High Impact Practices

In 2008, George Kuh introduced 10 high-impact practices (HIPs) in a publication called High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter. Since then, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has strongly endorsed these practices based on a growing body of evidence that supports their value. In 2016, the AAC&U added an eleventh practice to complete Kuh’s list of HIPs: 

1. First-year seminars and experiences 
2. Common intellectual experiences  
3. Learning communities 
4. Writing intensive courses 
5. Collaborative assignments and projects 
6. Undergraduate research 
7. Diversity/global learning 
8. Service learning, community-based learning 
9. Internships 
10. Capstone courses and project 
11. ePortfolios

Like anything else in higher education, positive results depend upon planning and design. Results also depend on how success is measured. Therefore, when putting a HIP into practice, it is best to establish how success will be measured beforehand. When defining criteria for success, keep in mind the definition of success to an instructor is likely to be very different from that of an administrator.

Administrators tend to think about HIPS in terms of enrollment numbers, equity, and quality assurance while instructors think more about course design and what students gain from participating in them (Schneider, 2020).  Therefore, when planning to put HIPs in practice, it is best to consider institutional approaches as well as approaches to course design. Additionally, considering how combining multiple HIPs can impact results is important too.

Kuh and Kinzie (2018) pointed out that institutional context plays a factor in the success of HIPs, so what does that mean at UW-Platteville? When we offer opportunities to engage in high-impact practices are our students taking advantage of them? If not, then why? Additionally, just because we label something as a high-impact practice, is it really so?  According to Kuh, Kinzie, O’Donnell, & Reed, a practice should include the following characteristics to meet the quality threshold for being called a HIP:

• Performance expectations are set at appropriately high levels
• Significant investment of time and effort by students over an extended period of time
• Interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters
• Experiences with diversity
• Frequent, timely, and constructive feedback
• Periodic, structure opportunities to reflect and integrate learning
• Opportunities to discover relevance of learning through real-world applications
• Public demonstration of competence (Kuh, Kinzie, O’Donnell, & Reed, 2013, p. 7-8)

Students who participate in high-impact practices are more likely to experience higher performance, persistence, and graduation rates (Kuh and Kinzie, 2018). Some experiences with HIPs can even be transformative. By putting high-impact practices into place, we can help our students develop critical thinking skills, build relationships, and gain an appreciation for diversity.