Got HIPs? Making student engagement enhancement a core part of program development with high impact practices

Learning how to engage students in educationally purposeful activities has been a challenge for instructors in higher education. It is often hard to push through institutionalized pedagogical boundaries rooted in traditional “teach-at-you” approaches to learning. The demands of a more diverse student body and more effective measures of student learning outcomes have led to rethinking the delivery of course material to gain greater student engagement. Studies have shown that higher order engagement enhances student learning and helps to narrow achievement gaps across the curriculum. This article focuses on student engagement and the use of high-impact practices (active-learning approaches) in the Alameda County MPA Program at California State University, East Bay. The application of HIPS to this specific MPA program provides a good example of how multiple student engagement enhancement techniques can be incorporated into the core of graduate-level program development. The article concludes with suggestions for future research, one being, examining the impact distant, online education has on student learning and engagement, in light of the recent pandemic.