October 22, 2018
Chronicle of Higher Education features Purdue's IMPACT as 1 of 6 encouraging innovations in education
Students engage with each other and the instructors in this collaborative discussion on library references at the Wilmeth Active Learning Center on Purdue’s campus, along with another 58 redesigned classrooms across the campus. The University’s IMPACT program is one of six recognized by the Chronicle of Higher Education for encouraging innovation in teaching. (Purdue University photo)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue’s IMPACT, a program for transforming courses to more fully engage students in their learning, is not just trending on campus. It is trending nationally.
The Chronicle of Higher Education on Sunday evening (Oct. 21) released its Education’s 2018 Innovators Special Issue. The issue features six higher ed institutions encouraging innovation in teaching, and Purdue’s IMPACT is one of them. The Chronicle story is available. The Purdue section is available here.
“This is a huge honor for the university. It has been a collaborative effort from the beginning, and it’s success is dependent on the support from leadership and the work of a multidisciplinary team,” said Chantal Levesque-Bristol, executive director of the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue. “More than 300 faculty have been engaged, and it’s a vehicle to foster change in teaching and learning.”
IMPACT – Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation – has been around only since 2011. Yet, to date it has transformed 565 courses, working with more than 330 instructors and with nearly 90 percent of students having taken at least one IMPACT course.
“Our provost has been engaging the campus by continually asking, ‘What does it mean to have excellence in teaching? What does it mean to have a Purdue education?’” Levesque-Bristol said. “IMPACT has been about the ability to empower and reengage our faculty in their thinking and their teaching.”
The Chronicle of Higher Education states its yearly Innovators issue aims to “personify trends in higher ed and reflect broader conversations in the academic world.”
“IMPACT’s innovative, interactive style of teaching is built around the way students learn today,” said Jay Akridge provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “All colleges across campus participate in this program, and it is working. Student success, as defined in a variety of ways, has been enhanced by IMPACT. And, our faculty have been energized by the changes they are making in their approach to teaching.”
