Incorporating High Impact Practices

Summary

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.

Body

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:

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

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