This episode features two articles that study the effects of combining elements of high impact practices in order to enhance the study away experience for college students.
See our extended show notes for this episode at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/incorporating-high-impact-practices-in-study-away/.
This episode, hosted by Vanessa Truelove, features two articles that study the effects of combining elements of high impact practices in order to enhance the study away experience for college students:
The episode also references:
Moore, Jessie L. 2021. “Key Practices for Fostering Engaged Learning.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 53 (6): 12-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2021.1987787
60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.
60-Second SoTL
Episode 20 – Incorporating High-Impact Practices in Study Away
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Jessie L. Moore:
Welcome to 60-Second SoTL! This week’s episode is part of a short series by students in Elon University’s Masters of Higher Education program. The students are exploring study away as a meaningful learning experience. Look for their blog posts at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org and listen for the other podcast episodes in their series wherever you subscribe to 60-Second SoTL.
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Vanessa Truelove:
How can we incorporate additional High Impact Practice Characteristics into study away programs? That’s the focus of this week’s 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. I’m Vanessa Truelove.
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In the blog post, “High Impact Practices Abroad: The Key to Enriching Study Away Programs” we explored why studying away is categorized as a High Impact Practice. Specifically, it was noted that in order for study away programs to be understood as HIPs, they need to incorporate some of the characteristics that other HIPs have.
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Today we’re going to take a look at two high Impact study away programs that incorporate these characteristics in order to deliver a deeply rich and transformative experience for their attending students.
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Luxton et al. published a study in 2022 that they did of a high impact, short-term study away trip to Costa Rica. Through the length of this trip 16 students from two institutions (one in the U.S. and one in Costa Rica) ate, slept, learned, and designed together. Through the length of the program, instructors intentionally paired the students into diverse roommate groups at various points during the trip for various experiences. These students participated in guided excursions to get to understand the people, land, history, and culture of Costa Rica. They even got to have a home stay with a Costa Rican family during which they were tasked with getting to know locals’ thoughts and opinions on tourism in Costa Rica as a step towards completing their final project. All of this was facilitated by multiple in-class conversations with the instructors about the information that students were learning from their field experiences and how it was conforming or conflicting with the prior knowledge they brought to the trip.
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Luxton et al. found through pre and post trip inventories and interviews that through incorporating experiences which encompass Moore’s six key practices to fostering engaged learning, the instructors were able to design a transformative study away experience for their students. Utilizing a set of indicators for perceived global knowledge, Luxton et al. was able to show a documented growth in students perceived global knowledge on all 5 of their indicators. Not only does this study exhibit the intentionality needed to turn a study away experience into a HIP, it also showcases the idea that short term study away experiences are and can be just as impactful as long term ones.
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Considering long-term, more individualized study away experiences as HIPs, Craig Wallace offers a model of intentional institutional partnership for consideration. Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and the University of Warwick in Coventry, England have developed a mutually beneficial global partnership in order to strengthen their HIP offerings for students studying away from each institution. Through building a shared understanding of reciprocity between leaders at both institutions, they are able to feed off of each other in a mutually beneficial way. As a result, students studying between these universities face less restrictions on what classes they are able to take, are able to pursue a dual degree or finish part of a degree between the universities, and are able to participate in a research experience designed for exchange students from the partner institution. Not only does this partnership work to limit the barriers that exist for students deciding to study away, but it also enhances the degree that students may get by offering supplemental experiences not offered at their home institution.
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Presented here are just two models of what an intentionally built study away program incorporating HIP practices can do for our students. Now it is our turn to ensure that the experiences we build for our students will serve them to the best of our abilities.
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To learn more about Luxton and Wallace’s studies or about Moore’s “Key practices for fostering engaged learning,” follow the link in our show notes to read more.
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Jessie L. Moore:
Join us next week for another snapshot of recent scholarship of teaching and learning on 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. Learn more about the Center at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org.
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