What Works?
Six key practices to create a high-impact internship
(Kuh, 2008)
1
2
3
Effort
Effort
Deepen student investment in activities by demanding student devotion to purposeful tasks requiring decision making.
The Demand for Work
Linking Practice and Theory
Assist student to capture opportunities to integrate, synthesize, & apply knowledge. Practice and theory must inform each other.
Learning Application
Linking Practice and Theory
Feedback
Regular feedback to student is encouraged. Beliefs, values, and assumptions are challenged through feedback.
Performance
Feedback
4
Manage Relationships
Manage Relationships
Student growth occurs through engagement with other people. Students must navigate the complexity of relationships.
Interpersonal Skill Development
5
Reflect
Reflect
Students need to be guided to recall events, analyze them critically, and consider varied perspectives.
Intentional Process
6
Engagement Across Differences
Engagement Across Differences
Students must be challenged to develop new ways of thinking and responding to others.
Comprehend Diversity
Additional practices supported by research
Goals
Goals and objectives must exist to guide the internship. Academic learning goals and career development goals need to be included
(O'Neill, 2010).
Linkage
Knowledge is actively constructed by engaging the student's own experience. Linking experience with academic material is vital
(O'Neill, 2010).
Community voice
Students engaged in the community are more likely to appreciate other cultures and view others more like themselves
(Eyler & Giles, 1999) .
Support
Faculty, field supervisor, and peer expectations and support are linked to students moving beyond their own expectations and personal comfort zone
(O'Neill, 2010).
application
The use of targeted assignments to help integrate theory and practice provides a language and structure for students to understand and articulate experiences
(Eyler & Giles, 1999).
References
Anderson, B. (2014). High-impact political science internship in a "low-density opportunity" environment. Political
Science and Politics, 47 (4), 862-866.
Bogo, M. (2005). Field instruction in social work: A review of the research literature. The Clinical Supervisor, 24(1/2), 163-
193.
Eyler, J. & Giles, D. E. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Flanagan, N. & Wilson, e. (2018). What makes a good placement? Findings from a social work student-to-student research study. Social Work Education, 37(5), 565-580, DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2018.1450373
Gibbons, J. & Gray, M. (2002). An integrated and experience-based approach to social work education: The Newcastle
Model. Social Work Education, 21(5), 529-549.
Kuh, G. D. (2003). What we're learning about student engagement from NSSE: Benchmarks for effective educational
practices. Change, 35(2), 24-32.
Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices. In G. D. Kuh (Ed.), High-impact educational practices: What they are,
who has them, and why they matter (pp. 13-30). Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Kuh, G. D., Ikenberry, S. O., Jankowski, N. A., Cain, T. R., Ewell, P. T., Hutchings, P. & Kinzie, J. (2015). Using evidence of
student learning to improve higher education. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Maidment, J. (2003). Problems experienced by students on field placement: Using research findings to inform curriculum
design and content. Australian Social Work, 56(1).
Narayanan, V. K., Olk, P. M., & Fukami, C. V. (2010). Determinants of internship effectiveness: An exploratory model.
Academy of Management & Learning, 9(1), 61-80.
O'Neill, N. (2010). Internships as a high-impact practice: Some reflections on quality. Campus Action Network, Association
of American Colleges and Universities, 12(4).
Sweitzer, F. H. & King, M. (2014). The successful internship: personal, and civic development in experiential learning (4th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Sweitzer, F. H. & King, M. (2019). The successful internship: personal, and civic development in experiential learning (5th ed.).
Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, Inc.