IMPACT is a development program that supports many different models of participation and instructors from all disciplines university-wide. Launched by the Office of the Provost in 2011 and named as a component of the Purdue Moves initiatives by the Office of the President in 2013, IMPACT is a large, collaborative initiative on the Purdue West Lafayette and Purdue in Indianapolis locations.
The IMPACT program is guided by the theoretical framework Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017), which posits the existence of three basic psychological needs, which when fulfilled, contribute to the creation of a student-centered, autonomy-supportive learning environment. This fosters student engagement and student competence, and increases attainment of course-specific learning outcomes, degree completion, retention, and graduation rates.
Since 2011, IMPACT has worked with more than 610 instructors who have transformed more than 580 courses. All colleges at Purdue have participated in IMPACT and more than 90 percent of undergraduates take an IMPACT course during their time at Purdue.
IMPACT Fellows report significant increases in teaching satisfaction, observed student engagement, and improvements in pedagogical practice.
The IMPACT program was chosen as a 2018 Innovator in the Chronicle of Higher Education and has been featured by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and Change magazine.
Our Mission
IMPACT supports instructors in enhancing their pedagogical practices in order to create autonomy-supportive and inclusive learning environments to foster student success.
Specifically, the IMPACT program aims to support faculty’s ability to:
- Implement pedagogical practices that are student-centered, autonomy-supportive, and engaging
- Create learning environments that are equitable and inclusive
- Adopt a scholarly approach to instruction and contribute to a community of practice
Versions of the Program
There are three versions of IMPACT in which instructors can participate:
IMPACT Week
A fully remote experience with one week of facilitated daily drop-in discussions and written feedback. Instructors cover the key components of IMPACT, distilled down into five core Brightspace modules. This is a great option for those who want an introduction to IMPACT, those who want a refresher after having done another IMPACT program, or those wanting an outside review of their course before teaching. This option is open to any instructor of record at Purdue WL and comes with a $1,000 incentive to support their teaching.
IMPACT Semester
The full, 13-week, “signature program” where instructors work in groups of 3-4 instructors and 2-3 support team members from the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries, and Purdue Online. Participants apply with a course they are teaching and choose their own unique redesign goal to work toward throughout the semester. The end deliverable is a Course Design Plan that shows instructors’ plans for their course learning outcomes, objectives, assessments, and activities. This option is open to instructors of record who are faculty or staff at Purdue WL and comes with a $10,000 incentive to support their teaching.
IMPACT Month
An on-demand, hybrid option that can be tailored to specific initiatives. This 4-week program offers core IMPACT content via Brightspace and involves synchronous sessions where instructors discuss and engage in activities related to that week’s topic as a cohort. Departments or groups of instructors can request this offering by emailing impact@purdue.edu.
IMPACT Week
A fully remote experience with one week of facilitated daily drop-in discussions and written feedback. Instructors cover the key components of IMPACT, distilled down into five core Brightspace modules. This is a great option for those who want an introduction to IMPACT, those who want a refresher after having done another IMPACT program, or those wanting an outside review of their course before teaching. This option is open to any instructor of record at Purdue WL and comes with a $1,000 incentive to support their teaching.
IMPACT Semester
The full, 13-week, “signature program” where instructors work in groups of 3-4 instructors and 2-3 support team members from the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries, and Purdue Online. Participants apply with a course they are teaching and choose their own unique redesign goal to work toward throughout the semester. The end deliverable is a Course Design Plan that shows instructors’ plans for their course learning outcomes, objectives, assessments, and activities. This option is open to instructors of record who are faculty or staff at Purdue WL and comes with a $10,000 incentive to support their teaching.
