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Teaching & Learning Center: High Impact Practices

The Teaching and Learning Center provides Vol State faculty with resources to help them professionally.

High Impact Practices

High impact practices are evidence-based teaching and learning practices that have been widely tested and shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds, especially historically underserved students, who often do not have equitable access to high-impact learning (Kuh, 2008).

Click HERE for a HIP Discussion Framework for the Classroom!

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In these programs, field-based “experiential learning” with community partners is an instructional strategy—and often a required part of the course. The idea is to give students direct experience with issues they are studying in the curriculum and with ongoing efforts to analyze and solve problems in the community. A key element in these programs is the opportunity students have to both apply what they are learning in real-world settings and reflect in a classroom setting on their service experiences. These programs model the idea that giving something back to the community is an important college outcome and that working with community partners is good preparation for citizenship, work, and life.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer opportunities may be submitted and recorded on the SRVC site, TBR’s portal where community members can post opportunities and students can search for local opportunities to volunteer and record service hours. https://srvc.tbr.edu/. Faculty can also create an account to help manage projects.

Similarly, opportunities may be posted or searched via Volunteer Tennessee’s Tennessee Serves.

*Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.

(*Not to be confused with volunteering)

Vol State Community Garden

Volunteers are needed to help with spring planting in the Vol State community garden. Dates :TBA on Saturdays. The garden is behind the parking lot between the Mattox and Wallace Buildings. All tools will be provided. Contact: Dr. Brenda Wolff at Brenda.Wolff@volstate.edu.

Service Learning Student Guidelines

This list is not intended to be exhaustive but to bring to the Volunteer State Community College student's mind specific areas for their attention during the process of a Service-Learning project.
  • Formalize service arrangements in advance - Check with your professor and site supervisor for needed forms/agreements/background checks before you go to a site for service.
  • Be Professional - Remember that you are representing VSCC and building professional skills. Meet deadlines; be punctual and fully present for all appointments. Practice professionalism by dressing according to the occasion/setting and communicating respectfully at all times.
  • Respect Diversity - Diversity may be found in many forms: ethnicity, culture, gender, social economic class, ideas, etc. Learn to appreciate other points of view. Practice teamwork. Notice what strengths are available in the community and how we can work together to address needs and build partnerships.
  • Participate with and Maintain Professional Communication - During your Service Learning project, discuss concerns and questions with either your professor and/or your project supervisor. Resolve misunderstandings, disagreements, and concerns respectfully and quickly, before they become unmanageable. Follow professional email etiquette for all correspondence.
  • Research and Reflect - Learn the important focal areas of an agency or organization in advance to assist your understanding of Service Learning work. Look for opportunities to build your professional skills. Research the context for service and connect it to your course learning and professional goals. Consult your course syllabi and academic program pages for skills, as well as the NACE pages, such as https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined/ to set goals and connect your service to your own progress. (Tip: You can use these skills in future job interviews and applications/resumes!)

If you understand and agree to these guidelines, you're ready to work with your instructor or advisor to determine the details of your project, then you are ready to apply to a Student Service Learning Project.

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Internships are another increasingly common form of experiential learning. The idea is to provide students with direct experience in a work setting—usually related to their career interests—and to give them the benefit of supervision and coaching from professionals in the field. If the internship is taken for course credit, students complete a project or paper that is approved by a faculty member. (AAC&U)

TBR Definition of Practice

Work-based Learning represents credit-bearing experience that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships, practicums, clinicals, co-ops and similar experiences, integrated with a class or related to a major field of study, give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied learning and make connections in professional fields students are considering for career paths, while giving employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent (NACE, 2011).

Work-Based Learning at VSCC

Website: volstate.edu/workforce/work-based-learning

Contact: Dr. Jeff Cockrell, Administrator, Workforce Development
615-230-3321, jeff.cockrell@volstate.edu

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Honors education is characterized by in-class and extracurricular activities that meet the needs and abilities of the students it serves through practices that are measurably broader, deeper, or more complex than comparable learning experiences typically found at institutions of higher education. Honors experiences include a distinctive learner-directed environment and philosophy, provide opportunities that are appropriately tailored to fit the institution's culture and mission, and frequently occur within a close community of students and faculty (adapted from NCHC, 2016). (TBR)

 

Image is decorativeHonors @ VSCC

VSCC Contact: Ines Petrovic Garcia

Email: ines.petrovicgarcia@volstate.edu

 

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A course intended to enhance the academic and social integration of first-year students by introducing them to essential skills for college success and a supportive campus community comprised of faculty, staff, and peers. FYSs often place a strong emphasis on critical inquiry, frequent writing, information literacy, collaborative learning, and other crucial competencies. Some FYSs also feature rigorous discipline-based content. (TBR)

Volunteer State's First Year Experience Courses are being reimagined and will be relaunched soon.

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Technology-enhanced learning is a set of instructional practices leveraging digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Digital technology is any electronic tool, system, device, or resource that facilitates learning and improves student performance. Examples include, but are not limited to, online portfolios, social media, online games, multimedia, productivity applications, cloud computing, interoperable systems, and mobile devices. Digital technologies can be used to increase engagement, encourage collaboration, deliver support, and increase awareness and understanding. (TBR)

 

Many colleges and universities now emphasize courses and programs that help students explore cultures, life experiences, and worldviews different from their own. Frequently, intercultural studies are augmented by experiential learning in the community and/or by study abroad. (AAC&U)

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If you are interested in teaching in a study abroad program, VSCC partners with the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies (TnCIS) to offer academically enriching experiences in countries around the world. Faculty applications open about 18 months before programs depart. Details can be found here: Applying to Teach in a Study Abroad Program

VSCC Contact: Ami Price

Email: ami.price@volstate.edu

Website: www.volstate.edu/international

Campus International Education @ VSCC

Are you interested in participating in or coordinating a local, culturally enriching experience? If you have a great idea for a performance, guest lecture, or another event that will benefit the VSCC student body and are willing to help organize the event, funding is available! You can find information here: Campus International Events

Website: www.volstate.edu/international

 

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Undergraduate research is an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual, scholarly activity, or creative contribution to the discipline and for which the student receives academic credit either through a course or independent study (adapted from CUR).SOURCE: TBR HIP Taxonomy: Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Many colleges and universities are now providing research experiences for students in all disciplines. Undergraduate research, however, has been most prominently used in science disciplines. With strong support from the National Science Foundation and the research community, scientists are reshaping their courses to connect key concepts and questions with students’ early and active involvement in systematic investigation and research. The goal is to involve students with actively contested questions, empirical observation, cutting-edge technologies, and the sense of excitement that comes from working to answer important questions. 

SOURCE: AAC&U High-Impact Educational Practices

An Introduction to HIPs!

High impact practices are evidence-based teaching and learning practices that have been widely tested and shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds, especially historically underserved students, who often do not have equitable access to high-impact learning (Kuh, 2008).

HIP Discussion Framework for the Classroom

Spotlight on Academic Mindset

Academic Mindset Repository

TBR is excited to announce the new Mindset Resource Repository! This repository provides resources, handouts, and templates that any course instructor can use to add mindset-supportive activities, language, and best practices to their course. All resources are based on research for promoting growth mindset, purpose & relevance, and sense of belonging on campus.

  • All resources are ready to use and quick to implement! We hope everyone will explore the available materials and check back regularly for new additions.

 

Tennessee HIPs and Mindset Project

Project Overview

In Summer 2023, TBR was awarded a $1.4 million grant from Ascendium Education Group to expand the High Impact Practice (HIP) and Academic Mindset initiatives. This 3-year grant extends through Spring 2026, and the work will be in collaboration with research partners at UVA's Motivate Lab.

High Impact Practices (HIPs) are evidence-based teaching and learning practices that have been widely tested and shown to be beneficial for college students, and learning mindsets are student's beliefs about themselves and their learning context. Both initiatives have proven results for supporting student success.

The HIPs and Mindset Project has 3 overarching goals:

  1. Improve the effectiveness of HIPs by embedding mindset-supportive practices into the existing HIPs structure. This will allow TBR to create a unified resource hub to streamline and scale both of these initiatives to reach more students at a faster rate, while reducing the lift for instructors who want to adopt these initiatives into their courses.
  2. Increase the total number of HIPs implemented across TBR, particularly HIPs with embedded mindset supports. This grant provides additional support for TBR's HIP Ambassador program as well as faculty training workshops with our Mindset experts at Motivate Lab.
  3. Make mindset-supportive practices and HIPs part of the fabric of academic pathways. The goal is to ensure all students have the opportunity to take at least 2 HIP courses, regardless of their degree program.

See the TBR Press Release announcing this grant. 

Why do HIPs?

HIPs are positively associated with:

  • Persistence and GPA
  • Deep approaches to learning
  • Higher rates of student‐faculty interaction
  • Increases in critical thinking, writing skills
  • Greater appreciation for diversity
  • Higher student engagement overall, and “compensatory effects”

Source: Kinzie, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research UWGB, 2012

TBR HIP Ambassadors

Information about the HIP Ambassador Monthly Connection Calls can always be found on the HIP Ambassador website along with bios and contact details for each ambassador.