Mindset in Motion (MIM)

High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are transformative pedagogical strategies that have been widely recognized for their effectiveness in enhancing student learning, engagement, retention, and success across various educational settings (Kuh, 2008). The professional community of educators, researchers, and practitioners, convening annually at the Assessment Institute at Indiana University-Indianapolis to explore the multifaceted dimensions of HIPs, emphasizes evidence-based assessment, program quality, equitable access, and student success. As members of this community for a decade, we have offered regular opportunities for faculty professional development to ease the resource burden of teaching with HIPs. We have worked on interdisciplinary teams of faculty and administrators from our own institutions and from across the country. This guide is the result of that sustained effort in the area of faculty development.  

Guests

Dr. Sara Evans from Kennesaw State University 

Dr. Jocelyn Evans from the University of West Florida

Guests: 

Dr. Amy Cicchino 

Dr. Aaron Clevenger 

Sue Macchiarella  

Jenna Hejnar 

Highlights 

1. Study Abroad Requires Comprehensive Faculty Preparation Beyond Traditional Teaching 

Jenna Hejnar emphasized that faculty leading study abroad programs face unique challenges: "We're not just teaching a class, we're also helping with planning. We're creating these programs... We're thinking about course logistics, right? What can I deliver in person? What am I delivering online? How am I doing this while we're traveling?" Faculty must redesign assignments, manage student well-being abroad, and integrate place-based learning effectively. 

2. Communities of Practice Provide Sustainable, Faculty-Led Learning Networks 

Amy Cicchino explained that communities of practice differ from traditional workshops because they are "faculty LED" where "faculty join because they have a shared interest." She noted that even after their formal year-long program ended, "the faculty who have participated have continued to have discussions about study abroad. They've continued to share resources." 

3. Cultural Humility Over Cultural Competence Creates Better Learning Outcomes 

Aaron Clevenger distinguished between these approaches: "Cultural humility would say that we can never completely and fully understand someone else's lived experience. And so we are, we are ourselves continually changing and growing." This shifts the focus from achieving fixed competency to ongoing learning and reflection. 

4. Systematic Assessment Captures the Full Impact of Study Abroad Experiences 

Amy Cicchino found that the community of practice encouraged "this more systematic approach to assessing study abroad than maybe they were previously accustomed to." Examples included students creating "public facing videos that were largely reflective" and writing "letters to them, their future selves and then revisited the letters and reflected on the differences." 

5. Institutional Collaboration is Essential for Successful Study Abroad Programs 

Sue Macchiarella stressed that "this is not something you do alone, and there are so many people that you can collaborate with." She hosts annual faculty and staff appreciation dinners because "there are so many people that we collaborate with to make these happen from our pre departure briefings... to post, you know, re-entry the curriculum." The success depends on partnerships across multiple offices and campuses. 

Guest: Josh Meyer, Montana State University

Josh builds on definitional work at the Society for Experiential Education and advances an assessment model for understanding the quality of teaching with experiential educational practices!  

Notes: Defining EL for SEE: https://journals.calstate.edu/elthe/article/view/4782 

Deciphering EL Features: https://journals.calstate.edu/elthe/article/view/3963 

What is Experiential Education?  Steve Chapman, Pam McPhee, and Bill Proudman (1992) 

Eight Principles of Good Practice for All Experiential Learning Activities: https://www.societyforee.org/8-principles  

HIPS Engagement Indicators (downloads a .docx): https://nsse.indiana.edu/nsse/survey-instruments/eis-and-hips.docx 

The Aims of Education and Other Essays by Albert North Whitehead (1929) 

Guests 

Dr. Andrea Buenano, University of Miami 

Dr. Stacy Warner, East Carolina University 

Highlights: 

• MEGA events are cultural, organizational, operational, problem-solving, and experiential learning opportunities! 
• Studying student learning in internships and other high impact practices takes careful consideration of equity, access, learning, and community, collaboration, and IRB approval!  Plan ahead. 
• Students are ready for the challenge, and are well supported to have faculty mentors who come alongside and model professionalism and support for one another along the way 
• Students will surprise us with the depth of their learning. They will build their own relationships and create the next generation of professionals 
• Deep leaning comes from the collective campus ecosystem of experiential learning, where students get the benefit of faculty expertise, staff logistical support, and professional mentoring. 

Sport Management Education Journal article: https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/items/74dd07b7-726b-4e04-b942-77170f1780c1/full 

Happenstance Learning Theory: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1069072708328861 

Challenge & Support/Nevitt Sanford: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-10217-006  

Guests:  

Dr. Patrice Ludwig, Interim Assistant Vice President for Research & Innovation; Campus Coordinator, 4-VA at James Madison University 

Dr. Chad Harvey, Associate Professor & Associate Director Integrated Science Program in the School of Interdisciplinary Science at McMaster University 

show notes: 

NACE shows that intern hiring numbers are down since a high in 2022 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/svanderziel_internships-earlytalent-employerengagement-activity-7313951174892703744-2VrO/

CEWIL shows an 8.6% decrease in co-op jobs available between 2023-2024 (last available data). file:///C:/Users/BillHeinrich/Downloads/CEWIL%20Data%20Report%202024%20-%20WEB.pdf

Generative AI & Experiential Education  

Highlights:  

• AI is a tool, but not the only tool, we can use to guide reflection 
• Reflection is about the learner’s (and teacher’s) relationship to knowledge, social spaces, people around us, and the issues that face our world.  
• Teaching reflection is about developing the whole person. 
• Bias in AI yields unrepresentative results in education, and can show up in our rubrics 
• Like in construction, educational scaffolding looks like the thing underneath but is not the learning itself. What we design has to engage learners in their own exploration and development. 

Show Notes:  

Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection in Applied Learning by Ash, Sarah L.; Clayton, Patti H. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, v1 p25-48 Fall 2009. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1188550 

Simple AI Tools for Seniors: Your Friendly Guide to Technology  by Margaret Sass https://boisestate.pressbooks.pub/aitoolsforseniors/ 

Bachelor's Enrollment Lags as Trades, Certificates, and Grad Surge by Jeff Selingo https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bachelors-enrollment-lags-trades-certificates-grad-surge-jeff-selingo-lrv8e/?trackingId=YCON7bFMQku7xZLaxCb8lQ%3D%3D 

Dr. Susan Haarman. She is the associate director at Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship where she facilitates faculty development and the university's service-learning program. She has degrees from Marquette University, Loyola University of Chicago, and the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, and previously served as the faith and justice campus minister, also at Loyola University Chicago, where she ran service immersions. In addition to having a PhD in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies, she holds a Masters in Divinity, a Masters in Community Counseling, a certificate in directing the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises, and is licensed therapist. Her research focuses on the intersection between social justice education, community-based learning, civic identity, and imagination. She is also an improviser and a storyteller

Dr. Margaret Sass holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in communication from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After graduating, Sass moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in marketing and public relations in the nonprofit sector. Sass returned to academia in 2004 by entering and graduating from a Southern California law school. After she completed her J.D., she moved to Boise to complete her educational specialist degree and her doctorate in education, curriculum and instruction. 

She began her teaching career in California in 2004 and has continually taught courses in wills and trusts, hospitality law, business law, communication and multidisciplinary studies. Her main interest is implementing and researching service-learning in higher education curriculum. 

Her education background is as follows: 

• Bachelor of Arts, Criminal Justice (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) 
• Master of Arts, Communications (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) 
• Juris Doctorate (Western University School of Law) 
• EdS, Educational Specialist (Boise State University) 
• EdD, Curriculum and Instruction (Boise State University) 

 With the emergence of new offices of Experiential Education/Learning, and their executive sponsors at the Provost/Vice President Students level, the ways we think about coordination, programs, and student experience in Career Services will change. At the same time, Career Education Professionals support the organizational and educational ideas that drive Experiential Learning work on campus and the data sharing ecosystem that connects EL work to the employers that hire our students. Where Career Services was often the central location for experiential learning through internships and work-based learning, the attention to experiential learning has broadened and the center has shifted. How do we come together? 

Our guests have the answers 

Dr. Jessica Perez

Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development

LaGuardia Community College CUNY

______________________

Alyssa Marks

Director for Faculty and Experiential Learning

Metropolitan State University, Denver

______________________

James Mable

Director of Career and Job Placement Services

Houston Community College

For more resources: https://www.symplicity.com/2025-nace-annual-conference

And check out our new guide to experiential learning on campus: https://www.symplicity.com/elguidebook

This episode was produced with additional assistance from Sarah Howorth and Arielle Jordan at Symplicity.

Show Notes: 

• HBCU STEM students benefit from hands-on, applied learning experiences in their teacher preparation. 
• Field trips deliver content knowledge while modeling collaborative learning processes across disciplines. 
• Planning requires time and partnerships, but students value these experiences and learn to design their own. 
• Be prepared for impromptu teaching moments, including on-the-spot calculations in field settings. 
• Program evaluation can drive expansion and improvement of experiential learning opportunities. 

Dr. Beverly King Miller is an Assistant Professor of Science Education at Prairie View A&M University. She earned her PhD in Multicultural Teacher and Childhood Education with a concentration in Science Education from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Miller's scholarly work focuses on the persistence of underrepresented groups in STEM education, and she has established programs for underserved communities in the U.S., Central America, and Africa through her non-profit Ventaja Educational Services. 

Dr. Camille Burnett is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education in Prairie View A&M University's Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Associate Director of the PVU Teach Program. She serves as Principal Investigator on a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant addressing the shortage of diverse mathematics and science teachers. Known for her dedicated approach to teaching, Dr. Burnett collaborates with Houston-area school districts to build communities of mathematics and science teachers through research-based recruitment and preparation strategies. 

• Comprehensive program evaluation provides critical insights into meeting institutional goals and improving student outcomes. 
• Cross-disciplinary partnerships leverage diverse expertise for more robust assessment and implementation strategies. 
• Aligning with institutional priorities creates sustainable programming and stronger data-driven decision making. 
• Using assessment data to identify both program strengths and improvement areas builds faculty trust and engagement. 
• Maintaining student learning as the central focus helps clarify decision-making processes and establish clear action steps. 

Dr. Holley Handley is an Assistant Professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Instructional Design and Technology at the University of West Florida. She earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Administrative Studies from UWF, along with certification in Human Performance Technology. Dr. Handley's research focuses on applying Human Performance Technology principles to improve organizational performance in educational settings, with expertise in implementing change management theories and integrating problem-based learning experiences. 

Dr. April Schantz is an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist at the University of West Florida who earned her Ph.D. from Florida International University with a minor in Quantitative Methods. Her research examines high-stress occupations and team performance, with particular focus on occupational health and well-being of emergency first responders. Dr. Schantz leads the Occupational Health and Stress Lab at UWF and serves as faculty advisor for the Society for Human Resource Management student chapter, where she mentors students in developing research methodologies and workplace skills. 

• Dr. Krejic explains how her biology background informed her leadership approach to experiential learning initiatives. 
• The crucial difference between providing experiences versus facilitating true experiential learning. 
• How empathy drives effective planning, design, and faculty engagement for instructional change. 
• Reflecting on professional and expert blind spots to create meaningful programs 
• Modeling collaborative practices as the foundation for building successful faculty course design partnerships. 
• Campus-wide coordination of incentives and rewards to drive faculty participation in experiential learning. 

Dr. Sarah Krejci is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Integrated Environmental Science at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL. She holds degrees in Marine Biology (B.S. from Roger Williams University) and Oceanography (Ph.D. from Florida Institute of Technology). Dr. Krejci directs the Aquatic Research Lab at B-CU, where she mentors undergraduate researchers in marine ecology, freshwater ecology, and sustainable aquaculture while specializing in seahorse research.