High Impact Experiences (HIEs) such as undergraduate research, service-learning, internships, education abroad, and first-year seminars (UNIV), among others, are widely recognized for their potential to deepen student engagement and improve educational outcomes. But what truly makes these experiences “high impact”? Participants in this FLC, which met during AY 2025-26, explored the essential features of HIEs, including the role of reflection, mentoring, collaboration, sustained engagement, and real-world application. They reviewed current research on HIEs and shared their own institutional and disciplinary perspectives on designing, facilitating, and assessing these experiences. They also examined questions about how HIEs can be adapted across disciplines and course levels, how to intentionally integrate them into both curricular and co-curricular spaces, and how to evaluate student learning and assess institutional outcomes.
The members developed a deeper understanding of what makes HIEs effective, equitable, and scalable. Members were encouraged to experiment with incorporating or enhancing HIE components in their own teaching and/or student success initiatives whether through assignment/program design, new collaborations and partnerships, and/or assessment strategies.
Members:
Kerri Evans (SOWK)
Matthias Gobbert (MATH)
Janet Gross (ENGL)
David Hoffman (CDCL)
Angela Katenkamp Shiplet, Facilitator (PSYC)
Rasika Mahawattege (MATH)
Lauren Price, Facilitator (ESAS)
Samples of Work:
Document with information about High Impact Experiences