NSSE 2022
High-Impact Practices
University of Houston-Downtown
NSSE 2022 High-Impact Practices
About This Report
About Your High-Impact Practices Report
Due to their positive associations with student learning and retention, certain undergraduate opportunities are designated "high-impact." High-Impact Practices (HIPs) share several traits: They demand considerable time and effort, facilitate learning outside of the classroom, require meaningful interactions with faculty and students, encourage collaboration with diverse others, and provide frequent and substantive feedback. As a result, participation in these practices has the potential to be very influential and rewarding (Kilgo et al., 2015; Kuh, 2008). NSSE founding director George Kuh recommends that institutions should aspire for all students to participate in at least two HIPs over the course of their undergraduate experience—one during the first year and one in the context of their major (NSSE, 2007).
NSSE asks students about their participation in the six HIPs shown in the box at right. Unlike most questions on the NSSE survey, the HIP questions are not limited to the current school year. Thus, senior students' responses include participation from prior years.
Report Sections
Participation Comparisons (p. 3)
Response Detail (pp. 4-5)
Participation by Student Social Identities and Experiences (p. 6)
Interpreting Comparisons
High-Impact Practices in NSSE
Service-Learning
Courses that included a community-based project
Learning Community
Formal program where groups of students take two or more classes together
Research with Faculty
Work with a faculty member on a research project
Internship or Field Experience
Internship, co-op, field experience, student teaching, or clinical placement
Study Abroad
Culminating Senior Experience
Capstone course, senior project or thesis, portfolio, recital, comprehensive exam, etc.
Displays HIP participation for your students compared with that of students at your comparison group institutions. Two views present insights into your students' HIP participation:
Overall HIP Participation
Displays the percentage of students who participated in one HIP and in two or more HIPs, relative to those at your comparison group institutions.
Statistical Comparisons
Comparisons of participation in each HIP and overall for your students relative to those at comparison group institutions, with tests of significance and effect sizes.
Provides complete response frequencies for the relevant HIP questions for your students and those at your comparison group institutions. First-year results include a summary of their expectations for future HIP participation.
Displays your students' participation in each HIP by selected student social identities and experiences.
HIP participation varies more among students within an institution than it does between institutions, like many experiences and outcomes in higher education. As a result, focusing attention on overall participation rates amounts to examining the tip of the iceberg. It is equally important to understand how student engagement (including HIP participation) varies within your institution. The table on page 6 provides an initial look at how HIP participation varies by selected student social identities and experiences. Your NSSE Tableau dashboard and Report Builder (released in the fall) offer further perspectives on internal variation to help you investigate your students’ HIP participation in depth.
Kilgo, C. A., Sheets, J. K. E., & Pascarella, E. T. (2015). The link between high-impact practices and student learning: Some longitudinal evidence. Higher Education, 69 , 509-525. Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities. National Survey of Student Engagement (2007). Experiences that matter: Enhancing student learning and success—Annual Report 2007. Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.
Rocconi, L.M., & Gonyea, R.M. (2018). Contextualizing effect sizes in the National Survey of Student Engagement: An empirical analysis. Research & Practice in Assessment, 13 (Summer/Fall), pp. 22-38.
Overall HIP Participation
NSSE 2022 High-Impact Practices
Participation Comparisons
University of Houston-Downtown
The figures below display the percentage of students who participated in High-Impact Practices. Both figures include participation in service-learning, a learning community, and research with faculty. The senior figure also includes participation in an internship or field experience, study abroad, and culminating senior experience. The first segment in each bar shows the percentage who participated in at least two HIPs, and the full bar (both colors) represents the percentage who participated in at least one. First-year
Participated in two or more HIPs Participated in one HIP
Statistical Comparisons
Participated in two or more HIPs Participated in one HIP
The table below displays the percentage of your students who participated in a given High-Impact Practice, including the percentage who participated in at least one or in two or more HIPs. It also graphs the difference, in percentage points, between your students and those of your comparison groups. Blue bars indicate how much higher your institution's percentage is compared to the comparison group. Dark red bars indicate how much lower your institution's percentage is compared to the comparison group. (Comparison group percentages appear on the following pages.)
Your students' participation compared with:
a. Percentage point differences (institution – comp. group) rounded to whole numbers. Values less than one may not display a bar and may be shown as +0 or -0.
b. Cohen's h (standardized difference between two proportions). Effect sizes indicate the practical importance of observed differences. For service-learning, internships, study abroad, and culminating senior experiences, an ES of about .2 may be considered small, .5 medium, and .8 large. For learning community and research with faculty, an ES of about .1 may be considered small, .3 medium, and .5 large (Rocconi & Gonyea, 2018).
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 (z- test comparing participation rates).
Note: Participation includes the percentage of students who responded "Done or in progress" except for service-learning which is the percentage who responded that at least "Some" courses included a community-based project. All results weighted by institution-reported sex and enrollment status (and by institution size for comparison groups).
Large Pub Carnegie Class Large TX Unv.
Large TX Unv.
Large TX Unv.
First-year students
About how many of your courses at this institution have included a communitybased project (servicelearning)?
NSSE 2022 High-Impact Practices
Participate in a learning community or some other formal program where groups of students take two or more classes together.
Work with a faculty member on a research project.
Plans to Participate
Knowing whether first-year students plan to participate in upper-division HIPs can reveal insights about HIP demand, awareness of opportunities, and the clarity of institutional information. These results might also point to topics for additional exploration, such as what contributes to students’ expectations, their assumptions about who can participate, or why other students are undecided or have no plans to participate in the activity.
Internship or Field Experience
Participate in an internship, co-op, field experience, student teaching, or clinical placement.
Study Abroad
Participate in a study abroad program.
Note: Results weighted by institution-reported sex and enrollment status (and institutional size for comparison
Culminating Senior Experience
Complete a culminating senior experience (capstone course, senior project or thesis, portfolio, recital, comprehensive exam, etc.).
Seniors
About how many of your courses at this institution have included a communitybased project (servicelearning)?
Participate in a learning community or some other formal program where groups of students take two or more classes together.
Work with a faculty member on a research project.
Study Abroad
Participate in an internship, co-op, field experience, student teaching, or clinical placement. Participate in a study abroad program.
Complete a culminating senior experience (capstone course, senior project or thesis, portfolio, recital, comprehensive exam, etc.).
Note:
NSSE 2022 High-Impact Practices
NSSE 2022 High-Impact Practices
Participation by Student Social Identities and Experiences University of
Houston-Downtown
Participation in High-Impact Practices by Student Social Identities and Experiences
The table below displays the percentage of your students who participated in each HIP by selected student social identities and experiences. Examining participation rates for different groups offers insight into how engagement varies within your student population.
First-year
Notes: Percentage of students who responded "Done or in progress" except for service-learning which is the percentage who responded that at least "Some" courses included a communitybased project. Percentages are not reported (—) for row categories containing fewer than 10 students. Results are unweighted, except for overall percentages which are weighted by sex and enrollment status.
a. Institution-reported variable. If provided, “Another” and “Unknown” categories for sex are not displayed due to low Ns, but do appear in the data file. Race/ethnicity labels are based on IPEDS reporting requirements.
b. Neither parent (or guardian) holds a bachelor's degree.
c. These are NSSE's default related-major categories, based on first major if more than one was reported. Customizable major categories are available in your NSSE Tableau dashboards and Report Builder (released in the fall). Excludes majors categorized as "all other."