In Creating Wicked Students, Paul Hanstedt argues that courses can and should be designed to present students with what are known as "wicked problems" because the skills of dealing with such knotty problems are what will best prepare them for life after college.

Paul Hanstedt is the Director of Pedagogical Innovation at Roanoke College, where, among other things, he has led the revision of a campus-wide general education program, developed an innovative writing-across-the-curriculum program, coordinated the implementation of the college's e-portfolio system, digitized a national literary journal and taught a wide range of courses. He is a faculty member for the AAC&U Institute on General Education and Assessment and the recipient of several teaching awards, including a 2013 State Council for Higher Education in Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award, and the 2014 CASE Carnegie Virginia Professor of the Year. He has received a Fulbright to aid general education curricular revision in Hong Kong, and is co-recipient of a FIPSE grant for sustainable faculty development. He is the author of numerous articles and stories, and two books: Hong Konged, a travel memoir, and General Education Essentials, a faculty introduction to current trends in liberal education.