By Penny MacCormack

Is it a person, place, or thing? Our classic definition of a noun provides a helpful way to think about student success efforts. Interventions are often described as “things” to provide, such as supplemental instruction or guided pathways. We create “places” for student support, such as career, writing, guidance, and other “centers.” Less frequently do we conceptualize student success as a “person,” namely the “who” that brings the “what” and “where” to life.

These distinctions were drawn out at the inaugural High-Impact Practices in the States conference at California State University, Dominguez Hills last month. With the High-Impact Practices (HIPs) movement now in its 10th year, over 300 higher education leaders from around the country met to discuss how to implement HIPs with fidelity; what evidence demonstrates impact; and how to stimulate greater collaboration campus wide, to promote a coordinated embrace of these approaches.

Notably, the original 10 HIPs identified by George Kuh and his colleagues through an analysis of National Survey of Student Engagement data are typically described as the “things” associated with stronger student engagement and subsequent academic outcomes. They are first-year experiences and seminars, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments, undergraduate research, diversity and global learning, service and community-based learning, internships, and capstone courses and projects. Whereas some HIPs are located off campus or are typically offered to upper classmen and women, HIPs that take “place” on campus, in the early years, present the greatest opportunity to make a difference in most students’ academic careers.

But even then, HIPs only meet their full potential when implemented with fidelity—or, as Dr. Kuh emphasized, “when done well.” His own definitions set a high standard. Effective “first-year experiences” are rich with courses that promote critical inquiry and information literacy, and that require frequent writing and revision in a collaborative environment. “Common intellectual experiences” integrate learning objectives across courses, to foster a deep engagement with “big questions.” Students organized into learning communities need carefully constructed assignments that ask them to work and solve problems together and that invite serious consideration of diverse views. Even off-campus HIPs, such as service learning and internships, still have their most powerful effect when paired with structured group reflection, together, back in class.

These are sophisticated learning experiences. “When done well,” it turns out, hinges on the degree to which faculty members are prepared and supported to teach with a rich set of instructional approaches. The depth of their pedagogy in no small degree determines their ability to construct and facilitate high-impact learning opportunities. As explored at the Dominguez Hills conference, HIP fidelity is in the hands of faculty. So too is an institution’s ability to scale HIPs, so that these experiences are not perceived as standalone activities, but rather part and parcel of the everyday “practices” that professors facilitate and that students experience.

California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and Housatonic Community College (HCC) in Connecticut provide three case studies of institutions taking a systemic approach to the “what,” “where,” and “who” of HIPs. In a recent white paper published by the American Council on Education, titled Effective Teaching: A Foundational Aspect of Practices that Support Student Learning, my coauthors Brice Struthers, Steven C. Taylor, and I noted that each institution is emphasizing campus-based HIPs that can benefit all students, including first-year experiences and seminars, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, and collaborative assignments.  These institutions also recognize the support faculty need to implement HIPs well. For example,

• At CSUF, where a HIPs Task Force was established in 2013 and a model called REACH (research, experiential learning, active learning, community, and human exploration) has been used to promote HIPs, “CSUF leaders invested in support systems to provide faculty and staff with resources and guidance to implement HIPs into curricular and co-curricular experiences.” CSUF attributes stronger student retention and graduation to students’ participation in a HIP and notes that faculty felt better connected through a “collegial community.”

• To enhance the value of IUPUI’s RISE (research, international study, service learning, and experiential learning) program, the university has “developed taxonomies it will use to increase the quality of teaching using high-impact practices. . . . Each unit with responsibility for a high-impact teaching practice developed a taxonomy that serves as a framework and acts as a guide for quality course design, implementation, assessment, and improvement. Additionally, the university will offer more faculty and professional development and peer learning opportunities to promote best practices for HIPs implementation.” As a result, IUPUI is seeing a “marked increase” in GPAs among RISE students.

• At HCC, where HIPs initiatives have focused on academic support, tutoring, and supplemental instruction—especially for students in developmental courses—the college is also preparing instructors in evidence-based teaching practices through a course in the foundations of effective college instruction offered by my organization, the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE). HCC plans to further improve student retention by “enhancing instruction and maximizing the benefit of the HIPs it is currently implementing.” Among HCC students experiencing a range of HIPs, course pass rates were 10 to 30 percentage points higher.

Person, place, or thing? When done well, HIPs are all three. The “what” is easy to name, and the “where” is locatable. To fully optimize the impact of these interventions, we should ensure that faculty members are equipped with a core set of knowledge and skills in effective instruction as well as formal preparation in how to implement HIPs. They are the indispensable “who.”

This week, resources for helping nontraditional students thrive in college and preparing all student to become engaged citizens.

How Can Colleges Help Their Adult Students?
In this video, Anne Clark Bartlett, who was a no­­ntraditional student, discusses approaches institutions can use to help nontraditional students succeed, such as ensuring small class sizes so students can voice their diverse perspectives and encouraging faculty to work with students through challenges. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Pedagogy for a Thriving Democracy
Institutions and faculty must equip students with the knowledge and skills to be engaged citizens, according to David B. Hoffman. Faculty can encourage civic-mindedness by ceding some control to students, being flexible in lessons to encourage spontaneity, and providing support to help students learn from real-life contexts, among other strategies. (Forbes)

Student Preparedness Incorporated into the Course Design
Since teaching effectively depends on student preparedness, Lynn Gillette uses Class Preparedness Assignments (CPAs) to encourage advance preparation. The CPA is a guided reading assignment accompanied by an informational writing assignment graded pass/fail. Gillette finds that using CPAs improves her teaching as well as the quality of class discussions and students’ notes. (The Scholarly Teacher)

More Than a Higher Ed Degree
Based on research into what skills employers seek, Bentley University’s Prepared U program equips students with both hard and soft skills to succeed in the workplace. Bentley President Gloria Cordes Larson believes a liberal education is necessary for instilling these lifelong learning skills because it combines theory with real-world experiences. (University Business)

Turning Good Teaching on Its Head
Giving assistance to weaker students is more likely to have an impact than helping stronger students, Paul Diehl writes, since it could be the tipping point between success and failure. He encourages faculty to notice and proactively provide support to students who are struggling. (Inside Higher Ed)

Inclusivity Lessons From a Women’s College
Based on an interview with a woman who attends Smith College, Emma Bjorngard-Basayne and Kristi Kaeppel offer lessons to other institutions on how to build more inclusive classrooms. Their suggestions include implementing low-stakes problem-solving exercises that foster collaboration among students and initiating class discussions about power and privilege. (UConn)

ACE President Ted Mitchell and ACUE Founder and CEO Jonathan Gyurko provided an update on ACE and ACUE’s collaboration to over 100 presidents and chancellors who attended an opening reception at ACE’s 100th Annual Meeting this week. ACE and ACUE’s landmark collaboration was formed in 2016 to expand dramatically the use of effective teaching practices to benefit students, faculty, and institutions. Dr. Gyurko’s remarks are published below for our readers.

Thank you so much, Ted. It’s an honor to be ACE’s partner in this work.

About four years ago, with many of you and your colleagues, we started a conversation about how we could help many more students get a great education, and graduate.

We noted that students spend more time with their professors than any other college professional, and that for many who are juggling a lot of responsibilities, this time is our best—and sometimes only—opportunity to make a difference.

We asked ourselves—what could we do to help you strengthen these defining moments in a student’s academic career, and make great teaching the norm?

Now four years in, we hear from faculty every day who are learning together at our partner institutions, as they reflect on, and write about, the changes they’re making to their teaching, and the impact on students.

Their experiences align with our program data finding stronger student outcomes, and we’re often struck by just how much their reflections are full of joy (which I recognize isn’t the emotion typically associated with faculty).

We don’t think it’s by accident. We see a strong desire among adjunct, tenure-track, and tenured faculty to develop the skills that weren’t part of their doctoral or professional training. They’re welcoming the support, as are many teaching centers, who want to expand their reach and measure their own impact.

I’d like acknowledge what a privilege it is to be entrusted with work that is so core to our shared mission, and—as with anything that asks another person to make a change—that must be done with care and respect.

Finally, this is a reflection from a faculty member who may sound like one of yours:

“I used to believe my job was to deliver knowledge—to ‘give’ psychology to my students, and I didn’t think I needed to change my teaching. But I tried some new approaches. Sometimes they’d go really well. Sometimes I’d need more practice. And my students got more engaged. They’re completing their readings, because they know I’m going to ask more questions. They’re applying knowledge in ways that I would never have expected. They’re more comfortable coming to speak with me, and I understand a lot more about where they’re coming from. Now I see that my job is to facilitate their learning. Reaching each and every student requires a lot of different approaches, and I’m more thoughtful about what I’m doing, because every minute is precious.”

Every minute is indeed precious, and I thank you for giving me a few of yours. Have a wonderful conference.

This week, how to keep teaching from becoming rote, and using new teaching approaches to help today’s learners succeed.

Surprises in the Classroom
Keeping lessons from becoming too predictable will make learners curious about what will happen next, according to Bonni Stachowiak. Finding times to present problems or challenges, using props, playing games, and going on field trips are just some of the ways instructors can “surprise” their students in the classroom, she writes. (Teaching in Higher Ed)

Partner News

American Council on Education: ACE2018: Higher Education Leaders Gather in Washington for ACE’s 100th Annual Meeting (Higher Education Today)

Kansas State University: K-State Launch challenges students of all backgrounds to be entrepreneurs (Silicon Prairie News)

#8: “I’m awake.”

Meeting attendees taking the escalator between floors were greeted with a video montage from ACUE’s courses projected on the wall. In this still, a student featured in our unit on active learning is pictured saying “I’m awake. And I’m awake because I’m engaging constantly.”

#7: The nation’s teaching center

Testimonials from our subject matter experts and partners were included in the “Member Resources” section of ACE’s networking lounge slideshow. Here, a quote from José Bowen, president of Goucher College, that was published in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning is shared: “Through ACUE, we can prepare our faculty with their ‘degree’ in pedagogy. It can be the nation’s teaching center and help us change lives.”

#6: Presidents and chancellors address

ACUE Founder and CEO Jonathan Gyurko spoke at the Reception for Presidents and Chancellors on Saturday night, following opening remarks from ACE President Ted Mitchell about ACE and ACUE’s important collaboration. “We asked ourselves: What could we do to help you strengthen these defining moments in a student’s academic career and make great teaching the norm?” Gyurko said. “Now, four years in, we hear from faculty every day who are learning together at our partner institutions as they reflect on, and write about, the changes they’re making to their teaching, and the impact on students.”

#5: Standing room only

It was a packed house at the session “Innovation-Driven Approaches to Teaching Effectiveness” on Sunday morning, where Steven Taylor, director of academic innovation and initiatives at ACE, presided among presenters from Western Governors University, Carnegie Mellon University, and ACUE. Pictured above, our Chief Academic Officer Penny MacCormack shares a quote from Eduardo Padrón, president of our partner institution Miami Dade College: “I believe that great teaching—a long-sought priority of higher education—is within our grasp.” “If great teaching is within our reach,” MacCormack added, “then so is great student learning, and great retention and graduation rates.”

#4: Exhibiting collaboration

Molly Broad, president emerita of ACE, visited our exhibit to chat with our Founder and CEO Jonathan Gyurko. In 2016, Broad and Gyurko launched ACE and ACUE’s landmark collaboration to help institutions enhance student outcomes through effective instruction.

#3: The “donut hole” in the student success agenda

In “The Future of Teaching Across American Higher Education,” a Sunday afternoon session, Penny MacCormack, our chief academic officer, facilitated a conversation among panelists (pictured left to right) George L. Mehaffy, vice president for academic leadership and change at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU); David Brailow, vice president for development at The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC); and Ken O’Donnell, associate vice president of student success program integration and assessment at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Mehaffy described the “gap” he has noticed in many institutions’ student success initiatives: “As we looked at it, and looked at what people were doing across this array of institutions, large and small, in all parts of the United States, what we saw was what I describe as the donut hole. We talked about all of the support stuff, but we didn’t talk about what goes on in the classroom. And if you don’t talk about what goes on in the classroom, the rest frankly doesn’t matter.”

#2: A Hollywood moment

We were delighted to have Terri Jett, associate professor of political science and special assistant to the provost for diversity and inclusivity at Butler University, visit us in the exhibit hall. You may recognize Jett from our modules on “Motivating Your Students” and “Developing Self-Directed Learners.” Above, ACUE’s Julie Candio Sekel, Tricia Russ, and Pete Nowka are all smiles posing with Jett (second from the right).

#1: Cheers to 100 years

Congratulations to ACE on 100 years of service to higher education. This timeline showcases ACE’s many accomplishments, from 1918 when the Emergency Council on Education was formed, to today, as ACE continues to confront the major issues affecting higher education, offer a collective voice in advocacy efforts, and share research and practices that advance our institutions’ work. We are honored to have our collaboration with ACE be included as a milestone among ACE’s most impressive history.

“Did you know that I never raised my hand to answer a question once in college?”

“Me neither.”

We had been doing workshops with faculty from our own institution and others about inclusive teaching for quite a while before we had this conversation. It didn’t surprise either of us that we shared this history, because we previously had numerous conversations about how being introverts shaped the way in which we viewed teaching and learning. And we attended enough professional events together to know neither one of us was likely to pipe up with comments in a large group setting. Large group formats usually don’t work for us because they lack facilitators who use multiple modes of gathering comments. They don’t work for many of our students, nor do they work for professionals at conferences or employees in meetings.

Besides introversion, many students don’t “speak up,” even with incentives, because they don’t want to risk being wrong, don’t have the “right” accent, don’t feel comfortable with their peers, don’t come from a culture that rewards speaking out, or don’t think their contributions add value. When we examine our own teaching, and ask others to observe us, it is worth asking the question, “Who is missing from the full learning experience here?”

Teaching inclusively requires faculty to reflect intentionally on the decisions they make in their course that affect who is not being included or heard. Our goal when we work with faculty in workshops is to have them embrace the idea that the inherent diversity of their students is not a problem and acknowledge that a lack of structure in both course design and classroom environment hurts students unequally. We then provide some practical, easy-to-use tools to empower faculty to make their courses more inclusive. It’s worth focusing on the two areas to which faculty can bring more structure: course design and classroom environment.

Course design

The structure of the course design includes decisions about the number of assignments—the distribution of low-stakes vs. high-stakes assignments, how “participation” will be graded, opportunities for practice and feedback, the types of readings, the diversity of authors of those readings, and so much more. Students on our campus, like many, are already noticing a lack of diversity in the syllabus and the need for enhanced practice via technology.^1,2 When there isn’t enough structure in a course design, there will be inequity. For example, a course based on only a few high-stakes exams or papers (i.e., low structure) might be fine for a resource-savvy student who knows how to distribute studying and access peer support and university support services. Other students will wait to cram, not know how to approach peers outside the classroom, and not know about support services before it is too late. Increasing structure, such as building low-stakes, regular assessment into a class, levels the playing field. We’ve been inspired by Scott Freeman’s work on the impact on student outcomes when course structure is increased.³

Course environment

The course environment includes how we facilitate a conversation to hear from a variety of people through oral, written, or digital communication, the “rules and guidance” we set for interactions within a classroom, how instructions are given for students to interact and collaborate, opportunities for students to participate beyond listening, etc. When there is not enough structure in the environment, some students’ contributions will be missing. In our case as introverts, we won’t raise our hands, but we would be more than happy, for example, to work in small groups with our peers, submit answers via technology or note cards, and share our ideas via discussion boards. As introverts, we feel slighted when there aren’t other ways we can show you we too are engaged. These same feelings hold true for other students who are unrepresented in a myriad of different ways and don’t feel comfortable contributing to the classroom conversation. We’ve been inspired by the work of Kimberly Tanner, who has published a list of many excellent techniques we’ve been putting into practice for years.⁴

Why teach inclusively?

Along the way, through our own scholarship of teaching and learning work, we’ve come to see tremendous benefits to our students’ success in our classrooms as we’ve incorporated more structure of course design and environment. Performance on summative assessments improved for all students. Kelly has documented closing of the achievement gaps for underrepresented students and increased feelings of community in her introductory biology course.⁵ Viji has found interest and motivation increased significantly in her introductory statistics course and improved grades for everyone.⁶ Teaching in this way makes it transparent to students that there is value in assembling as a group and that multiple perspectives are not only valued, but necessary for learning. In short, by making classrooms more inclusive, we’re broadening the pool of students who are inspired by the course content and successfully complete the course.

How to teach more inclusively  

One way in which you can immediately foster inclusive teaching is to ask, listen, and learn from your own students. For example, we recently facilitated a campus-wide conversation on inclusive teaching.⁷ Faculty reflected on challenges to inclusion and students reflected on what inclusion meant, as well as what noninclusion meant. Students often alluded to the course structure, for example:

• “My grade depends on speaking out in class . . . this makes me feel like I do not belong or am somehow doing something wrong by being shy or introverted.”
• “All the professor does is talk. It is often the case where the professor only talks and goes through the lecture slides. This makes me feel like the ‘learning’ aspect is not important.”

Some faculty expressed their frustrations with wanting to teach more inclusively, but also suggested the need for faculty development and training to do so. After all, our faculty want all of our students to learn, but many of us, in the absence of training, teach in the way we were taught. But, we must remember we aren’t representative of our students. If we truly want all students to successfully master the content of our courses, we must also provide the appropriate structure and guidance to do so. We succeeded academically and, for the most part, navigated a variety of classroom experiences successfully. The classrooms, students, and technology are shifting, so our teaching should as well.

For some, learning to teach inclusively may mean an intensive redesign of their course, but in our workshops with faculty across the country, we also like to give them smaller, hands-on strategies that they can put to use right away. Here are a few:

• When you pose a question to your class, consider a think-pair-share, but actually give students time to think! Tell them there will be 1 to 2 minutes of silent reflection (consider setting a timer) and then you will let them know that discussion can begin.
• Vary who reports out for small-group work by assigning a “reporter.” We like to foster community by asking students to share something about themselves in their small group. For example, the reporter should be the person whose home is farthest away, or the person with the most number of siblings.
• Do an anonymous index card swap to get a variety of ideas heard. Students can respond to a question you pose on an index card. Ask them to swap with a neighbor, and then swap 3 to 5 times until everyone has a card. Randomly call on students to read the card in front of them.

To reflect and improve upon teaching practices more broadly, we suggest the following practices:

• Survey your students: Ask them early and directly for ways that they can feel included as well as what has previously made them feel excluded. Address their responses.

• Participate in peer observation and evaluation: Consider having a peer evaluate your resources (syllabi, course management site, readings, etc.) with an eye towards inclusion. Invite a colleague (or two!) to observe you teach using rubrics specifically geared towards peer observation.
• Attend teaching and learning workshops: Seek out workshops on inclusive teaching or classroom facilitation.

Teaching inclusively makes it explicit to our students that we value them and their contributions. And while we’re still not the types to raise our hands or the first to speak, we’ve learned that this “deficit” has become a major strength in our teaching and faculty development work.

References

1. Drysdale, C. (2018, February 11). Letter: Online resources democratize education. The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved from http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2018/02/letter-1-021218
2. Ellenburg, E. (2018, January 31). Are UNC’s syllabi excluding underrepresented groups? The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved from http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2018/01/diverse-coursetexts-0131.
3. Haak, D. C., HilleRisLambers, J., Pitre, E., & Freeman, S. (2011). Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology. Science, 332, 1213–1216. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1204820
4. Tanner, K. D. (2013). Structure matters: Twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student engagement and cultivate classroom CBE—Life Sciences Education, 12, 322–331. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-06-0115
5. Eddy, S. L., & Hogan, K. A. (2014). Getting under the hood: How and for whom does increasing course structure work? CBE—Life Sciences Education, 13, 453–468. https://doi.org/1187/cbe.14-03-0050
6. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for Faculty Excellence. (n.d.). Faculty spotlight: Viji Sathy. Retrieved from https://cfe.unc.edu/2016/10/viji-sathy/
7. Redus, A. (2016, September 20). Carolina Conversations holds its first event of the year. The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved from http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2016/09/carolina-conversations-holds-its-first-event-of-the-year

Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy are both award-winning professors with a combined 20+ years in the classroom at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They are passionate about student success, equity, and inclusion in the classroom. They have expertise on inclusive techniques and active learning in any size crowd, because both teach courses routinely with hundreds of students. On their campus, they lead innovative classroom and diversity administrative initiatives that benefit all students, faculty, and staff. Dr. Hogan and Dr. Sathy are also involved in numerous curriculum reforms, including bringing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and “making” to all disciplines. Beyond the campus, both have been featured experts in ACUE’s Course in Effective Teaching Practices, have been active in the scholarship of teaching and learning in their respective disciplines of biology and statistics, and offer workshops across the country to faculty and administrators to facilitate inclusive classrooms and meetings. To learn more, go to inclusified.net.

Teaching and learning centers are encouraging instructors to use innovative ways of teaching, and a higher education leader implores faculty to use high-impact educational practices at the National Student Success Conference.

Centers of the Pedagogical Universe
Rather than introducing faculty to new technologies, many teaching and learning centers are teaching faculty to use existing tools to improve the classroom experience and exploring innovative ways to teach. (Inside Higher Education)

The ‘Quiet Revolution’ in College Teaching
Faculty and academic leaders met at California State University-Dominguez Hills to confer on “high-impact educational practices.” Many leaders are pushing to ensure that all students have access to these teaching approaches through methods like bringing students’ personal experiences into the curriculum. (Medium)

How to Make Sure Students Graduate With More Than a Diploma
“Students should be different when they complete college than they were at the outset,” George Kuh said at the National Student Success Conference last week. He advocates the use of high-impact practices like service learning, internships, and learning communities to enable them to learn real-world skills. (The Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter)

The Case for Inclusive Teaching
Traditional teaching methods have not served all students equitably, Kevin Gannon writes. Inclusive teaching benefits all students, Gannon opines, urging instructors to ensure that their coursework reflects a range of beliefs and attitudes both in preparation and teaching itself. He also suggests that faculty consider how their own biases might influence their teaching. (Vitae)

How to Manage the Emotional Toll of Teaching
Jessica Riddell describes how teaching can take a toll on instructors’ mental health. In order to get out of an “academic funk,” she points to the lessons of Parker Palmer, who suggests that faculty remind themselves of what initially drew them to the profession and revisit the lessons of mentors. (University Affairs)

Partner News

West Virginia University: WVU held Innaugural TedX conference (WBOY)