EDUCATION ABROAD AS A HIGH-IMPACT PRACTICE: Linking Research and Practice to the Educational Continuum

This chapter introduces AAC&U’s concept of student success and the role that HIPs play in its promotion. It explains why EA is considered a HIP and provides evidence that supports this assertion. The chapter introduces a conceptual model that scholars can use to better isolate the impact of EA in order to understand its influence on student learning and development as well as to encourage practitioners to link EA programming with other HIPs as a means to amplify student learning and development. In addition to investigating personal and social responsibility gains, others have investigated intellectual and practical skills development in EA participants. To understand the full potential of EA as a HIP, it will be necessary to develop methods to connect the learning that occurs through EA with other experiences students have on and off campus that can lead to student learning outcomes.