Delivering on the Promise of High Impact Practices (Identity and Community among First-Generation Students: High-Impact Practices and Communicating Belonging Throughout Department Design)

This chapter aims to analyze the role of high-impact practices (HIPs) in one academic department by focusing on first-generation student (FGS) perspectives of community-based learning (CBL). It provides background information and a brief review of scholarship on FGS identity. The students at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside are predominantly working class, FGSs, and students of color from a variety of social, economic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. The chapter discusses department’s teaching philosophy as it contributes to equity and accessibility within a curricular design that integrates CBL throughout the academic program. The Communication Department’s commitment to implementing HIPs throughout our curriculum has been a long, ongoing process that required discussion, consensus, vulnerability, risk, and trust. The chapter concludes by recommending a department-level curricular design that addresses the achievement gap for FGSs and students of color.

Explore