Medaille College

Internship Orientation

November 11, 2009

Presenters

•Carol Cullinan, Director of Career Services

•Norm Muir, Dean of the Undergraduate College

•Lou Pozantides, Associate Clinical Professor

Modest Orientation Objectives

•Connect students with internship resources

•Review the internship process

•Introduce a theory of experiential learning

A Few Key Messages

•Opportunity to design own learning

•Ownership of learning

•Responsibility

•Accountability

•Active engagement (initiative, curiosity, questioning)

Internships Defined

• Internships are structured, supervised opportunities for extended, in-depth, out-of-class, field-based discovery learning.

• Internships involve the direct, hands-on application of classroom learning (concepts, theories, knowledge, skills) to situations in real-world contexts.

• Internships are one form of experiential learning (others include service-learning, cooperative education, and study abroad)

Internship Benefits

•Apply classroom learning to practical real-life problems in order to evaluate its validity

•Foster capacity to integrate knowledge with experience to deepen learning

•Enhance thinking, communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills

•Gain knowledge of developing trends in one’s field•Explore and confirm (or not) career choices•Develop self understanding, confidence, and maturity•Develop network of professional relationships/contacts

Medaille College Internship Resources

•Medaille College Undergraduate Internship Guidelines and Resource Manual

•http://www.medaille.edu/academics/internships/•This manual is your definitive information resource for

internships. • It describes all the policies and procedures you need to

know to prepare for and enjoy a successful internship.•Contact your program’s faculty internship coordinator if

you have any questions or need help understanding the manual.

Medaille College Internship Outcome Statement

•Students will:•Demonstrate effective written and oral communication

and critical thinking skills•Demonstrate common professional workplace

behaviors (listed on assessment forms in your packet)•Enhance professional networking skills•Demonstrate active engagement and intellectual

initiative throughout the internship process •Demonstrate the ability to integrate theory

Student Roles and Responsibilities

•See pages 15-18 in the internship manual for complete information.

•Stage 1 – Pre-Internship Planning Attend Internship Orientation Meet with Internship Coordinator to Declare Intent Research and Site Selection (be thorough and selective;

choose a site that meets your educational goals, needs, and interests)

Apply for Internship and Develop a Learning Plan Secure Approval and Register

Student Roles and Responsibilities

•Stage 2 – The Internship Contact site supervisor a few days before you begin Notify your internship coordinator when you start your hours Attend host site orientation (as required) Maintain analytical field learning journal Maintain regular contact with internship coordinator Attend campus seminars (if required) Arrange for internship coordinator to visit site Have an exit strategy: bring your internship to a smooth

conclusion: say goodbyes, give thanks; contact faculty coordinator about next steps

Student Roles and Responsibilities

•Stage 3 – Post-Internship Submit site supervisor’s evaluation of your performance Complete self evaluation form Continue to reflect on your field experience and integrate it

with prior learning Submit field learning journal Submit summary and analysis essay to internship coordinator

Academic Preparation

•Complete Internship Concept Form (see Appendix A) Imagine the kind of internship experience you seek Compose some preliminary learning goals and objectives Consider the kinds of knowledge and skills you want to acquire

or deepen as a result of your internship Think about how you can connect your field experience with

your academics

Academic Preparation

•Complete a Student Internship Learning Plan (see Appendix A)

The SILP represents your own self-designed, customized course syllabus

It represents a blueprint or compass to on-site learning It establishes a learning contract between you, your site

supervisor, and your faculty coordinator Consult with both your site supervisor and faculty evaluator in

its creation Be sure your learning objectives are clear, specific, and

meaningful Be sure they are aligned with internship activities

Learning Objectives

•are measurable, observable statements that describe what a learner will know, be able to do, or feel as a result of a learning activity, course, or internship

•objectives may be about knowledge, skills, behaviors, values, or attitudes

• they guide the learner, helping her/him focus and set priorities

• they serve as a basis for evaluating actual performance• they should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable,

Realistic, and Timely (SMART)

Writing Learning Objectives—Resources

• “Writing Learning Objectives” by Dr. Raoul Arreola•http://www.utmem.edu/grad/CourseInfo/CurrManageme

nt/Learning_Objectives.pdf

• “Helpful Resources for Writing Measurable Learning Outcomes” by Dr. Kristine Webb

•http://www.unf.edu/groups/unffa/OnlineForms/CurrentAPCforms/APC%202005%20Folder/Writing_Measureable_Learning_Objectives.html

Learning from Experience

“Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”

(David Kolb 1984)

David Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning: A Lifelong Tool for Learning from Experience

• In 1984, cognitive psychologist and educational theorist David Kolb published a cyclical model of learning consisting of four stages.

•Kolb’s theory explain how human beings translate the raw data of experience into new learning or deeper understanding through reflection and analysis.

• Kolb’s descriptive model remains a useful and commonly cited tool in higher education for explaining the learning process

• The model can serve as a lifelong learning tool that helps us to

construct meaning from our daily experiences.

Characteristics of Experiential Learning

•Result from an individual’s direct participation in events•Rooted in one’s own experience and reflection about it•Learning-centered approach based on the premise that

people learn best from doing•Holistic—address cognitive, emotional, and physical

aspects of the learner •Best thought of as a continuous process of adaptation

to the world grounded in experience rather than a definite outcome

Characteristics of Experiential Learning

• Involves transactions between the learner and the environment

• Involves transactions between personal and social knowledge

•Process of creating knowledge from these interactions of self (your knowledge, values, attitudes, skills) with received academic knowledge (classroom concepts and theories) and the contexts with which you engage (residence hall, internship site, student club, family, work, community)

Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle Four Principal Stages

Kolb Simplified

•What?

•So what?

•Now what?

Stage I Concrete Experience (CE)

•Knowledge by acquaintance•Direct practical experience• Individual engages in a particular action• Immerse self in “doing” tasks •Experience serves as raw material for learning

Stage II Reflective Observation (RO)

•Reflection involves stepping back from immersion in experiences to review what has been done.

• Involves the temporary suspension of judgments and decisions.

•Reflection starts the meaning-making process of translating raw experience into the insight and understanding of true learning

• In this stage, you begin to probe, interrogate, and process experiences through the filter of your personal beliefs, attitudes, and values

Reflective Observation (continued)

•Begin to apply your cognitive abilities to connect and integrate your new experiences into the framework of your prior experiences and understanding of the yourself, your context, and the world.

•Ask questions•Examine your feelings

Stage III Abstract Conceptualization (AC)

•Apply your academic learning and prior personal knowledge and experiences to review, explain, and analyze new experiences in order to construct meaning

•Bridge theory and practice (applied learning)•Test feasibility/usefulness of theories/concepts/models• Integrate ideas and concepts to interpret events,

understand relationships among them, guide future decisions and courses of action, and to generate new ideas or perspectives

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Using your higher-order thinking abilities

•Creating (generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things: designing, inventing, planning, constructing)

•Evaluating (justifying a decision or course of action: hypothesizing, critiquing, judging)

•Analyzing (breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships: comparing, organizing, interrogating)

•Applying (using information in another situation)

• (explaining ideas or concepts: summarizing)

•Understanding (explaining, interpreting)

•Remembering (recalling information: listening, describing)

Stage IV Active Experimentation

• Involves the application of new insights and understanding to anticipate future occurrences of the event or similar ones

•Test out new or modified/adapted understanding and perspective in future experiences to continue the reflective learning cycle

Example #1 Enhancing Nursing Techniques

• An internship nurse trainee participates in a supervised teaching simulation on how to lift a patient. (CE)

• The student might raise some probing questions about the process and her performance: “How did that feel?”or “What might I have done differently?” or “Was the patient comfortable?”(RO)

• The student might review her lecture notes, textbook instructions or search the Internet for helpful ideas and tips. (AC)

• At the next simulation, the nursing student might draw on yesterday’s lessons from experience and her research to modify her techniques and improve her effectiveness. (AE)

Example #2 Learning Coaching Style/Skills

•Participate in a week-long clinic on coaching styles and skills. (CE)

•Observe how other people coach and reflect on your coaching beliefs, values, and strategies in the context of what you learned at the clinic. (RO)

•Read articles or books on coaching philosophies and techniques. Draw on knowledge from videos or ESPN analysis of coaches. (AC)

•Apply your clinic experience, observations, and reading to test out components of your coaching style. (AE)

Example #3 Exploring Leadership

• Tour Buffalo neighborhood experiencing a housing and economic renewal and meet with recognized community leaders. (CE)

• Interview a citizen leader about his/her role in the neighborhood’s renaissance; use questions from leadership readings and films to create a portrait of the individual’s leadership traits, behaviors, and style. (RO)

• Apply leadership theories from course textbook or other research sources to construct a case study of the person’s leadership approach (style, traits, behaviors). (AC)

• Test out your new understanding of citizen leadership in your neighborhood or campus community. (AE)

Reflective Thinking and Meaning-Making Some Final Quotes

•Experience is not what happens to you, it’s what you do with what happens to you. --Aldous Huxley

•We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience. --John Dewey

•The only kind of learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered or self-appropriated learning—truth that has been assimilated in experience.

--Carl Rogers

Critical Reflection: The Key to Learning

•Experience becomes educative when critical reflective thought creates new meaning and leads to growth and the ability to take informed actions.

--Robert Bringle and Julie Hatcher

Reflective Thinking

• Reflective thinking is not only an organic component in the[Kolb] learning cycle, it is simultaneously the very ground from which knowledge and belief spring. [It] is both process and product.

--David Cooper• [P]ersonal experiences . . . allow theory to take on meaning when

reflection supports an analysis and critical examination of the experience. –Robert Bringle and Julie Hatcher

• Reflection as an “active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supported form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it” --John Dewey

Analytical Field Journal: Reflective Tool

•A weekly (or daily) field journal represents an opportunity to create meaning from internship experiences through systematic reflection and critical analysis (see journal resources in your orientation packet)

•Four Cs of Reflection • Continuous

• Connected to academic learning

• Challenging to assumptions, knowledge, perspectives

• Contextual (dependent on setting and learning design)

Assessing Student Learning

• In addition to the reflective analytical field journal, students are required to demonstrate internship learning through

a formal 5-7 page summary and analysis paper a tangible form of special documentation appropriate

to the nature of the field experience

Summary and Analysis Paper

•The specific requirements may vary slightly depending on the degree program and the directions of the faculty internship coordinator.

•However, the paper’s fundamental purpose remains the same no matter the student or program: to demonstrate to yourself and to others that learning did occur as a direct result of your engagement in a field setting

•The paper analysis should explicitly connect to the learning outcomes designated by the program and those self-created by you in the Student Internship Learning Plan.

Summary and Analysis Paper

•The paper should present specific claims about what you learned from your experience—whether about yourself, your academic studies, the host organization, human nature, or the world at large.

•These general claims (assertions) should be supported by specific examples from your experience.

• Ideally the paper will show evidence of analytical reflection and gained insight, not merely summarize and describe weeks of activity.

Summary and Analysis Paper

• Ideally you will connect theory and concepts from your academic studies to explore, examine, and deepen your understanding of your field experiences.

•Draw on your analytical field journal for raw material to re-visit, investigate, and shape into a formal paper

•Use the opportunity to create meaning and deepen your learning; don’t approach it as just another rote assignment to complete. Remember this is a paper over which you have maximum control. You determine the topics to explore.

Special Documentation

• You should determine your type of special documentation of internship learning, performance, and achievement in consultation with your faculty internship coordinator BEFORE you begin the internship.

• The idea here is to produce at least one tangible, observable product that documents what you learned during your internship.

• The forms of demonstration are many and limited only by your imagination.

• The documentation should be customized to fit with the specific circumstances of your internship.

Special Documentation

• Marketing brochure or other organizational publication to which you contributed an written copy or design elements

• Video or audio tape of one’s performance/work• Business plan • Case study• Scrapbook• Interview transcript (site leaders/managers, employees, clients)• An original song or poem or play• Visual representation (painting, sculpture)• Power point presentation• Poster presentation

Special Documentation

•Lesson plans•Proposal for improving services, products or processes

at your site•Website•A montage•Organizational chart•An additional paper analyzing the organization’s culture

or management/leadership style•Meeting agendas (of meeting you led or participated in)

Internship outcomes

• Internships can help with: Self discovery Career exploration Professional preparation

Its all about competencies….do you know what you know?

“a written description of measurable work habits and personal skills used to achieve a work objective” or the skills, knowledge, and abilities to do the job. SKA’a

Common competencies employers seek

•Communication skills•Strong work ethic•Team work skills• Initiative•Analytical skills• Interpersonal skills•Problem solving skills•Organization skills•Leadership skills

Journaling and Reflection can help

• Identify SKA’s•Develop competency based resumes•Prepare competency based cover letters•Prepare for the job interview – behavioral based•Prepare you for job success

Ten Commandments for the Intern

1. Office politics and office gossip can complicate the simplest tasks

2. Walk lightly and think twice before making waves

3. Deadline are reality, and time is money

4. You can make one mistake – learn from it

5. Organizations no longer close their eyes to after hours activities

6. Do as you are told; do not allow the ego to get in the way

7. Determine a proper time balance between work and play

8. You must work well with associates you did not choose yourself

9. Patience is a workplace pre-requisite

10. Bosses are right; even when they are wrong

Off to a good start….

•Be positive•Ask for help•Don’t be a know-it-all•Have a good sense of humor•Find a buddy•Follow instructions•Read company policies•Wear the right clothes•Be punctual