I’m living the dream right now, and taking a class on engaged learning. I say that entirely sincerely — I’m in the unique position of spending all of my working hours thinking about impactful and meaningful teaching and learning and I feel so at home!

In any case, in class this morning we were asked to reflect on whether co-design of course elements is a High-Impact Educational Practice (HIP). I’ve been thinking about that question a lot, not only today, but as we’ve read more generally about HIPs. In a free-write this morning I wrote:

Co-Design helps us negotiate across difference, understand and sometimes adopt new perspectives, and think in integrative and creative ways (esp. in this course, where it takes a deep metacognitive element that is reinforced/ emphasized by the course topic itself–engaged learning). Co-design turns the professor-student dynamic into more of a mentorship dynamic.

I do think that this empowerment in the learning process is deeply impactful. My own partnership / co-design/inquiry/other experiences kept me in college in the first place. My undergraduate major itself was co-designed.

But I’m still not sure I’m fully convinced. I hesitate to be overly generous with the HIP label, for fear of rendering it meaningless. When one of my colleagues suggested co-design might be a feature of HIPs rather than one itself, and I felt much more compelled. I’m excited by the idea that co-design be advocated for and incorporated thoughtfully into all higher ed spaces, rather than relegated to a specific sphere.

What do you think?