Internships and Integrative Learning

1. Internships and Integrative Learning Lilly-East Conference on College and University Teaching April 12 – 14, 2007 Thomas ShafferAcademic Internship CoordinatorPenn State Altoona Cynthia A. WoodInstructor of Business Administration Penn State Altoona 1

2. Internships and Integrative Learning • Session Goals • Provide a forum for discussing the academic value of work- based learning • Consider ways to ensure a quality learning experience • Explore a pedagogy that clearly connects internship activities with students’ academic preparation • Demonstrate the potential value of work- based learning for curriculum assessment 2

3. Internships and Integrative Learning • Internships as Academic Experiences • Internships as “Capstone” Experiences • Engaged (or active) learning • “Memorable moments” vs. “memorizable” moments • Facilitate higher-order cognitive abilities . . . • Bloom’s Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation 3

4. Internships and Integrative Learning • Internships as “Capstone” Experiences (Continued) • “Bridge” between college life and the professional world . . . • Self-directed learning • Lifelong learning • Academic program assessment . . . • Is what we teach relevant to experience outside the academy? How? • What are we NOT teaching that perhaps we should? 4

5. Internships and Integrative Learning • Standards of Excellence for Work-Based Learning1 • “All too frequently, students who study off campus and receive credit for the off campus activity do not receive the same quality of instruction and education they would receive on campus. . . . it is often difficult for faculty and staff to assess the learning and to determine if it is creditworthy.” • “First and foremost, academic credit earned off campus should be comparable to the credit that is earned on campus.” Mary Ryan, Institute for Experiential Education “Standards of Excellence for Experiential Education” (1999) 1 See, e.g., NSEE,The Internship as Partnership (1995), and Peter Parilla and Gary Hesser, “Liberal Learning and Internships in Sociology,” in The Internship Handbook (2005). 5

6. Internships and Integrative Learning • A “Problem-Based Learning” Approach • “Problem-based learning (PBL) challenges the learner with loosely- structured, complex problems that act as the focal points and stimuli for the course. By focusing on such problem-solving, PBL encourages the learner to originate and develop ideas as part of the learning process. PBL provides more meaning, applicability, and relevancy to classroom materials while also facilitating the development of critical analysis needed for [success in today’s professional world].” • -- Ralph Hanke, Elizabeth Kisenwether, and Anthony Warren, • “A Scalable Problem-Based Learning System for Entrepreneurship Education” (2005) 6

7. Internships and Integrative Learning • Characteristics of Good PBL Problems1 • Engage students’ interest, motivate them to probe for deeper understanding • Are open-ended • Force decisions or judgments based on facts, information, or logic. Students should justify their decisions and reasoning based on principles/concepts being tapped. • Sift relevant from non-relevant data • Challenge students to develop higher-order thinking skills (analyze, synthesize, evaluate) • -- 1Duch, Barbara J. (2001). “Writing Problems for Deeper Understanding,” • pp.47-53 in Barbara J. Duch, Susan Groh, and Deborah E. Allen, • The Power of Problem-Based Learning. 7

8. Internships and Integrative Learning • A Problem-Based Approach to Internships • Enables the student to frame the anticipated experience in the context of his or her studies by • Translating work responsibilities or tasks into problem sets • Grounding the solution(s) to these problems in his or her academic studies Focuses student-faculty interaction on what is being learned vs. what is being done Offers consistent guidance to faculty members evaluating student learning in work-based settings 8

9. Internships and Integrative Learning • Framing the Internship Experience • Describing the process • Translate tasks into problem sets, asking • What is involved in this task? • What is needed to successfully perform this task? • How do my studies equip me to be successful at this task? • Demonstrating the process • Deconstructing a work proposal • Working with ill-structured proposals • Transferring the framework to other disciplines 9

10. Internships and Integrative Learning • Creating a “Conversational Space” • Expectations in journaling • Faculty as facilitators 10

11. Internships and Integrative Learning • Curricular Feedback – Closing the Loop • Core concept analysis • Proposed curricular revisions 11

12. Internships and Integrative Learning • Challenges • Faculty • Students • Administration This publication is available in alternative media on request. The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. It is the policy of the University to maintain an academic and work environment free of discrimination, including harassment. The Pennsylvania State University prohibits discrimination and harassment against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran status. Discrimination or harassment against faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated at The Pennsylvania State University. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the Affirmative Action Director, The Pennsylvania State University, 328 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-5901; Tel 814-865-4700/V, 814-863-1150/TTY.U.Ed. AA 07-84vjh1 12