Incorporating High Impact Practices

High-impact practices, or HIPs, show evidence of significant educational benefits for students who participate in them, including and especially those from demographic groups historically underserved by higher education.

Research consistently shows that incorporating HIPs improves retention and student grades, especially for students of color. When implemented well, HIPs have eight characteristics in common:

  1. Performance expectations set at appropriately high levels
  2. Significant investment of time and effort over an extended period of time
  3. Interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters
  4. Experiences with diversity, wherein students are expected to and must contend with people and circumstances that differ from those with which students are familiar
  5. Frequent, timely and constructive feedback
  6. Periodic, structured opportunities to reflect and integrate learning
  7. Opportunities to discover relevance of learning through real-world applications
  8. Public demonstration of competence

As with all teaching strategies, start with the course and/or program learning outcomes.

Examples

  • Capstone Courses of Projects
  • Collaborative Learning
  • Common/Core Curriculums
  • e/Portfolios
  • First Year Seminars
  • Internships
  • Learning Communities
  • Service Learning/Community-Based Learning
  • Research
  • Writing-Intensive Courses

Resources

Experiences That Matter: Enhancing Student Learning and Success, NSSE, 2007

High-Impact Educational Practices, AACU, 2008

High-Impact Practices: Eight Key Elements and Examples

HIPs: Enhancing the Student Experience

Research Articles

Katsumoto, S., & Bowman, N. A. (2023). The link between high-impact practices and college success among international students in the U.S. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16(6), 734–744. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000364

Kirby, L. A. J., & Thomas, C. L. (2022). High-impact teaching practices foster a greater sense of belonging in the college classroom. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46(3), 368–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1950659

McDaniel, A., & Van Jura, M. (2022). High-Impact Practices: Evaluating Their Effect on College Completion. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 24(3), 740-757.

Miller, A. L., Martin, N. D., & Frenette, A. (2022). Unpacking High-Impact Practices in the Arts: Predictors of College, Career, and Community Engagement Outcomes. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 52(3), 190–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2022.2029786

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