A bit of background is needed first. High-Impact Practices (HIPs) may be unfamiliar term, but you are likely to be familiar with the practices described by Kuh (2008):
⦁First-year seminars and experiences
⦁Common intellectual experiences (core curriculum—in its various permutations)
⦁Learning communities
⦁Writing-intensive courses
⦁Collaborative assignments and projects
⦁Undergraduate research
⦁Diversity/global learning
⦁Service learning, community-based learning
⦁Internships
⦁Capstone courses and projects
⦁ePortfolios (added in 2016)
What are these practices within the context of education?
“ the unusually positive benefits that accrue to students who participate in such an educational practice, including enhanced engagement in a variety of educationally purposeful tasks; gains in deep, integrative learning; salutary effects for students from historically underserved populations (that is, students get a boost in their performance); and higher persistence and graduation rates” (Kuh & Kinzie, 2018).
Hobbs and Kropp (2018) recognize that these changes are large-scale initiatives. However, they still see a way in which individual instructors can create and design into their courses engaging learning that builds skills similar (a bit scaled back perhaps) to those supported by HIPs. The authors interpreted the discussion about “why some educational activities are unusually effective” (Kuh, 2008, p.14) as a series of behaviors. They suggest that students who participate in HIPs will engage in the following six behaviors:
1.Invest time and effort
2.Interact with faculty and peers about substantive matters
3.Experience diversity
4.Respond to more frequent feedback
5.Reflect and integrate learning
6.Discover the relevance of learning through real-world applications
This boils down to the authors’ proposal that changing course structure, projects, student communication, or community connections are approaches that, when implemented correctly, will encourage and support those six, highly desirable, behaviors. I believe most educators would support these and find positive learning outcomes for their students at the course level. They reflect much of what we have learned over time regarding learning (pedagogy, andragogy). However, we should not lose sight of the greater intent of High-Impact Practices. They aim to wrap around a student’s academic experience and support them to completion. And, they aim to be inclusive across the student population and serve the previously underserved.
Use the six behaviors as a guide to designing your course, and seek opportunities to engage in the bigger picture of developing programs to support HIPs within your institution.
0 Comments.