Learning from Graduate and Undergraduate Public Health Virtual Internship Experiences with State Title V Agencies During COVID-19, Summer 2020

Background Since summer 2014, the National MCH Workforce Development Center has placed students from MCH public health graduate (Centers of Excellence and Catalyst) and undergraduate (MCH Pipeline) programs, all funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, in summer internships with state and territorial Title V agencies. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Title V MCH Internship Program was offered virtually. Participants and Methods This manuscript includes quantitative and qualitative data from 2017 to 2020 generated by both Title V MCH Internship student interns (n = 76) and their preceptors (n = 40) with a focus on a comparison between the 2020 virtual year and the 2017–2019 years. Results Evaluation data from the 2017 to 2020 Title V MCH Internship Program from both students and preceptors revealed the implementation of a robust and successful internship program in which students increased their confidence in a variety of team, mentorship, and leadership skills while gaining direct exposure to the daily work of state Title V agencies. However, students and preceptors identified more challenges during 2020 compared to previous years. Conclusions The COVID-19 Pandemic was both a disruption and a catalyst for change in education. While there were clearly some challenges with the pivot to a virtual Title V MCH Internship Program in summer 2020, students were able to participate in meaningful internship experiences. This success can be attributed to the ability of the internship sponsor to engage in best practices, including extensive planning and provision of ongoing support to the students. Going forward, it is recognized that virtual internships may facilitate access to agencies in distant locales, eliminating issues related to housing and transportation. When both virtual and in-person relationships are available, those responsible for internship programs, including the Title V MCH Internship, will need to weigh these type of benefits against the potential missed opportunities students may have when not able to participate in on-site experiences.

Aquisição de saberes experienciais por meio do estágio supervisionado em secretariado executivo: um estudo de caso na Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Esta pesquisa apresenta uma discussão sobre a vivência prática do estudante em meio ao estágio e os conhecimentos que foram somados à sua formação. Problematizando se a experiência no estágio supervisionado dá condições para o estudante adquirir novos saberes. Com isso, o objetivo geral é discutir o aprendizado que o aluno pode adquirir a partir da experiência prática no estágio supervisionado. A pesquisa tem o caráter exploratório e descritivo com estudo de caso, sob a abordagem qualitativa. Os sujeitos desta pesquisa são 40 estudantes-estagiários do curso de Secretariado Executivo, da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. A coleta de dados foi realizada com a aplicação de questionário online, os quais foram analisados por meio do método da análise de conteúdo. Como principais resultados, verificou-se que o entendimento que os estudantes têm sobre a prática do estágio supervisionado refere-se ao ato de saber fazer, de colocar em prática saberes teóricos, de enxergar no empirismo a teoria aprendida em sala de aula, experimentar o conhecimento científico oriundo de pesquisas científicas ou dos projetos de extensão. Conclui-se, então, que eles adquiriram diversos saberes experienciais com o estágio, proporcionando a absorção de novas ideias. A ênfase está ligada na aquisição de novos saberes por meio de experiências teórico-práticas proporcionada pelo estágio supervisionado. ABSTRACT This research presents a discussion about the practical experience of the student in the middle of the internship and the knowledge that was added to his training. Problematizing whether the supervised internship experience provides conditions for the student to acquire new knowledge. With that, the general objective is to discuss the learning that the student can acquire from the practical experience in the supervised internship. The research has an exploratory and descriptive character with a case study, under a qualitative approach. The subjects of this research are 40 student-interns from the Executive Secretariat course at the Federal University of Pernambuco. Data collection was performed using an online questionnaire, which were analyzed using the content analysis method. As main results, it was found that the understanding that students have about the practice of supervised internship refers to the act of knowing how to do, putting theoretical knowledge into practice, seeing in empiricism the theory learned in the classroom, experiencing the scientific knowledge derived from scientific research or extension projects. It is concluded, then, that they acquired several experiential knowledge with the internship, providing the absorption of new ideas. The emphasis is on the acquisition of new knowledge through theoretical-practical experiences provided by the supervised internship. Keywords: Knowledge. Teaching-learning. Interns.

Fundamentals of Music Theory

This open e-book is the result of a project funded by a University of Edinburgh Student Experience Grant, Open e-Textbooks for access to music education. The project was a collaboration between Open Educational Resources Service, and staff and student interns from the Reid School of Music. As a proof-of-concept endeavour, the project aimed to explore how effectively we could convert existing course content into convenient and reusable open formats suitable for use by staff and students both within and beyond the University. The resulting e-book presents open licensed educational materials that deal with the building blocks of musical stave (sometimes known as staff) notation, a language designed to communicate about musical ideas which is in use around the world. The resources in this e-book include video lectures and their transcripts, as well as supporting text explanations, examples and illustrations. The materials introduce topics such as the organisation of discrete pitches into scales and intervals, and temporal organisation of musical sounds as duration, in rhythm and metre. These rudiments are presented through an introduction to the elements of five-line stave notation, and through critical discussion of the advantages and limitations served by notational systems in the representation and analysis of musical sounds. This serves as the basis of further explanations, to illustrate musical concepts including key, time signature, harmonisation, cadence and modulation. We anticipate that subsequent versions of this e-book will update and develop the contents and presentation of the materials, following the success of this student-led collaboration.

Remote TPC Internships: Infrastructures for Success

Though the remote internship is certainly not a new phenomenon, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of this model for undergraduate experiential learning. As we consider this shift, we must evaluate how to best assist students completing remote internships. In this article, we argue that infrastructure offers a useful framework for understanding students’ internship experience and corresponding professionalization. We present two case studies of student remote internship experiences, analyzing areas of challenge and success through the infrastructural areas of writing projects, communication, and logistics. We offer recommendations for faculty working with remote student interns to promote positive learning experiences.

Preparing Job Coaches to Implement Systematic Instructional Strategies to Teach Vocational Tasks

Job coaches are not typically trained to implement systematic instructional strategies to teach vocational skills to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This study replicated and expanded the evaluation of a job coach behavioral skills training program designed by Brock et al. (2016) to teach participants to implement task analysis, simultaneous prompting, and system of least prompts to teach vocational tasks to students with IDD. We used a multiple probe design with probe conditions across strategies, replicated across three participants, to assess acquisition and generalization. Participants demonstrated mastery of the three instructional strategies in simulated assessments with actors and generalized use of the strategies to teach novel vocational tasks to student interns with IDD. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Building a digital marketing internship program for technology-based start-ups: an exploratory study of student experiences

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the role and characteristics of the summer internship program (Digital Summer Clinic) delivered by Eastern Michigan University. The authors report the results of an exploratory study of interns participating in the Digital Summer Clinic over a five-year time period. The study captures and analyzes the experiences of interns as expressed in structured interviews and blog posts.Design/methodology/approachThe study data were text from structured interviews and blog posts capturing the “voice” of the interns. A natural language processing (NLP) analysis of the text corpus, consisting of 43 interviews and blog posts, resulted in the identification of 242 unique stem-terms used by interns in describing the internship experiences. The authors used the JMP Pro 15.2 Text Explorer algorithm (It is defined as a suite of computer programs for statistical analysis developed by the JMP business unit of SAS Institute) to extract the terms that were subsequently transformed and analyzed with factor analysis and regression to address the research questions.FindingsThe factor analysis results found six dimensions or themes, defined by the stem-terms used by student interns, best described the internship experience. The authors then explored the relationship between the six themes and the umbrella term “internship” with multiple regression analysis. The regression findings suggest a hierarchy of effects with the theme “Introducing Professional Opportunities” being the theme most predictive of the umbrella term.Originality/valueThe methodology used within the paper is unique in several ways when compared to other research investigating internship programs. First, it uses NLP analysis for the qualitative analysis of text-based descriptions of student experiences over a five-year time horizon. Second, the data analysis uses transformed text to quantitatively determine the major dimensions or themes expressed by the interns about their experiences in the Summer Clinic program. Finally, the relative importance of the themes identified provided direction for future program development.

The impacts and success factors of a work-from-home service-learning internship during COVID-19

PurposeCOVID-19 has changed the way we teach and learn, including service-learning (S-L). This study examines the impacts of the work-from-home (WFH) mode on the work performance and learning outcomes of student interns on an eight-week S-L internship programme, and the key factors in terms of its success.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research methodology is adopted by interviewing nine student interns and four supervisors from three community partner organisations (CPOs) to understand their experiences of how the WFH mode has impacted intern work performance and learning outcomes. Thematic analysis is used for the data analysis.FindingsThe interns uncover a number of negative WFH impacts on the S-L internship, including ineffective communication and management practice, low work efficiency and quality, a lack of task variety and learning opportunities and distractions in the home environment. Furthermore, five critical factors for WFH success are also identified, including prior preparation, effective communication systems, personal motivators at work, the nature of the job in relation to it being suited to the WFH mode, and organisational support.Originality/valueThe study examines impacts on student work performance and learning outcomes in an S-L summer internship programme operating under the WFH mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key success factors and practical recommendations have been developed for enhancing the future success of S-L internships operating under the WFH mode.