Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices: Research and Models for Achieving Equity, Fidelity, Impact, and Scale

Enriching learning experiences such as learning communities, service-learning, undergraduate research, internships, and senior culminating experiences are positively associated with student engagement, deep, and integrated learning, and personal and educational gains. Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices provides examples of how educators are advancing equity, promoting fidelity, achieving scale, and strengthening assessment of their local high-impact practices. It offers perspectives, data, and critiques to interrogate and improve practice, and provides an understanding of what is needed to deliver the necessary support for administrators.

Format: Hardback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 13 July 2022
Publisher: Stylus Publishing

Research indicates that enhancing learning experiences, including learning communities, service-learning, undergraduate research, internships, and senior culminating experiences collectively referred to as High-Impact Practices (HIPs), have a positive impact on student engagement, deep and integrated learning, and personal and educational gains for all students, particularly historically underserved populations such as first-generation students and racially minoritized groups. While the potential benefits of HIPs for student learning, retention, and graduation are widely recognized and increasingly integrated into higher education programs, much of that potential remains unrealized. Furthermore, the implementation of HIPs often exhibits unevenness across institutions. Colleges are eager to embrace the HIP nomenclature for recruitment, promoting equity for traditionally underserved student populations, and preparing lifelong learners and successful professionals. However, HIPs defy easy categorization or standardized implementation. They require fidelity, quality, and consistency to achieve their learning outcomes, and above all, they necessitate attention to access and equity if they are to fulfill their promise of benefiting all student populations equally.

Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices aims to showcase examples from across the country of how educators are advancing equity, promoting fidelity, achieving scale, and strengthening assessment of their local high-impact practices. The book's chapters bring together the best current scholarship, methodologies, and evidence-based practices within the HIPs field, illustrating innovative approaches to faculty professional development, culture and coalition building, research and assessment, and continuous improvement that help institutions unlock the full potential of HIPs.

One of the key findings in the research is that HIPs have a particularly significant impact on historically underserved student populations. For example, learning communities, which involve students working in small groups with faculty members and peers, have been shown to improve academic performance, retention rates, and graduation rates for first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds. Service-learning experiences, which involve students engaging in community-based projects that address real-world problems, have also been found to enhance student engagement, promote social responsibility, and increase career readiness.

Undergraduate research, which involves students working closely with faculty members on research projects, has been shown to improve critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills, all of which are essential for success in the workforce. Internships, which provide students with hands-on experience in their field of study, have been shown to increase job placement rates and salaries for graduates. Senior culminating experiences, such as capstone projects, theses, and internships, have been shown to improve student confidence, self-efficacy, and graduation rates.

In addition to their impact on historically underserved student populations, HIPs have been shown to benefit all students, regardless of their background or academic interests. For example, deep and integrated learning experiences, which involve students engaging in complex and challenging coursework that connects different disciplines, have been shown to improve student learning outcomes and retention rates. Personal and educational gains, such as increased self-awareness, self-confidence, and social skills, have also been associated with HIPs.

Despite the many benefits of HIPs, their implementation is not without challenges. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that HIPs are delivered with fidelity, quality, and consistency. This requires institutions to invest in faculty professional development, provide adequate resources and support for students, and establish clear assessment protocols to measure the impact of HIPs. Another challenge is achieving scale, which requires institutions to integrate HIPs into their curriculum and provide opportunities for all students to participate in these experiences.

To address these challenges, institutions are taking a variety of approaches. For example, some institutions are creating dedicated centers or offices to support HIPs, while others are integrating HIPs into their existing programs and courses. Some institutions are also partnering with community organizations and businesses to provide students with real-world experiences and opportunities for community engagement.

In conclusion, research shows that enriching learning experiences such as learning communities, service-learning, undergraduate research, internships, and senior culminating experiences collectively known as High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are positively associated with student engagement, deep and integrated learning, and personal and educational gains for all students, particularly historically underserved populations. While HIPs have the potential to transform higher education, much of that potential remains unrealized. To fully realize the benefits of HIPs, institutions must invest in faculty professional development, provide adequate resources and support for students, and establish clear assessment protocols to measure the impact of HIPs. By achieving scale and ensuring that HIPs are delivered with fidelity, quality, and consistency, institutions can help all students achieve their full potential and succeed in their academic and professional pursuits.

Weight: 521g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781642673609