High-Impact Practices and Their Effects: Implications for the Undergraduate Political Science Curriculum

Abstract

Part of a broader movement to promote student engagement in educational activities, high-impact practices (HIPs) are purported to deepen learning through such activities as first-year seminars, internships, community-based learning, capstone experiences, study abroad, and research with faculty. Within political science, HIPs are key to efforts to increase civic and political engagement. The discipline is heavily invested in HIPs as vehicles for research, professional development, curriculum, instruction, and student involvement. Addressing disputes among scholars over the efficacy of HIPs, this study examined the effects of upper-year HIPs on student engagement, learning, and satisfaction at a small, private college in the Northeast, measured by responses from seniors to the National Survey of Student Engagement in 2008–2017. Consistent with the literature, the analysis found that community-based learning and research with faculty related positively with: (1) higher-order, reflective, and integrative learning behaviors, (2) personal and general education competencies, and (3) faculty-student interaction. However, community-based learning had the largest impact on arts and sciences majors. Research with faculty, followed by study abroad and capstone experiences, influenced professional studies majors the most. In addition, capstone experiences and study abroad connected positively to satisfaction with the overall educational experience. Depending on their curriculum goals and program mix, political science departments should consider which kinds of HIPs best fit the undergraduate major.

Keywords:

• Curriculum
• service learning
• undergraduate education
• civic engagement

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Elizabeth A. Rider, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, and Ms. Debra K. Sheesley, Director of Institutional Research, for their assistance in accessing NSSE data at Elizabethtown College. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 15th Annual APSA Teaching and Learning Conference, February 2–4, 2018, Baltimore, Maryland.

Notes

1 “Deep” learning contrasts with “surface” learning, which involves memorization for short-term objectives such as passing an exam. Deep-level processing reveals a longer-term commitment to understanding the meaning of information, including integration and synthesis with prior learning, seeing things from different perspectives, and application to real-world situations (Laird, Shoup, and Kuh 2005).

2 Community-based learning is a form of teaching that combines instruction with meaningful community service experiences. This study will use the terms “service-learning” and “community-based learning” interchangeably. Diversity or global learning programs include study abroad and study away in the U.S. Capstone courses provide a culminating or integrative experience of an educational program. The experience could involve a major research or creative project, a portfolio of previous work demonstrating mastery of prescribedoutcomes, or professional practice such as student teaching.

3 Formerly classified by Carnegie as Baccalaureate Colleges-Diverse Fields (less than one-half of degrees awarded were in arts and sciences fields), Elizabethtown College joined the Baccalaureate-Arts & Sciences category in 2015. The college’s profile of HIP participation resembles that of BA-Diverse schools, except that participation in research with faculty (34%) and study abroad (27%) at Elizabethtown is higher (National Survey of Student Engagement 2019). Since the college adopted the HIP requirement in 2013, community-based learning (77% of all students in 2017) and internship participation (75% in 2017) increased by one-third. After adding the HIP requirement to the first-year seminar and writing-intensive course required by the general education program, all students at the college complete at least four HIPs.

4 The 2013 revision of NSSE renamed this cluster as Learning with Peers and the Student-Faculty Interaction cluster as Experiences with Faculty (McCormick, Gonyea, and Kinzie 2013).

5 Active and collaborative learning exercises refer to classroom activities that promote involvement by all students in analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating class content. Techniques include small group discussion, simulations, role-playing, debates, and case or problem-based learning.

6 We include SAT scores as a control variable in our model to account for a student’s potential academic capabilities. Given that the SAT provides a standardized score and virtually all students who had taken the NSSE had a reported SAT score in their records, opting for the SAT was preferable relative to other measures. We did not rely on high school GPA because the GPA scale is not uniform across school districts. High school class rank also proves problematic because some schools do not rank, and for schools that have a small high school graduating class, the rank is highly volatile. We also opted not to use cumulative college GPA because these measures vary depending on the student’s declared major, and whether a student decided to change majors during her or his career.

7 As noted in Table 2, the percentage of students participating in HIPs generally declined between 2011 and 2014. The HIP requirement for 2017 graduates and beyond led to the development of more HIP opportunities.

8 The underperformance of the internship variable suggests that not all internships were high-quality learning experiences. Students may have declared an internship that the college did not sanction or formally recognize as an internship experience.

9 Professional studies majors are often credit-heavy due to accreditation standards. There is more emphasis on practicums and applied use of knowledge within the professional studies. Additionally, job placement is a prominent learning outcome. As such, the emphasis on applied use of knowledge may diminish the effects of some HIPs.

10 The college sponsors multiple faculty-led study abroad trips for students, which may lead students to report higher-quality interactions with faculty members for Model 7. We note that study abroad was the third most important influence on student engagement, learning, and satisfaction, after community-based learning and research with faculty (Table 6). This is a greater impact than what the literature led us to expect.

11 It is interesting to ponder why CBL experiences disproportionately affect arts and sciences majors, while research with faculty and other HIPs significantly influence professional studies majors. One theory is that HIPs enabling students to develop different abilities and interests have a greater impact. If professional studies students are more inclined toward practical learning activities than are students in general, for example, research experiences may expand their horizons. Similarly, if arts and sciences students are more likely to prefer classroom work and individualized learning, then real-world experiences might have a more profound influence.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fletcher McClellan

Fletcher McClellan, PhD, is Professor of Political Science at Elizabethtown College. His research and teaching interests include the American presidency, public administration, and the scholarship of teaching and learning in political science. [email protected]

Kyle Casimir Kopko

Kyle C. Kopko, PhD, is Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Elizabethtown College and Director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania General Assembly. His research and teaching interests include constitutional law, judicial politics, and presidential elections.

Kayla L Gruber

Kayla L. Gruber is a 2018 graduate of Elizabethtown College and Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs at the Pennsylvania Department of State.