A Closer Look at Selected High-Impact Practices

1. A Closer Look at Selected High-Impact Practices • George D. Kuh • Humboldt State • Arcata, CA • May 18, 2011

2. High Impact Activities • First-Year Seminars and Experiences  • Common Intellectual Experiences • Learning Communities • Writing-Intensive Courses • Collaborative Assignments and Projects • Undergraduate Research • Diversity/Global Learning • Service Learning, Community-Based Learning • Internships • Capstone Courses and Projects

3. 80.0% None 1 HIP 2 HIPs 3 or more HIPs Percentage Graduating "On Time" (i.e., in 2006-07) 73% 69% 70.0% 68% 65% 63% 60.0% 54% 48% 50.0% 40.0% 38% 30.0% 20.0% [ [ V = .255 (.007)] V = .109 (.094)] Latina/o Respondents Other Respondents High-Impact Practices and Senior NSSE Respondents Graduating on Time Source: Does Participation in Multiple High Impact Practices Affect Student Success at Cal State Northridge? by Bettina Huber (unpublished paper, 2010).

4. Integrating ideas or information from various sources Included diverse perspectives in class discussions/writing Put together ideas from different courses Discussed ideas with faculty members outside of class Discussed ideas with others outside of class Analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience, or theory Essential Learning Outcome:NSSE Deep/Integrative Learning • Synthesizing & organizing ideas, info., or experiences • Making judgments about the value of information • Applying theories to practical problems or in new situations • Examined the strengths and weaknesses of your own views • Tried to better understand someone else's views • Learned something that changed how you understand an issue

5. Employers assess the potential value of high-impact educational practices % saying each would help a lot/fair amount to prepare college students for success Students complete a significant project before graduation that demonstrates their depth of knowledge in their major AND their acquisition of analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills (62% help a lot) Students complete an internship or community-based field project to connect classroom learning with real-world experiences (66%) Students develop research skills appropriate to their field and develop evidence-based analyses (57%) Students work through ethical issues and debates to form their own judgments (48%) 84% 81% 81% 73%

6. Employers assess the potential value of high-impact educational practices % saying each would help a lot/fair amount to prepare college students for success Students acquire hands-on or direct experience with the methods of science so they will understand how scientific judgments are reached (40% help a lot) Students learn about cultural and ethnic diversity in the context of the United States (34%) Students learn about the point of view of societies other than those of Western Europe or North America (35%) Students take courses that explore big challenges facing society, such as environmental sustainability, public health, or human rights (28%) 65% 60% 58% 50%

7. Common Intellectual Experiences When students read and write or conduct inquiries about the same material, they are more likely to: • talk about substantive matters outside of class • study together • see connections between different courses • integrate and synthesize material

8. Service Learning • Community-based project as part of a regular course • 36% of FY students and 46% of seniors participate in SL • More likely to be present at smaller and private institutions • Positively associated with deep learning and personal development

9. 4 3.5 Seniors First-Year 3 Students Self-Reported Gains in Writing Clearly & Effectively 2.5 2 1.5 1 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Number of Pages Written Writing & Gains in Writing National Survey of Student Engagement

10. 4 First-Year Students Seniors 3.5 3 Self-Reported Gains in Writing Clearly & Effectively 2.5 2 1.5 1 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Number of Pages Written-- Fewer than 5 Page Papers Short Papers & Writing Gains National Survey of Student Engagement

11. 4 3.5 Seniors First-Year 3 Students Self-Reported Gains in Writing Clearly & Effectively 2.5 2 1.5 1 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Number of Pages Written--Between 5 and 19 Page Papers Medium Papers & Writing Gains National Survey of Student Engagement

12. 4 3.5 Seniors 3 First-Year Students Self-Reported Gains in Writing Clearly & Effectively 2.5 2 1.5 1 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Number of Pages Written—20 Page Papers Long Papers & Writing Gains National Survey of Student Engagement

13. 4 3.5 Seniors 3 First-Year Students Average Deep Learning 2.5 2 1.5 1 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Number of Pages Written Writing and Deep Learning National Survey of Student Engagement

14. 4.00 3.50 Seniors 3.00 First-Year Students Average Deep Learning 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Number of papers of fewer than 5 pages Writing and Deep Learning National Survey of Student Engagement

15. Encourage Interactive Writing Activities For how many writing assignments did you: • Talk with your instructor to develop your ideas before you started drafting your assignment • Talk with a classmate, friend, or family member to develop your ideas before you started drafting your assignment  • Receive feedback from your instructor about a draft before turning in your final assignment  • Receive feedback from a classmate, friend, or family member about a draft before turning in your final assignment  • Visit a campus-based writing or tutoring center to get help with your writing assignment before turning it in For how many writing assignments did your INSTRUCTOR: • Ask you to give feedback to a classmate about a draft or outline the classmate has written

16. Assign Meaning-Constructing Writing Tasks For how many of your writing assignments did you: • Summarize something you read, such as articles, books, or online publications • Analyze or evaluate something you read, researched, or observed • Describe your methods or findings related to data you collected in lab or field work, a survey project, etc. • Argue a position using evidence and reasoning • Explain in writing the meaning of numerical or statistical data • Write in the style and format of a specific field (engineering, history, psychology, etc.) • Address a real or imagined audience such as your classmates, a politician, non-experts, etc.

17. Explain Writing Expectations Clearly For how many of your writing assignments did your instructor: • Provide clear instructions describing what he or she wanted you to do • Explain in advance what he or she wanted you to learn •  Explain in advance the criteria he or she would use to grade your assignment

18. Writing Summary • The more frequently students work on meaning-constructing assignments, engage in interactive writing activities, and receive clear expectations: • They report engaging more in deep learning activities. • They report gaining more in desired learning and development outcomes.

19. Writing Summary • These results persist after controlling for: • Student characteristics such as gender, parental education, race, grades, and major. • The amount of reading and writing that students do.

20. Writing Summary Working on meaning-constructing assignments, engaging in interactive writing activities, and receiving clear expectations are each more important than the amount of writing that students do.

21. Research with a Faculty Member • Outside of course/program requirements • More likely in the sciences; less likely in business • Majority utilized existing info (libraries, WWW), and almost half worked in laboratory and fieldwork settings • Reviewing literature and interpreting findings most closely related to deep learning • Data collection had the weakest relationship

22. Contributions to Aspects of the Research Project

23. Average Weekly Research Hours

24. Percentage of Students Participating in Research with Faculty by Faculty Time Spent on UG Research Hours per week

25. Percentage of Students Participating in Research with Faculty by Importance Placed on UG Research Somewhatimportant Important Veryimportant

27. Culminating Senior Activities • Capstone course, senior project or thesis, comprehensive exam, field placement • A third (32%) of seniors reported having completed such an experience • Another 29% said they planned to do so before graduating

28. Participation in Selected Culminating Activities

29. Senior Culminating Experiences Results 1 Seniors who participated had higher scores on NSSE’s Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice a Analyses weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institution size. b ***p<.001

30. Outcomes Associated with Senior Culminating Experiences • Deep learning: Attend to underlying meaning of information as well as content; Integrate and synthesize ideas, information; Discern patterns in evidence or phenomena; Apply knowledge in different situations; View issues from multiple perspectives • Educational Gains: • General Education – Writing; speaking clearly; gen ed; critical thinking • Practical Competence – Working with others, solving real problems, work related knowledge • Personal/Social Development – understanding self; contributing to community;

31. Senior Culminating Experiences Results 2 Seniors who participated had higher scores on deep approaches to learning & greater self-reported gains a Analyses weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institution size. b ***p<.001

32. Culminating Senior Experience • Students reported that culminating experience contributed “substantially”(quite a bit, very much) to their abilities, varies by experience • Field placements have impact on greatest number of gains • Also beneficial: • Projects that required greatest investment of time, • Working in groups, • Meeting often with supervising faculty member, and • Receiving clear expectations for the activity.

33. Percentage of Faculty Indicating Activity is Important

34. Make Work a High-Impact Activity

35. U of Iowa Student Employment Pilot Project • Supervisors from Student Health Service/, Housing, and Iowa Memorial Union • Supervisors received one hour of training on: • Outcomes of student employment • Results from the previous year’s Division of Student Services Student Employment Survey • Background on the role supervisors can play in helping students make connections between work and academics • Expectations for the Pilot Project

36. U of I Student Employment Pilot Project • Supervisors had two structured conversations with every student employee during spring semester and coded conversations into the following categories: • How the job and academics complement each other (“How is your job fitting in with your academics?”) • Transfer between work and academics (“What are you learning here at work that is helping you in school?”) • Transfer between academics and work (“Are you learning anything in class that you can apply here at work?”) • Transfer between work and future career (“Give me a couple of examples of things that you are learning here at work that you will be using in your future profession?”)

37. U of Iowa Student Employment Pilot Project • Student Employment Survey used to examine differences between pilot and non-pilot participants.

38. Student Employment Outcomes: U of Iowa Pilot Project Participants

39. Student Employment Outcomes: U of Iowa Pilot Project Participants

40. Student Employment Outcomes: U of Iowa Pilot Project Participants

41. Student Employment Outcomes: U of Iowa Pilot Project Participants

42. Ponder This • What high-impact practices (HIPs) – those identified by AAC&U and others -- are available at HSU/in our department? Which students do them? • Are our HIPs designed for and available only to our majors? Should they be? • Do students know about the HIPs available here? How do they learn about them? • How do we know our HIPs are effective? What is the evidence?

43. Questions & Discussion