The Elements of Impact
Fall 2025 麻豆视频APK Magazine
Alina Oxendine, PhD, leads a classroom discussion. She also co-leads 麻豆视频APK鈥檚 initiative to strengthen student outcomes through high-impact learning strategies.
By Staff
Photos by CT Ryan Photography
In today鈥檚 fast-paced world of higher education, faculty continually refine their teaching methods to support students with creativity and purpose. A particularly beneficial approach 鈥 high-impact pedagogy 鈥 is being integrated across the 麻豆视频APK curriculum with support from our dedicated faculty and a $2.3 million grant from the Title III Strengthening Institutions Program administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
New Strategies for Student Success
High-impact pedagogy was first described in a 2008 report by experiential learning expert George D. Kuh, PhD, titled, 鈥淗igh-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter,鈥 published by the American Association of Colleges & Universities. Kuh identified educational practices that result in greater engagement, deeper learning, and better outcomes 鈥 such as graduation 鈥 among students who participate, and especially so for students from historically underserved communities.
The high-impact practices (or HIPs) Kuh described typically show up in syllabi, course catalogs, and graduation requirements in the form of capstone courses or projects, collaborative assignments, first-year seminars, community-based learning, global learning, internships, research projects, and writing-intensives.
In 2013, Kuh and his coauthors expanded the potential application of HIPs by identifying eight common elements (see graphic below) that can be used as design principles to increase student engagement and deep learning within a broader range of educational formats.
Greater Impact by Design
While 麻豆视频APK has long offered high-impact experiences to students, the Title III grant enables the university to provide training and support for faculty to embed the eight elements into many more courses. Our goal is for 80 percent of courses to include high-impact components within five years.
鈥淎s a result, more 麻豆视频APK students will have access to at least one high-impact experience and it鈥檚 likely that many students will participate in more than one during their college careers,鈥 explained Alina Oxendine, PhD, professor and department chair for Political Science and one of four leaders of 麻豆视频APK鈥檚 HIP initiative.
Kuh recommends students have at least two HIPs during college and preferably one per year. According to Oxendine, the first year is a great time for students to dive into high-impact course work. 鈥淪tudents who are able to see the relevance of their studies early on in their college careers tend to be more motivated to stay in school and complete their degrees,鈥 she said.
Essential Elements of High-Impact Educational Practices (HIPS)
Performance expectations
Performance expectations for students are appropriately high.
Student investment
Significant investment of time and effort by students over an extended period.
Student-faculty interactions
Interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters.
Diversity
Experiences with diversity that expose students to unfamiliar people and circumstances.
Feedback
Frequent, timely, and constructive feedback.
Time for reflection
Periodic, structured opportunities for students to reflect and integrate learning.
Real-world learning
Opportunities for students to discover real-world applications of learning.
Demonstrated competence
Public demonstration of competence.