High-Impact Educational Practices

What are High-Impact Educational Practices?

High-Impact Educational Practices are a variety of teaching and learning practices that have been "widely tested and have been shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds" (Kuh 9).  Significantly, for those of us who teach and work within community colleges, these practices have been demonstrated to have the greatest impact upon students from traditionally underserved backgrounds.

The Ten High-Impact Educational Practices:

• 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

Why are these educational practices so effective?

According to George Kuh, Chancellor's Professor and Director of Indiana Univerity Center for Postsecondary Research, these educational activities have the greatest impact upon students for the following reasons:

1) They "demand that students devote considerable time and effort to purposeful tasks" (Kuh 14).
2) These activities typically place students into contexts and learning situations that increase their interaction with "faculty and peers about substantive matters . . . over extended periods of time" (Kuh 14).
3) The activities expand opportunities for students to experience greater diversity, whether it is social, cultural, ethnic, or intellectual.
4) The practices typically require that students receive more substantive feedback from peers, faculty, and mentor.
5) Students are provided the opportunity to demonstrate their actual learning. Integrating, synthesizing, and applying knowledge are "essential to deep, meaningful learnng experiences" (Kuh 17).
6) Students gain a broader perspective on the deep connections that run across disciplines, intellectual traditions, and within their own learning.

Further Discussion

Over the next few weeks, I will discuss some of these practices in greater detail. I also invite you to submit brief articles or suggestions on how best to put some of these High-Impact Educational Practices into effect, whether in an online or on-campus class.

If you would like to read the full report published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, you can locate it at http://www.neasc.org/downloads/aacu_high_impact_2008_final.pdf

--Ghazala Hashmi

Professor of English

Work Cited

Kuh, George. High-Impact Educational Practices: What They are and Who has Access to   Them. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2008.

Are We Academically Adrift in America?

Academically Adrift is a provocative, recently-published book that is generating a lot of conversation in academic circles and in the general public.  Authors Richard Arum,  professor of sociology and education at New York University, and Josipa Roksa, professor of sociology at University of Virginia, publish the findings of their four-year study of over 2,000 undergraduate students and present the case that

45% "demonstrated no significant gains in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and written communications during the first two years of college," and 36% showed no improvement over the entire four years

According to the authors, the lack of academic rigor is a primary culprit in students' deficiencies in developing higher reasoning, writing, and reading skills.  The majority of students reported that very few of their courses required them to write more than 20 pages total for the entire semester; even fewer required that they read 40 or more pages during the course of a week.

The research focuses on 4-year public and private institutions only. Arum and Roksa find that large lecture classes and the emphasis upon faculty research rather than teaching impede student development of critical skills. Community colleges are not a part of the study.  Interestingly, however, community colleges' general emphases on smaller class sizes, remediation, and on the work of faculty in the classroom seems to place 2-year institutions at an advantage in the area of developing student skills in analysis, writing, and reading.

Your comments or reactions to Academically Adrift and its findings are welcome.

Welcome to The Reynolds Ripple!

The Reynolds Ripple focuses upon The Ripple Effect, the Quality Enhancement Plan of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.  The site's purpose is to nurture our ongoing conversations about online education, teaching and learning, and assessment of student learning. We hope that you will actively join the conversation by following the work that is being done through the QEP and by sharing your own research, thoughts, and insights.


To begin, we invite you to take a look at this introduction to SmarterMeasure, the assessment tool that is currently being used at our College to evaluate student readiness for online learning.  SmarterMeasure provides students, advisors, and faculty with vital information that can help our learners make better decisions about class selection and learning strategies.


Prepared by Meg Foster, Assistant QEP Coordinator, this presentation provides an overview of SmarterMeasure, its various assessment sections, its feedback to students, and its integration with our SIS. Most importantly, this presentation focuses on using SmarterMeasure results in advising conversations and directs you to additional resources available for such advising. 
Access the presentation here.


After viewing the presentation, please post comments or questions, or email the QEP Team at rippleeffect@reynolds.edu.