Carolina and beyond.

Manipulating variables enables wild fire simulation (MEA 493)

The DELTA team and faculty began transforming wildfire science into a pair of safe, high-fidelity digital simulations by bridging the gap between dangerous in-person fieldwork and classroom theory. The project addressed the inherent complexity of fire behavior — which ranges from molecular chemical reactions to landscape-scale regimes — by developing a rigorous “simulation logic” document that eventually became a core teaching tool for the principal investigator. Technical hurdles regarding real-time performance were addressed by pivoting toward an optimized web application, where the team used specialized shaders and instanced geometry to reduce calculation times from minutes to seconds. Despite the challenges of managing parallel exploratory tracks and evolving feature sets, the resulting wildfire web simulation and tactical decision game allowed students to manipulate variables such as fuel moisture and wind direction in real time, as well as explore the challenges of decision-making in an immersive, virtual scenario. This multimodal approach was validated by pilot testing, which saw 93% of students report high engagement and a significant increase in their understanding of how fire propagates across diverse terrains.

Exploration of RAG models during AI testing (CH 221)

Faculty and the DELTA team collaborated to overcome the persistent issue of generic AI producing inaccurate or “hallucinated” responses due to a lack of course-specific context. While standard generative tools often fail to account for local lectures and lab manuals, this project developed a specialized chatbot that utilizes a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) model to anchor its knowledge in instructor-approved datasets. The project team navigated an extensive technical research phase — testing various stacks including LibreChat and LangChain before settling on a high-performance combination of LLMWare, DeepSeek, and Ollama — to ensure the tool provides precise, contextual answers for CH 221. By integrating student focus groups and a rigorous evaluation plan to track DFW rates and academic performance, the partnership successfully transformed a broad technological challenge into a customized instructional resource.

Exploring Metacognative strategies to empower students to Study Smart (BIO 183)

Undergraduate students often struggle to transition from high school study habits to the rigorous demands of university coursework, leading faculty across diverse disciplines to recognize a universal need for metacognitive support. The DELTA project team partnered with these instructors to bridge this gap by developing “Study Smart,” a research-based video series focused on “thinking about thinking.” This collaboration turned instructional insights into a polished digital resource by pairing faculty expertise with DELTA’s multimedia and instructional design specialists. To ensure the content resonated with the target audience, the team engaged students in focus groups to refine a conversational, peer-led tone across 15 modular videos. The final product successfully combined authentic student storytelling with actionable learning strategies, with evaluation data showing that even light exposure to the series significantly increased students’ study behavior scores and academic confidence.

From Study Tips to Study Science: The Story Behind NC State’s Study Smart Series

Modernizing a complex asynchronous course (PSY 230)

The faculty faced the difficult task of modernizing a complex asynchronous online course that had become difficult for students to navigate and misaligned with updated textbook standards. This challenge was compounded by the need to translate dense research topics into engaging, accessible content without the benefit of real-time instructor interaction. The DELTA project team collaborated with faculty to overhaul the course architecture using a “Quick Start Course Shell” based on Quality Matters standards, establishing a clear course map and a dedicated “Getting Started” module to streamline the user experience. To tackle confusing subject matter, the team implemented a multimedia-rich strategy that included professional teleprompter coaching for instructor videos, redesigned visual assets like Moodle banners and icons, and self-paced active learning activities via PlayPosit. Accessibility remained a core focus throughout the partnership, ensuring all PDFs were character-readable and video content was fully captioned. This comprehensive redesign concluded with a robust evaluation plan, including potential A/B testing, to measure how these structural and technological improvements directly impact student attitudes and academic performance.

Plant Murder Mysteries prepare students for solving plant health mysteries via Panorama Explorer (HS 201)

Horticulture faculty faced a significant instructional hurdle in HS 201: students found plant nutrient deficiency content “dry” and struggled to translate low-resolution, static photos into real-world diagnostic reasoning. To spark engagement, the DELTA team and Principal Investigator Jodi collaborated to transform the course into a gamified “Plant Murder Mystery” series where students play the role of lead investigators. This ambitious shift required the team to overcome the unpredictable nature of working with living subjects, as several “plant victims” died faster than scripts could be filmed, necessitating rapid story pivots and the use of “plant doubles.” The team addressed the desire for immersive learning by building a custom “Panorama Explorer” and a digital “case board” that allowed students to scout 360-degree crime scenes and collect evidence. By leaning into a hard-boiled detective aesthetic — complete with immersive diegetic audio, WebGL-powered teleportation effects, and cinematic intro videos — the project turned abstract science into a memorable narrative experience. Evaluation results confirmed the success of this approach, with 95.5% of students accurately identifying nutrient culprits and over 90% expressing high levels of curiosity and engagement compared to traditional lecture formats.

Complex computer operating systems get a facelift (CSC 246)

Instructional hurdles in CSC 246 often stem from the “dry” and highly abstract nature of operating system structures, which many students find difficult to visualize through traditional static lectures. To bridge this gap, the DELTA team and faculty partnered to transform these complex processes into a suite of dynamic animations, 3D graphics, and targeted infographics. This project moved beyond simple illustration by developing realistic media components specifically mapped to high-priority OS concepts, providing students with visual mental models of system organization and process flow that they can review outside of class. By integrating these resources into a restructured Moodle site featuring custom-designed student activities, the team created a comprehensive feedback loop to reinforce deeper learning. The partnership concluded with a rigorous evaluation plan designed to track student comprehension and specifically target an improvement in DFW rates, ensuring that the new digital assets effectively translate theoretical concepts into practical understanding.

Creative sprites give CSC students opportunity to elevate professional portfolios (CSC 481)

The DELTA team collaborated with Alex Card to enhance a flipped-classroom approach for Game Engine Foundations, an upper-level course in the Computer Science Game Design concentration. In addition to restructuring the course, the team developed a set of graphics to be incorporated into lecture material to help students visually understand various game engine architectures — such as system hierarchies, networking models, event synchronization, and multithreading. Additionally, four visually cohesive themes of 2D sprites were created to provide students with ready-made game assets to create more portfolio-ready game demos in their engines, in contrast to the previous status quo of solid-color rectangles, while letting them focus most of their efforts on their game engine’s underlying design. The transformations brought about by this partnership successfully streamlined the course, enhanced student learning, and leveled up the quality of resulting game engines and demo games!

Solar Energy shines. Class gets major content and structure revamp (ET 220)

To overcome the challenges of student isolation and technical complexity in an asynchronous solar energy course, the DELTA team and faculty partnered to align the curriculum with rigorous Quality Matters standards. This project addressed the common hurdle of maintaining engagement in a remote format by overhauling the Moodle architecture with a “Quick Start Course Shell” based on Quality Matters standards and integrating interactive tools like Perusall for social annotation and Yellowdig for community building. To bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and field application, the team repurposed existing Matterport scans into virtual site walkthroughs and curated IREC industry interviews, providing students with authentic professional perspectives. Supported by a comprehensive suite of faculty-led orientation videos and accessible multimedia, the redesign successfully transitioned from a static, outdated course to a transparent, interactive learning experience. A formal evaluation plan is now in place to measure how these structural and technological enhancements impact student attitudes and academic performance in the renewable energy sector.

Testing of RAG AI models against 3rd Party applications (BUS 444)

Building on a previous exploratory grant for BUS 444, the DELTA project team and faculty collaborated to address the challenge of integrating rapidly evolving, multi-modal generative AI into the business curriculum. The team recognized that while general AI tools are widely available, students and instructors often struggle with issues of accuracy, accessibility, and practical classroom application. To solve this, the partnership moved beyond basic text prompts to explore the customization of Large Language Models (LLMs) for specific business scenarios, specifically developing a small-scale simulation set in the technology consulting space. By creating and testing prototypes directly in the classroom, the team refined a deployment strategy that prioritizes free-to-implement solutions and multi-modal capabilities. This work resulted in an expanded AI Toolkit for instructors, providing a verified roadmap for incorporating simulations and learning resources that are both pedagogically sound and accessible to all students.

Exploring Generative AI in the Classroom: BUS 444’s DELTA Grant Journey

Immersive tech illuminates Triathlon transition stages (HES 106)

Integrating virtual reality into physical education addresses the logistical hurdle of simulating high-stakes, logistically complex environments — like a triathlon transition area — within the confines of a standard classroom. Because HES 106 lacks the space and equipment to physically stage the “fourth discipline” of triathlon racing, the DELTA team and instructor Renee Harrington collaborated to leverage the power of visualization through immersive 3D technology. By developing a VR experience that captures multiple perspectives of the transition stages, the team provided students with a way to mentally and visually rehearse the high-speed equipment changes required during a race. This approach moved beyond static instruction by experimenting with various point-of-view filming techniques, allowing students to witness the process from an athlete’s perspective. Ultimately, the partnership transformed a significant spatial constraint into a data-driven exploration of how VR can enhance athletic performance and diagnostic reasoning in the physical education realm.

Immersive VR Tours Promote Inclusive Recreation

Watch: DELTA Grants Stories — Working with DELTA

The cycle of creativity.

The Beginning, Behind the scenes, Mid-production and Final deliverables.

Previous Image 1 of 22 Next Image

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•