High-impact Practices Research Articles

Assessing Experiential Learning Program Design and Delivery Using Institutional Mission and Professional Standards

BackgroundHigh-impact practices (HIPs), such as mentored research, Capstone projects, study abroad, and field experiences, have been shown to improve college student engagement through experience-based learning. Research indicates that these practices can have high impact when they are intentionally designed and delivered to align with institutional mission and professional standards. The administrative structure of a HIP initiative may not consider how to assess program effectiveness. Few close examples exist in the literature to guide program staff to understand whether the HIPs supported by their programs are being designed and delivered for high impact. Our study details the efforts of one unit at a large private university to evaluate the implementation of an experiential learning initiative intended to support faculty to design and deliver high-impact practices to students. PurposeThis qualitative case study responds to the call for assessment to ensure that HIPs qualify as high impact. It illustrates a standards-based approach to evaluating a program of co-curricular, experientially based high-impact practices by determining how educational design and delivery aligns with the institution’s mission and professional standards for best practice. Methodology/approachTo qualitatively evaluate how well our HIP program aligned with institutional mission and HIP standards, we collected narrative data drawn from six faculty projects, faculty interviews, and reflections from 70 participating students. We used the institutional mission and established HIP professional standards as confirmatory themes to code the narrative and observe levels of coverage. Administrative directives were mapped against the confirmatory themes to identify areas of high and low emphasis and emergent themes that fell outside specific mission and standards language were considered for meaning. Findings/conclusionsOur qualitative assessment of a HIP program revealed program strengths and areas in need of improvement. By evaluating the concentration of institutional mission and professional standard themes across the project narratives and within the way the program was structured and administered, we found strong alignment existed in the areas of intellectual growth and interaction with faculty and peers. When we found that other mission themes and standards were present at lower levels, we mapped the administrative directives to the themes and discovered that the high concentration themes occurred more frequently in the directives. This insight led us to observe that addressing all mission and professional standard themes more clearly in the design phase could serve to align administrative directives more closely. In addition to the presence of confirmative themes across the data, we found emergent themes that had meaning to study participants but fell outside of the mission and industry standards. The evaluative process taught us important lessons around how administration-to-faculty program directives can impact the design and delivery of pedagogical practice. RecommendationsEducational leaders should consistently use institutional mission and professional standard language in directives to faculty and staff; training faculty in designing HIPs to meet professional standards can benefit underserved students; and recognizing meaningful themes that emerge through program evaluation can illuminate important unanticipated outcomes.

Predictors of Purpose Among Young Adults in College: An Exploratory Analysis of the Importance of Relational Supports and Experiential Learning

College is an important context for young adults to cultivate developmental assets, solidify vocational plans, and nurture meaningful relationships. National data from Gallup have highlighted key experiences that positively impact a student’s experience while at college and their life after graduation. These “Big Six” experiences, including relationships with faculty and mentors and participation in high-impact practices, predict student success. Similarly, both theory and research underscore the importance of relationships, active engagement, and exploration in cultivating purpose and long-term aims. Little work has examined the cumulative and relative value of the “Big Six” experiences in explaining purpose development in college. The present cross-sectional and exploratory study sought to address this gap. Specifically, this study utilized hierarchical linear regression to examine the impact of different experiences and relationships on college student purpose at a small, liberal arts university in the Southeast region of the United States (n = 758). The results indicated that a greater number of “Big Six” experiences were predictive of a stronger purpose. Furthermore, experiences centered on relationships mattered relatively more in fostering purpose among college students than participation in high-impact practices. The findings are discussed in the context of the literature and recommendations for higher-education institutions are made.

Benefits and Drawbacks of International Medical Elective Databases in Abroad Elective Research: A Narrative Review.

International medical electives (IMEs) are considered high-impact practice in global health education. Nevertheless, international medical elective (IME) research remains scarce, with only a few new publications appearing each year. The discrepancy between the many unanswered questions regarding IMEs and the lack of opportunities to perform research in this field has been further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Elective databases cataloguing structured IME reports/testimonies could offer a viable solution here. This narrative review provides a balanced and objective evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of elective databases, summarizing their potential usefulness in IME research. The methodology employed was a multidisciplinary narrative review of the published and grey literature on databases cataloguing IME testimonies. Elective databases offer numerous benefits to the IME researcher. Their size allows for large analyses, built on hundreds of equally structured elective testimonies. Pre-defined outcomes, such as the elective destination, elective discipline or duration, are queried in a standardized way, allowing for a broad set of research questions. Elective databases are usually open-access, not confined to a single university, and free to use. Most databases also offer user-friendly filter functions, permitting targeted analyses centered around a particular outcome. A major drawback is that reports are rarely verified. Subject to several forms of bias (eg, recall and reporting bias), elective databases may not be suitable for all types of research questions, and the report quality is often inhomogeneous. Above all, they rarely allow for an informational depth that may result from qualitative face-to-face interviews. Elective databases could be a valuable supplement to interview-based elective research, potentially allowing for larger and broader analyses not confined to single institutions.

Assessing the Psychometric Properties of Quality Experience in Undergraduate Research Using Item Response Theory

Undergraduate research, recognized as one of the High-Impact Practices (HIPs), has demonstrated a positive association with diverse student learning outcomes. Understanding the pivotal quality factors essential for its efficacy is important for enhancing student success. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of survey items employed to gauge the quality of undergraduate research, including alignment with Kuh and O’Donnell’s (2013) eight HIP characteristics, alongside assessments of reliability, validity, and generalizability across demographic groups. The study assesses the validity and reliability of these measures at both the scale and item levels using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement’s (NSSE) HIP Quality Topical Module. The methodological approaches employed include Exploratory Factor Analysis, Parallel Analysis, Item Response Theory, and Differential Item Functioning (DIF). Our findings uncover a misalignment between NSSE’s HIP Quality module items and HIP characteristics, leading to the identification of seven subscales instead of eight. Nevertheless, four subscales—Reflective and Integrative Learning, Real-World Applications, Interactions with Others, and High-Performance Expectations—emerge as valid indicators of undergraduate research experiences. While specific items yield valuable insights at the item level, refinement is recommended for others. Despite the identification of two items exhibiting DIF, their negligible effect sizes suggest that major revisions are unwarranted solely on DIF grounds. This study offers recommendations for item refinement, including the incorporation of new items, wording updates, and tailored utilization of assessment tools within educational institutions. These recommendations are intended to empower educators and researchers to effectively capture the quality dimensions of students’ undergraduate research experiences, thereby fostering their academic success.

The implementation of high-impact practices and communication competency using the Arabic language

The implementation of high-impact practices and communication competency using the Arabic language

Engaging today's undergraduate students with the field of dairy science with a focus on the female student population

The dairy industry has profound economic importance, and individuals earning post-secondary degrees within dairy science-related fields are future industry leaders. Yet, enrollment at universities is declining and there is a labor shortage within the dairy industry. The objective of this review article is to highlight current trends within academia, identify some techniques to improve student experiences within higher education, and describe successful education strategies employed within dairy science-related fields. The proportion of female students within academia and agriculture-related degrees is growing; however, women still face gender bias and report higher incidence of mental health symptomology during their enrollment. With this, there is a profound need to address mental health-related issues throughout higher education, especially for the female student population. Additionally, active learning approaches and high-impact practices such as flipped classrooms, animal handling courses, capstone experiences, internships, and undergraduate research have shown promising benefits when employed in dairy and animal science-related fields. Universities play a critical role in guiding the future leaders of the dairy industry into successful and fulfilling careers, and this review highlights some pertinent strategies to improve the engagement of dairy science undergraduate students.

Introduction to the Assessment Update Special Issue: Beyond the 11 High‐Impact Practices (HIPs)

Introduction to the Assessment Update Special Issue: Beyond the 11 High‐Impact Practices (HIPs)

“I Learned How to Think, Not What to Think.” Student Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Honours Programme

The Arts and Science Honours Academy (ASHA) is a unique interdisciplinary undergraduate honours programme at a large research-intensive university in Canada. Data were collected in early 2020 from 108 past and present students, representing the first eleven cohorts of the programme. Triangulating results from quantitative and qualitative analyses, we describe the ASHA students’ educational and social experience during their time at university and, for those who have graduated, their post-graduate activities. Situating our investigation within previous literature examining interdisciplinary undergraduate learning communities and high impact practices, we assess whether students from arts and science disciplines experienced the programme differently, and which aspects of the programme were most impactful. We find that academically, students reported benefiting from the exposure to interdisciplinary thought, the opportunity to do research, and the study abroad requirement. Socially, students reported benefiting from the connections they formed with a small cohort of high achieving peers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. While science students reported benefitting the most from ASHA socially, arts students were more likely to indicate that the programme influenced their careers following graduation. These findings provide evidence to support the creation and design of future interdisciplinary undergraduate programmes.

Understanding engagement as a catalyst for leadership learning.

This article provides an overview of the theoretical foundations of leadership engagement. The authors synthesize research informing leadership engagement practice and research in college environments. They highlight evidence-based instructional strategies and high-impact practices for effective leadership engagement for college students, including considerations for identity-conscious leadership engagement. The article concludes with reflections on how leadership educators and scholars may continue to evolve practice and research for deeper leadership engagement opportunities.

What’s inside matters: an assessment of the family planning content of digital self-care platforms

BackgroundDigital technology has proliferated rapidly in low- and middle-income countries in recent decades. This trend will likely persist as costs decrease, dramatically expanding access to reproductive health and family planning (FP) information. As many digital tools aim to support informed choice among individuals with unmet contraceptive need, it is essential that high-quality information is provided. We set out to assess the accuracy and comprehensiveness of FP content in select user-facing digital self-care platforms.MethodsWe identified 29 digital tools in circulation between 2018–2021 and selected 11 that met our eligibility criteria for analysis. Referencing global guidance documents such as the Family Planning Handbook, Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, and the Digital Health for Social and Behavior Change High Impact Practice Brief, we developed an original rubric outlining 12 key content areas necessary to support informed, person-centered counseling. We applied this to each tool, enabling assignment of a numerical score that represents content accuracy and comprehensiveness across the 12 key areas.ResultsFP content of digital tools varied greatly in accuracy and comprehensiveness. Of the 12 identified key content areas, 5 were included in all 11 tools, while 6 were addressed inconsistently or not at all. Four content areas were the most accurate and comprehensive: complete list of modern methods, duration of protection, dual method use, and return to fertility. The lowest scoring content areas were side effect management, non-contraceptive benefits, effectiveness, side effects, and instructions for use. ConclusionsComplete, accurate, and evidence-based FP content is a foundational element of quality digital self-care. Inaccuracies and omissions can impact individual user experiences and decision-making in critical ways. FP content quality should be verified before digital tools are scaled or researched at the programmatic level. From this exercise, we developed a checklist for use in conjunction with global guidance documents to improve future FP content of user-facing digital tools.

Who Benefits? Building a Critical Service-Learning Model

As a best practice, community-engaged courses should benefit students, community, and faculty through centering the needs and goals of each entity. Ensuring reciprocity and centering sustainable authentic relationships requires great care, intention, time, and a clear strategy to execute. We describe how our intercollegiate and co-instructed Introduction to Sociology courses utilized a critical service-learning model to create authentic, sustainable, and reciprocal relationships between students, community, and university. Drawing from high-impact practices, we saw reciprocity in our learning communities where the partner organization and members benefited, students learned firsthand about a social issue, and the university committed to a community partner. Using case study methodology, we analyzed the experience of students within the course, interactions with each other, and our partner’s reflections. From this experience, we provide recommended practices for educators interested in employing critical service learning focused on authentic relationships and students as agents of social change.

The development of teacher interns' competencies of science instructional design and implementation using STEM activity based on DIY, Tinker and maker frameworks

The objective of this research was to examine the impact of STEM activity based on Diy, Tinker and Maker frameworks on developing teacher interns' competency in science instructional design and implementations. These activities involve the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics principles, fostering self-regulated learning, creativity, and innovation among students. The research encompassed the design of five STEM activity modules, including a UVC Box Experiment, Digital pH Meter, Air Sensor, Startup & Rare Earth Board Game, and Motion Sensor activity, which were shared with teacher interns via Google Classroom using tutorial videos, slides, and additional materials to enhance their skills. An examination of 26 lesson plans from 13 teacher interns was carried out through content analysis, within a learning model guided by High Impact Practices (HIPs) spanning six domains: well-structured lessons, project-based learning, reflection, learning progression framework, student-centered approach, and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The results showed that the application of the DIY, Tinker, and Maker framework through STEM activities effectively improves teacher interns' competencies in science instructional design and implementation. Particularly noteworthy was the gradual enhancement observed from the initial to the subsequent implementation across all HIPs domains, especially in showcasing TPACK. Nonetheless, the research also identified variations in competency levels, prompting contemplation among students. The importance of developing activities that stimulate student reflection emerged as a key point to consider. This indicates that STEM activities based on the concepts of DIY, Tinker, and Maker should emphasize such reflective practices. The insights obtained from this study could advance the enhancement of teacher interns' skills and encourage further exploration of the topics discussed.

Cervical cancer screening by cytology and the burden of epithelial abnormalities in low resource settings: a tertiary-center 42-year study

BackgroundCytological screening remains a high-impact practice, particularly in low-resource settings, for preventing cervical cancer. The examination of screening practices over time and the prevalence of epithelial abnormalities have not been investigated in longitudinal studies in one of the largest countries in the Middle East and Africa.MethodsRoutine healthcare data, between March 1981 and December 2022, were extracted from the database of the Early Cancer Detection Unit in a tertiary referral university hospital in the Greater Cairo Region, Egypt. Cervical smears were obtained using a standardized technique and sent to the cytopathology laboratory for conventional cytology examination by expert pathologists. The anonymous data were analyzed to determine the temporal trend of the number of women screened each year and the prevalence of epithelial abnormalities.ResultsData included the results of satisfactory smears from 95120 women. The mean age (SD) of the women at the time of screening was 38.5 (10.5). None of the included women received an HPV vaccine. Abnormal epithelial cells were reported in 5174 women (5.44%). Of these epithelial abnormalities, the majority were low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions in 4144 women (4.36%). Other abnormalities included atypical squamous cells in 378 women (0.40%), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions in 226 women (0.24%), atypical glandular cells not otherwise specified in 184 women (0.19%), adenocarcinoma in 165 women (0.17%), squamous cell carcinoma in 70 women (0.07%), and atypical glandular cells favoring neoplasms in 7 women (0.01%). Women who were at an early age at first intercourse, those who opted for routine cervical cytology screening, and those who were older at screening were more likely to have epithelial abnormalities. The yearly number of screened women was positively associated with the detection of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (correlation coefficient [95% CI] = 0.84 [0.72, 0.91]) and negatively associated with the detection of squamous cell carcinoma (correlation coefficient [95% CI] = -0.55 [-0.73, -0.29]).ConclusionsThe small number of annually screened Egyptian women and the temporal trend in epithelial abnormalities critically demonstrate the need for establishing and scaling up a structured population-based program to achieve the goal of eliminating cervical cancer.

High‐Impact Practices (HIPs) for All: Developing a Campus‐Wide HIPs Training Plan

High‐Impact Practices (HIPs) for All: Developing a Campus‐Wide HIPs Training Plan

Assessment and Scalability

The concept and practice of experiential education is rapidly expanding as universities seek to strengthen and integrate high-impact practices under experiential education plans and centers. While this integration has the potential to create synergy across disparate experiential learning offerings and to provide the benefits of experiential learning to all enrolled students, across majors and modality, scalability and assessment present a challenge. Many experiential learning practices were designed to serve a subset of enrolled students, and are resource-intensive in terms of faculty development and content delivery, assessment, and financial resources required. This paper presents the development and in-progress refinement of a experiential learning program at a regional comprehensive university in the southeast. The goal is to provide a detailed description of one EL program at one particular type of university, in order to add heterogeneity to the options university leaders can use as models. In addition, while this program has faced stumbling blocks, we believe it presents a strong template for other EL programs, with particular strength in comprehensive assessment.

Who Works on Campus?

On-campus employment is a high-impact practice for student retention, postgraduate success, and employability. This study engaged with twelve years (2007-2019) of student employment data from a large R-1 university to determine who has access to this high-impact practice and explore which types of students become on-campus employees. Aggregate totals suggest juniors and seniors, White students, and women access on-campus employment at far greater levels than men or students of Color. However, intersectional analyses by race and gender suggest students from certain racial and gender groups are consistently over or underrepresented in on-campus student employment. Implications for gender and racial equity in on-campus hiring practices and postgraduate support for students of Color are addressed.

Increasing Faculty Self-Efficacy in Mentoring through Training in Inclusive Mentoring and Course-based Undergraduate Research.

Encouraging diversity in biomedical fields is especially important and begins at the undergraduate level. Culturally competent mentorship and high impact practices, like involvement in research, play important roles in fostering success among undergraduates from historically underrepresented groups. The current study followed 20 biomedical faculty as they completed two semester-long trainings, one in mentoring and one in course based undergraduate research (CUREs) as part of the NIH Diversity Program Consortium Dissemination and Translation Awards initiative. Comparisons of pre- and post-training survey data showed increased self-efficacy for mentoring biomedical research trainees and for mentoring diverse groups of biomedical trainees. These results suggest that focused, formal faculty training can be effective for improving mentoring, and consequently success of biomedical students.

High-impact practices in cancer education and research: Undergraduate students' perceptions of skills and career development.

High-impact practices (HIPs) are educational practices that foster student success. HIPs have not been widely used in cancer education and research despite the need for students to develop key transferable skills and cultivate social responsibility. Our study addresses this need by implementing four community-based learning HIPs within the context of cancer education and research. Each HIP was classified as having low, moderate, or high alignment with the traits of effective HIPs. Undergraduate science students participated in one to four HIPs as a Feedback Participant, General Volunteer, Student Leader, or Cancer Undergraduate Research and Education (CURES) Class Student. We then studied the effect of these HIPs on students' development of knowledge and skills; career interest and preparedness; and social responsibility. Results from self-reported questionnaires showed that HIPs increased students' cancer knowledge and developed their transferable and technical skills. Many students reported that these HIPs strongly impacted their career preparedness; positively influenced their interest in pursuing careers in health or biomedical sciences; and encouraged them to participate in community service activities. Thus, these findings provide new insights into the perceived benefits of HIPs in cancer education and research by undergraduate students.

Enhancing Instructor and Student Experiences: A Guide to Successful Capstone Research Courses

Introduction Providing a quality undergraduate research capstone is a meaningful high-impact practice to facilitate American Psychological Association learning goals, and help students learn skills critical for both graduate school and future careers. Statement of the Problem The demands of such courses are often time-consuming and stressful, especially for instructors without teaching assistants. The goal of the current manuscript is to provide guidance and resources for faculty teaching undergraduate research experience (UREs) courses. Literature Review Previous research suggests that faculty workload and burnout are recurring sources of stress, and faculty often struggle to implement UREs effectively. However, these experiences provide experiential learning, and increase student engagement and motivation. Teaching Implications In a three-credit course with strict deadlines and flexible scheduling, guiding student-led projects becomes less daunting. Required attendance, deduction-only participation points, and other policies ease grading loads while reinforcing course objectives. Conclusion Student feedback, performance, and positive instructor experiences suggest that this structure helps overcome logistical barriers and create positive outcomes. Course resources are provided in open materials.

High Impact Teaching Practices in Introduction to Exercise Science Courses

High impact practices (HIP) are evidence-based teaching and learning tools which improve learning and student engagement. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of HIP in undergraduate introduction to exercise science classes. The student experience in introductory major courses can impact their persistence and success in the discipline, thus the use of HIP in these courses can be formative. It was hypothesized that the number of HIP used would differ based on institution type, instructor type, and class size. It was also hypothesized that collaboration would be the most frequently used HIP due to ease of implementation in the classroom. Faculty were electronically surveyed about the type and number of HIP used in their introductory course and information relative to instructor status and class size. The sample included 182 courses. Institution types were classified as either four-year public institutions ( n = 68), four-year private institutions ( n = 97), or community colleges ( n = 17). The most common instructor type was tenured/tenure-track ( n = 100), followed by full time term ( n = 39), adjunct ( n = 2), and different instructor types teaching the class ( n = 41). Class sizes were grouped in the following categories: 0-25 students ( n = 84), 26-50 ( n = 71), 51-75 ( n = 11), 76-100 ( n = 3), 101+ ( n = 13). Instructors reported an average of 1.3 + 1.2 HIP were used in the courses. There was a significant difference between the number of HIP used and institution type (F (2, 41.73) = 3.98, p = 0.026). Instructors at four-year public (1.03 + 0.98; p = <0.001) and four-year private (1.26 + 1.14; p = 0.005) institutions reported incorporating significantly fewer HIP than instructors at community colleges (2.12 + 1.58). There was no significant difference between number of HIP used and instructor type (F (3, 5.106) = 2.56, p = 0.166). There was a significant difference between number of HIP used and students per section (F (4, 13.37) = 4.54, p = 0.016) with 0-25 student sections (1.4 + 1.18; p = 0.024) and 26-50 student sections (1.32 + 1.20; p = 0.043) having significantly more HIP used in the courses than courses with 101+ student per section (0.62 + 1.17). At the 123 institutions where it was reported that HIP were used, 79.7% used collaboration ( n = 98). These data identify the use of HIP more frequently in introduction to exercise science classes with fewer than 50 students and those taught at community colleges. As many students may begin their degrees at community colleges, this use of HIP can be supportive of students remaining in the degree track. Further, the use of HIP, such as collaboration, in smaller classes may encourage relationships that may also help students feel more positively about the degree. No funding or support mechanism was used for this project. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.