Making Internships High-Impact Through Online Coursework

Deborah Mixson-Brookshire, Associate Professor of Management, Distance Learning Coordinator

Mike Keleher Assistant Dean for Retention and Academic Success, Associate Professor of English

Kennesaw State University

Internships provide valuable and necessary experiential learning situations for students to begin shaping their professional identities. The literature suggests these experiences are not just beneficial in terms of career preparation but are also instrumental in growing students’ interpersonal communication skills and even intercultural competencies (Aldas, Crispo, Johnson, & Price, 2010; Simons et al., 2012). In fact, in one of the few studies involving student perception of high-impact educational practices (HIPs), students considered internships the most engaging of the HIPs. Students reported working harder and participating more actively in internships than in other HIPs, such as servicelearning or learning communities (Miller, Rycek, & Fritson, 2011).

When it came time to develop a new internship course for integrative studies majors at Kennesaw State University, we created what we believe is a high-impact pedagogical framework for students’ experiential learning that balances academic learning, interaction, and reflection. The following discussion provides an overview of our development of the course and our ongoing study of its effectiveness.

Rationale and Methods

When our Leadership and Integrative Studies department sought to expand our integrative studies offerings to include a degree completion option, the deciding factor was whether it would maximize students’ readiness for entering the workforce. To meet this expectation, we required students entering the track to complete additional courses in oral and written communication, leadership studies, information technology, and a senior capstone course. We also wanted to be sure the students could complete an internship, if desired, even though they would be entering the general studies track with differing academic preparation and career aspirations. In designing an internship course for our majors, we wanted it to cover themes with broad professional applicability, as well as opportunities for collaboration and reflection that distinguish HIPs.

HIPs are a central component of Kennesaw State’s ongoing efforts to provide transformative learning experiences for students through first-year seminars, learning communities, service-learning, and internships. Within University College, which houses our integrative studies major, students who pursue internships can stay true to their customized degree plans and intern at a variety of sites. Therefore, to develop an internship course that would most benefit students, we selected learning objectives that would be applicable to career development in any setting. These include the following:

1. Demonstrate a professional work ethic and behaviors while working with others in the workplace environment.

2. Effectively describe, in oral and written form, their experiences in the workplace in a critical and reflective manner.

3. Identify the knowledge, skills, and values they possess in order to determine the most suitable post-baccalaureate professional and educational context for their future.

4. Contribute to discussion on a range of topics relevant to professional development (e.g., interpersonal relations, ethics, group dynamics).

In describing HIPs, Kuh, O’Donnell, and Reed (2013) point out that they must involve significant effort, collaboration, and reflection on the student’s part as well as opportunities for peers and instructors to provide rich feedback. Thus, in selecting course content for the internship course, we created assignments and activities in which students could reflect and collaborate as they explored common workplace issues, such as ethical dilemmas and interpersonal communication. Because so much of students’ time would be spent off campus, we decided on online course delivery as the most appropriate method to frame and enhance the learning that accompanies participation in an internship.

The academic components of the course centered on workplace-related themes (e.g., flexibility, diversity, ethics) that were explored in a textbook on internships (Sweitzer & King, 2009), then shared in the students’ discussion board conversations. To frame their internship experiences, students developed personalized Experiential Learning Contracts, which outlined their goals for the course and action steps for reaching them. From there, in order to best synthesize course content with their site work, we sequenced the assignments and assessments to parallel the internship experience (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Course activities and assignments followed the progression of students’ internships.

Once we had a satisfactory course design and set of learning objectives, we developed surveys to go out at the beginning and end of the term. Along with student discussions and reflections, these would provide a basis for determining the observed and (for the students) perceived benefits of the course. By looking at pilot data, we sought to determine the efficacy of the online course in giving students the knowledge and context necessary for maximizing the internship experience. Our aim was to facilitate the transition from college to the workplace while building each student’s sense of well-being as a learner and team member.

Findings and Implications

The participants in this pilot study were 33 students enrolled in four internship courses in Summer 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and Summer 2018. The courses were taught each semester, online and asynchronously. The majority of students were 18-29 and had taken an online course before. Though we offered a pre- and post-survey of student attitudes and preferences, there were no statistical differences in the participants’ responses. However, when we asked students to choose the four most useful course components for learning course materials (out of 11 listed), most selected online content (e.g., videos, lectures), discussion boards/assignments, interaction with colleagues and supervisor, and instructor feedback.

The prioritization of these elements by the students not only intersected with our course objectives and learning outcomes but also with those described in the literature on HIPs (Kuh et al., 2013; Miller et al., 2011). We continue to survey students at the beginning and end of the semesters in which they enroll in the course. Our hope is that this multisemester iterative study will lead to an increasingly impactful and reflective internship experience that increases students’ potential for future success in the workplace.

By meeting the diverse needs of our students and preparing them to transition into graduate school or a career, we continue to enhance our internship course by allowing them to read, work, respond, and reflect on their experiences. One student in the course articulated the potential for this practice:

The course helped me to be more conscious of my work performance and realistically evaluate my internship site and my job. It helped me not to judge, but to be constructive and understanding. Sometimes [it] is not about the job place but about changing strategies to improve a system, a task, and even interrelationships at work and even out of work.

We contend that our online internship course, structured and facilitated with HIPs in mind, provides students a rigorous and engaging opportunity for learning and maturation as they transition from college to the workplace.

References

Aldas, T., Crispo, V., Johnson, N., & Price, T. A. (2010). Learning by doing: The Wagner plan from classroom to career. Peer Review, 12(4), 24-28.

Kuh, G. D., O’Donnell, K., & Reed, S. (2013). Ensuring quality & taking high-impact practices to scale. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Miller, R. L., Rycek, R. F., & Fritson, K. (2011, December). The effects of high-impact learning experiences on student engagement. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 53-59.

Simons, L., Fehr, L., Blank, N., Connell, D., Fernandez, D., & Peterson, V. (2012). Lessons learned from experiential learning: What do students learn from a practicum/internship? International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 24(3), 325-334.

Sweitzer, F. H., & King, M. (2009). The successful internship: Personal, professional, and civic development in experiential learning. Belmont, CA: Cengage.

Contact: Deborah Mixson-Brookshire, dmixson@kennesaw.edu

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