Measuring the prevalence of high impact practices in biological science majors at a large comprehensive university

Abstract

An increasing number of schools in higher education have adopted Kuh (2008)’s high impact educational practices (HIPs) within their curriculum.1 These HIPs have been shown to enhance student engagement, learning, and academic success.3,4 Ten HIPs have been defined, these include practices such as first year seminars and undergraduate research.2 However, whether or not students are taking part in these opportunities is up to the institution to discover.2 A number of universities have set goals to collect baseline data on these HIPs and to ensure that students participate in ≥ 2 HIPs by graduation.5 Surveys are one method to measure student engagement in HIPs, for example the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) which is a large scale survey that is implemented in universities across North America.2 It is recommended that institutional surveys in combination with surveys like NSSE are necessary in capturing a campus-specific profile of educational practices.2 Following Kuh’s recommendation, an online survey was developed and administered to undergraduate students enrolled in a wide range of biological sciences majors at the University of Guelph, in semester levels 1 through 9+ to determine their participation in all ten HIPs. In this presentation, we will share how HIP engagement in biological science students was measured using an online survey tool including some findings such as the most common HIPs experienced, where students participated in HIPs, as well as some insight on the quality of their educational experiences. Participants will be given guidance on how to identify HIPs and ways to implement measurement of HIPs at their institutions. This survey has the potential to be used for measuring institutional success through identifying gaps in the curriculum and informs the quality assurance process. 1 Kuh (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities. 2 Kuh (2003). Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 35(2), 24-32. 3 Padgett et al. (2013). Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 50(2), 133-151. 4 Pascarella & Terenzini (2005). How College Affects Students A Third Decade of Research (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass. 5 Strategic Mandate Agreement. 2014-2017. The Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities and The University of Guelph

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