The National Survey of Student Engagement identifies six “High-Impact Practices” (HIPs), or educational experiences with great potential to be life-changing. HIPs include service-learning, research with faculty, internships or field experiences, and study abroad experiences. According to NSSE, HIPs have great impact for students who participate in them because they:
“demand considerable time and effort, facilitate learning outside of the classroom, require meaningful interactions with faculty and other students, encourage collaboration with diverse others, and provide frequent and substantive feedback.”
George Kuh, founding director of NSSE, recommends that all students participate in at least two high-impact practices over the course of their undergraduate experiences.
For Judson, student participation in HIPs are a natural result of our community of learning and a direct result of our mission to educate our students to be smart leaders who are passionate about serving others. That’s why we’re committed to offering opportunities to participate in HIPs as early as a student’s freshman year.
Of freshmen surveyed, 86% of Judson first-year students had participated in at least one HIP, compared to 63% at other women’s colleges and 55% in their NSSE comparison group.
By the time Judson students are seniors, they have had even more exposure to HIPs. By the end of their college experience, 84% of Judson seniors indicated that they had participated in at least two HIPs, compared to 75% of other women’s college seniors and 61% at other NSSE comparison group seniors.
What do HIPs look like?
At Judson, HIPs look a lot like the normative undergraduate experience. Our academic environment that is both rigorously challenging and undauntingly nurturing provides each of our students with highly personalized opportunities to succeed in all kinds of co-curricular activities.
Ask Marianna, who spent a summer doing historical interpretation and archaeological work at Mt. Vernon, home of the nation’s first president, though a competitive internship program she heard about through a Judson professor who found the application and encouraged her to “go for it.” (She’s heading to Israel this summer for more archaeological experience, and planning on a study abroad experience in England.)
Or ask Ashlyn, Kimberly, and Heather, who presented research with their Education professor at the regional Kappa Delta Epsilon conference.
Or ask the more than 80% of Judson students who voluntarily participate in community service projects each year, or the Judson students who take classes that integrate a service-learning component into their coursework.
Of Judson freshmen surveyed by the NSSE, 89% indicated that they were currently taking a course that incorporated a service-learning component–a rate that is significantly* higher than that of other schools in the nation.
*Like the numbers? Judson’s first-year responses vs. their NSSE comparison group were statistically significant at the .001 level and vs. other women’s colleges at the .01 level.
Judson senior responses were similar–at 82% indicating that “most or all” or “some” of their courses had incorporated service learning. 70% of women’s college seniors responded similarly, and 59% of the NSSE comparison group.
We hope the numbers speak for themselves: our results on the HIP portion of the NSSE show we’re serious about offering our students life-changing opportunities at every stage of their college development.