Tips for Scaling High-Impact Practices

Center for Teaching Excellence

How to Scale HITPs

Some of our courses require multiple sections; how can we ensure a solid integration of HITPs is included in all sections, when taught by multiple instructors?

Below are tips for how to scale HITPs and follow-up for quality assurance.

Developing HITPs that Scale

  • Start small

    If everyone is getting used to HITPs for the first time, starting with smaller HITPs that are easy to describe and duplicate may be the best place to begin.

    Examples of smaller HITPs might include:

    • Sets of small-group discussion questions for a particular unit or class day.
      • Be sure questions encourage a clearly-defined goal for the groups to work toward. This includes for online classes, too!
    • Short cases or worksheets with guiding questions
    • Rating scales or multiple-choice questions that can be used with Kahoot! or other "clicker" software
    • Brief "challenge analogies" for a particular topic. (E.g., This concept is like a tree, because...")
    • Superlative activities or questions (e.g., The most important/valuable/interesting concept from this chapter is...") for peer comparison and sharing

    Be aware that smaller HITPs should be used multiple times during a semester, not just a few. Try to make them a part of each class session or online unit.

  • Develop clear directions

    For any HITP that is going to be shared among multiple instructors (adjuncts, TAs, faculty), try to develop clear guidance for how the activity should unfold.

    Include information about:

    •  
    • When the activity is introduced
    • What the instructor does and says
    • What the expectations of the students are
    • How long the activity should take
    • How to wrap up the activity for meaningful closure and connection to course concepts
    • For the instructor, how the activity helps students (see Secret Sauce!)
    • For the students, how the activity ties to learning goals
  • Create assessment goals or guidelines

    Not every HITP will be assessed, but some might. For example, you might ask instructors to lightly assess (and otherwise use) an "exit ticket," such as a 3-2-1 (3 things you learned, 2 things you are confident you know, 1 question you still have).

    If so, develop some evaluation and feedback guidelines. The best type of evaluation for scaling is a rubric:

    • Develop the evaluative labels for the top of the rubric. Depending on the activity or assignment do you want 3 quality levels? Five?
      • Example: Exceeds expectations, meets expectations, approaches expectations, needs work, not enough evidence
    • Determine the key aspects of the activity to evaluate. Try to limit these to those most aligned with learning goals.
    • Describe performance in each box. Performance under the highest quality (e.g., exceeds expectations) should have additive or qualitatively distinct characteristics. Try to anticipate "loopholes" and make the criteria as clear as possible, so that multiple instructors can easily use it.
    • Provide space for open comments from the instructor, if/as they deem it is needed. A few remarks show individualized care and provide more pointed feedback.

     

    Encourage instructors to share this rubric with students ahead of an assignment's due date.

    Example Rubric for a 3-2-1 activity:

      Well Done Somewhat Needs Work
    All 3 prompts are answered 3-2-1 prompts are answered with a level of thoroughness that demonstrates attention to the content and the activity. Prompts are either answered with too much brevity, or one prompt is left unanswered. Two or more prompts are left unanswered or answers to prompts are too brief to convey any understanding.
    "Confident" information is correct Concepts are explained clearly and with enough detail to demonstrate understanding Concepts are explained and convey beginning understanding, but some key information is left out. Concepts are not explained with enough information to determine understanding.

     

 

Encouraging HITPs Among All Instructors

  • Encourage learning about HITPs

    Encourage all instructors for the course to learn more about HITPs:

    • Direct them to this toolkit to learn more about HITPs, especially the Secret Sauce!
    • Encourage them to look for and attend CTE workshops about HITPs or related practices
      • We also have a few asynchronous workshops available on D2L for those who work remotely
    • Invite the CTE to come and do a workshop for all instructors of this course (or in your department)

     

    Remember: The CTE's opportunities are open to anyone who teaches at ETSU: Faculty, staff, adjuncts, and graduate assistants!

  • Invite ideas

    Particularly once they have learned more about HITPs, invite all instructors for a course to submit ideas about HITPs they might have. It is possible they've been thinking about one! A collaborative tone encourages brainstorming and idea-sharing.

    This does not have to be a one-time solicitation; encourage instructors to continue sharing ideas for future adoption in the course. If suggestions are ungraded, in-class activities for upcoming units, there is the possibility of still fitting them in during the current semester.

  • Consider calibration

    If you are including some HITPs that are a little more involved, such as a group assignment, you might consider bringing everyone together to share out the details of the activity and how it should be delivered, and to answer any questions your instructors might have. If you have remote instructors, you could record a quick video describing the activity, and send that link plus activity materials out asynchronously, inviting questions. Be sure to Reply All to any questions you receive.

    If an activity is assessed, you can calibrate assessment with your rubrics among your instructors, as well. Provide 1-2 "student work examples," and ask instructors to evaluate, then to compare their evaluations with one anothers' and/or yours. Discuss any discrepancies so that evaluations become more consistent across course sections.

  • Request feedback

    Shortly after any one activity is done in a class (or a set of smaller activities has been completed), request feedback from ALL instructors (try to frame the request in such a way that all reply). Use this feedback to refine your activities; this step also helps ensure your instructors are following through with using the activities as expected.

  • Level up: Add options

    As we know from the Secret Sauce page, autonomy is key for motivation. The same is true for your instructors!

    While it can take some time to develop (over several semesters), consider creating "menus of options" from which your instructors can select the HITP they most prefer to use for a particular topic or unit. This permits some flexibility if they experience time constraints, and also permits their exercise of instructor expertise while finding an HITP that feels like a good "fit" between themselves and the class.

    For feedback and follow-up, ask which HITPs each instructor selected for a module/unit, and ask for them to evaluate the HITP on some aspects, as well as providing any input on how to improve or adapt it.