Internships – Employers As Educators

by Holly L. Tumlin, Pharm.D., PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Over the past several decades, internships have become increasingly popular for college students and young professionals.  As students complete their final stages of training and prepare to enter an extremely competitive work force, internships have been marketed as a way for students to distinguish themselves from their peers.  Internships.com recently reported that in 2012 an estimated two-thirds of all college graduates completed some form of internship and 69% of companies offered full time positions to their interns.¹ The National Association for College and Employers (NACE) defines an internship as:

“…a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting.  Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent.” ²

It is important to remember that internships are a form of experiential learning.  Other experiential learning experiences recognized by the NACE include volunteering, student organization leadership, campus involvement, faculty-led research projects, study abroad programs, student employment/work-study, and service learning.² The internship is unique in that it is often run by professionals who have not been formally trained to be educators.  My goal is to provide current and future internship programs with a few tools and resources to expand and improve this important method of education.

It is not by happenstance that the pursuit of experiential learning experiences has increased among students.  Internships offer a variety of opportunities that are essentially impossible to replicate in the classroom.  A few examples include direct experience in an area of interest, working under the supervision of professionals or experts in the field, building on classroom knowledge through application, and learning through problem solving and creative thinking.²  Employers should remember that interns are adult learners and benefit from learning techniques and strategies that capitalize on these assumptions:³

1.    They are independent and self-directed

2.    They have accumulated experience, which is a rich resource for learning

3.    They value learning that integrates with the demands of their everyday life

4.    They are more interested in immediate, problem-centered approaches to learning than in subject-centered ones

5.    They are more motivated to learn by internal drives than by external ones

Interns benefit from projects and experiences that allow them to test their independence.  As with any other employee, interns still need to be held accountable for their work but be allowed to develop their own path to achieve the final goal.  Through this type of learning environment, the company will benefit from the innovative ideas that interns can bring from their past experiences.

When starting an internship, it is often difficult to know where to begin.  Organizations such as the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) provide programs with guidelines to help facilitate a quality experience for the intern.  Some of the recommended standards by NACE include:²

·       The experience must be an extension of the classroom: a learning experience that provides for applying the knowledge gained in the classroom.  It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or be the work that a regular employee would routinely perform.

·       The skills or knowledge learned must be transferable to other employment settings.

·       The experience has a defined beginning and end, and a job description with desired qualifications.

·       There are clearly defined learning objectives/goals related to the professional goals of the student’s academic coursework.

·       There is supervision by a professional with expertise and education and/or professional background in the field of the experience.

·       There is routine feedback by an experienced supervisor.

·       There are resources, equipment, and facilities provided by the host employer that support learning objectives/goals.

For the learner to achieve the full benefit from completing an internship there needs to be a process of self-evaluation and feedback.   During these assessments, the employer should access the intern’s progress as well as make necessary changes to the program to help the intern meet the program’s objectives.  A great model for this practice would be the ADDIE Model.  This model is a frame work that consists of five phases: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.⁴  Through these steps, the educator is able to constantly assess the learner and make necessary changes to improve outcomes.

Especially in this climate of economic uncertainty, graduates and qualified professionals need to expand their educational experience through programs like internships.  As more employers step into the educator role, it is important to provide these individuals with the tools to provide students with quality educational experiences that enable them to reach their full potential as well-qualified members in their field.

References:

1.  Internships Survey Reveals the Increasing Importance of Internships for Both Students and Employers.  Internships.com. 06 Dec 2012. Accessed on 1 Mar 2013.

2.  NACE Position Statement on U.S. Internships - A Definition and Criteria to Assess Opportunities and Determine the Implications for Compensation. National Association of Colleges and Employers.  June 2012. Accessed on 1 Mar 2013.

3.  Kaufman DM. Applying educational theory in practice. BMJ 2003; 326: 213-216.

4.  Allen WC.  Overview and Evolution of the ADDIE Training System.  Advances in Developing Human Resources 2006; 8: 430-41.

Gender Differences in Learning Preferences?

by Rachel Flurie, PGY1 Pharmacotherapy Resident, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

Extensive research has documented that people learn in different ways and there are a variety of surveys and analytical schema to categorize these different learning preferences. This allows a person to understand how they learn best and also allows the teacher/learner to select teaching/learning methods that compliment these preferences. For example, I took the VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic) survey and found out that I am mostly a Read/Write learner.¹ Now that I have insight as to how I learn best, I can optimize my learning by picking materials that capitalize on my strengths. It’s always fun to take these questionnaires because they give you insights that you might not have been able to figure out on your own. In these learning descriptors, the emphasis is on the individual, irrespective of any other attributes or classifications we may have. But I began to wonder if fundamental genetic characteristics might influence our learning style.  For example, do males and females have learning preferences that are inherent to their gender?

In a broad sense, several stereotypes already exist about males and females when it comes to learning.  Men gravitate towards the sciences while women are attracted to the arts.  Men learn better by doing and women learning better by pondering. These stereotypes were perhaps relevant back when there was a distinctive division between males and females in terms of gender roles.  But do these stereotypes still apply today?  Or are learning styles truly based on individual preferences?

In my search for answers, I found several reviews and studies that focused on gender differences in learning preferences.^2,3  One review and meta-analysis explained the differences it found by relating them to Curry’s onion model.²  In this model there are three layers that explain learning preferences.   Learning preferences that fall in the inner most layer are considered fixed; those that fall in the middle layer are pretty stable but they are still subject to change; and those preferences that fall in the outer layer can be easily modified.  The meta-analysis found only one study out of 19 that showed a difference between men and women in an “inner layer” learning preference – certainly not enough to warrant a change in educational methods.  In the middle layer of the onion, a few studies that assessed learning preferences using Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory showed the following²:

• Women prefer concrete experiences while men prefer abstract concepts
• Women are more socially oriented than men
• Men are more grade-oriented and more competitive than women

In thinking back to all of my experiences, I would generally nod in agreement with these conclusions. The fact that they fall into the middle layer of the onion is a key point because these preferences might be linked to gender, but they’re certainly not permanent. As an educator, I would be mindful about these preferences when teaching. In circumstances where the learners are predominantly one gender, altering your teaching style based on these preferences might be helpful. For example, you might plan for more group discussions over individual assignments in an all-female classroom. But in mixed gender classrooms, other issues should influence your teaching more (e.g. the material being taught, the setting, the prerequisite knowledge of the learners).

Authors in another review noted that their literature search revealed a lot of variability in learning preference based on gender (and in some cases they were even contradictory!). For example, two studies used the same VARK survey to explore gender-associated learning differences.^4,5 One study, done in undergraduate physiology students, found that the males preferred multimodal instruction whereas the females were more likely to have single-mode preferences. The other study, done in first year medical students, found that the females tended to be more multimodal in learning style compared to their male counterparts. Perhaps the preferred learning style is also based on the material being taught? Personally, I think I have different learning preferences when I’m learning to cook a meal versus learning how to treat a patient’s hypertension. In the end, I’ve concluded, apart from a few generalizations that have been made, learning preferences are not significantly influenced by gender.

Suffice it to say, as a current learner and educator, I will not be relying on stereotypes when it comes to men versus women in education. Instead, I will consider learning preferences on an individual basis and will select the most appropriate methods based on the material being taught. While some preferences in life might be heavily influenced by gender, learning style is not one of them.

References:

1. Fleming N. VARK^® A guide to learning styles [Internet]. 2001 [cited 2013 March 11]. Available from: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp.

2. Severiens SE and Ten Dam GTM. Gender differences in learning styles: a narrative review and quantitative meta-analysis. High Educ. 1994;27:487-501.

3. Severiens SE and Ten Dam GTM. Gender and gender identity differences in learning styles. Edu Psychol. 1997;17:79-93.

4. Wehrwein EA, Lujan HL, DiCarlo SE. Gender differences in learning style preferences among undergraduate physiology students. Adv Physiol Educ. 2007;31:153-157.

5. Slater JA, Lujan HL, DiCarlo SE. Does gender influence style preferences of first-year medical students? Adv Physiol Educ. 2007;31:336-342.