High-impact educational practices (HIPs), including undergraduate research, service-learning, and study abroad, produce successful students with critical thinking skills, communication proficiency, and the ability to solve complex problems. Yet, growing the number of HIP opportunities remains a challenge. Here we review a model that embeds faculty-selected, peer HIP Coaches as a resource for students in undergraduate courses. Coaches receive a small scholarship in exchange for 30 hours of assistance and their role is determined by the faculty mentor. A pilot in 2015 included 4 faculty, 8 coaches and 250 students. By the spring 2019 semester, the model grew to include 21 faculty, 37 coaches, and 1111 undergraduates.
Results/Conclusions
Three types of data were collected: 1) program assessment, 2) student identity, and 3) student impact. For program assessment, 98% of faculty (95% response rate) using coaches would use coaches in their classes in the future and would recommend coaches to colleagues. HIP peer coaches (81% response) reported gains in critical thinking skills (91%), facilitating group projects (86%), and improved skills specific to their major (93%). Students in courses reported that their HIP coaches facilitated real-world experiences for the class (79%), improved their critical thinking (89%), and research skills (92%). Our spring 2019 assessment additionally found that non-white students responded significantly more positively to HIP coaches for “making students feel like a part of a learning community” (t-test: p-value = 0.03). Second, data were collected using pre-post qualitative and quantitative instruments to understand the impact of course-integrated HIP on students’ identity as scientific researchers. Students transitioned from thinking of themselves simply as students whose only task it was to learn content to thinking of themselves as researchers. By the end of the semester, they considered themselves able to create new knowledge and better able to understand, actively participate in, and communicate about the research process. Hence, students can receive a transformative HIP experience in a course setting, not just from one-on-one mentoring. The third finding was the sweet spot for impact. Students who gained the most were those who had minimal to no prior research experience and were middle-of-the-road students - not the overachievers who seek out experiences on their own, but those who simply do their best to be “good students,” which typically means “good test-takers”. The HIP coach model ‘catches’ and ‘transforms’ these students through high-impact experiences. Overall, these results demonstrate the success of our program for a modest investment.