Several years ago, the AAC&U published a list of high-impact practices that lead to increased student engagement and learning. Here is the list of their 11 high-impact practices
- First-year seminars
- Common intellectual experiences
- Learning communities
- Writing-intensive courses
- Collaborative projects
- Undergraduate research
- Diversity and global learning
- Service learning
- Internships
- Capstone projects
- Reflective e-portfolios
As you will note, St. Lawrence students will experience most, if not all, of these high-impact practices by the time they graduate. This is obviously a good thing. But I also think St. Lawrence does some excellent work that pushes beyond these original 11 high-impact practices. One goal I have as CITA director is to make the excellent work we do here at SLU more visible so that we can learn from our colleagues while making it more likely that our students experience an inspiring and demanding liberal arts education.
To this end, I invite you to reflect on what I will call high-impact practices 2.0. What things do you do in your courses or across your departmental curriculum that drive student engagement and learning? Are you experimenting with podcasting? labor-based grading? supporting student mental health and wellbeing through your courses?
On Friday 10/21 I will be hosting an event on high-impact practices at 1 pm in the CTL (this is on the main floor of ODY library, near our special collections and across from the WORD Studio). Even if you cannot make this meeting, I encourage you to think about those things you do that get students excited about learning and their liberal education. Over the course of the year, I will hold several events aimed at making visible the excellent work we do, so that more students experience the best of what St. Lawrence has to offer.