Getting Beyond the Label: What Makes High-Quality HIPs, How Widespread Are They, and Who Has Access to Them?
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2019-10-13
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Abstract
High-impact practices (HIPs) represent a core feature of a high-quality undergraduate education and are often hailed as life-changing events. The literature identifies a set of essential elements common across HIPs, yet to date most evidence about HIPs has been limited to student participation in designated HIPs, with scant empirical examination of their implementation. We report on a multi-institution study of students’ exposure to these elements of quality in six HIPs (learning communities, service-learning, research with faculty, study abroad, internships and field experiences, and culminating senior experiences) to deepen understanding of HIP quality and which students have access to high-quality HIPs.
Description
The term “High-Impact Practice” emerged after the publication of findings demonstrating salutary educational benefits associated with enriching educational experiences such as learning communities, service-learning, undergraduate research, study abroad, internships and field experiences, and culminating senior experiences (Kuh, 2008). Evidence supports the association of HIP participation with higher levels of deep learning (Kuh, 2008), greater sense of belonging (Ribera, Miller, & Dumford, 2017), higher persistence and perceived learning gains (Tukibayeva & Gonyea, 2014), and higher grades for underrepresented students (Kinzie, Gonyea, Shoup, & Kuh, 2008), among other benefits.
In Kuh’s analysis, HIPs share several common elements thought to be key to their effectiveness: high expectations for performance, significant investment of students’ time and effort, substantive interaction with faculty and peers, experiences with diversity and in unfamiliar situations, frequent feedback, opportunities for reflection and integration of learning, real-world application, and public demonstrations of competence. A number of higher education organizations, such as the Association of American College and Universities and the National Association of System Heads, as well as many colleges and universities across the country, actively promote HIPs and advocate for their expansion to more students, and particularly to historically underrepresented students.
Despite widespread enthusiasm for HIPs, the practices’ labels (learning community, service-learning, etc.) have assumed greater prominence than the educationally beneficial elements thought to characterize them. While many organizations and institutions track HIP participation, these assessments typically assess participation alone, without attention to quality. For example, NSSE’s reports to institutions report student participation in six HIPs (learning communities, service-learning, research with faculty, study abroad, internships and field experiences, and culminating senior experiences), but due to length constraints the survey does not assess the dimensions of HIP quality. The emphasis on HIP labels means the vital question of implementation has gone relatively unexplored. Consequently, not every activity identified as “high-impact” may live up to the name.
With support from Lumina Foundation, this study moves beyond the labels to assess (1) the extent to which HIPs manifest the common elements, and (2) the critical equity question of who has access to high-quality HIPs.
The session will introduce the questionnaire used to investigate HIP quality, briefly review instrument development and testing, and share results from the initial administration at more than 60 4-year institutions. Aggregate results will illustrate features of high-quality HIPs, examining the elements of quality within specific HIPs and the prevalence of high-quality HIPs. Having identified high-quality HIPs, we will then turn to the critical question of equity by examining the extent to which minoritized student populations have access to quality in their HIP experiences.
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High-impact practice, student engagement,
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