High-Impact Educational Practices in Developing Countries: A Case Study of (I)NGO Providers in Palestine

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The proposed research investigates the contribution to sustainable development ofhigh-impact educational practices (HIEPs) delivered by non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) to undergraduate students. HIEPs include writing-intensivecourses, undergraduate research, group projects, community- and service-basedlearning, study abroad, and internships (Kuh 2008). The aim of such HIEPs is topromote students' success in academic, professional, and civic settings, with extantevidence gathered in the US showing HIEPs do so (Brownell and Swaner 2009; Kilgoet al 2015). Palestine is the site of the research, given the longstanding proliferation ofNGOs and their HIEPs projects there (see Calis 2013). In Palestine, NGO-deliveredHIEPs are increasingly significant for achieving sustainable development, especiallythe fourth Sustainable Development Goal on education and its mission in buildingcapacities for sustainable development. Yet, like in other developing countries, HIEPsin Palestine lack any scholarly investigation, especially when delivered in non-formaleducational settings. To tackle this knowledge gap, the research will use aninterpretivist approach and qualitative methods to answer three primary questions:How and why are NGOs delivering HIEPs? What benefits arise for participants fromthese HIEPs? What factors maximise the impact of NGO-delivered HIEPs? Overall,this research will (i) expand current knowledge of and improve education policy onnon-formal education for development; and (ii) deepen understanding of the role ofeducational NGOs and the impact of HIEPs in a developing country, with the ultimategoal of making NGO-delivered HIEPs more effective in building in and beyondPalestine a citizenry capable of contributing to sustainable development.