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The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

This paper aims to probe into the implementation of internship courses under the five-year cosmetology program in Taiwan from the perspective of Dewey's philosophies in hopes that the analysis can serve as reference for schools in planning their internship courses in the future.

This paper probes into the off-campus internship courses under Taiwan's five-year junior college education program by applying Dewey's empirical philosophy.

The study aims to understand the learning experience acquired by students from learning by doing internship courses as reference for future internship design. The current internship courses comprise the follows: summer, during the semester and for a full academic year. The experience of summer internship is career exploration, the experience for semester internship is career experience and the experience from academic-year internship is career choice. The internship strategies are designed according to the three different internship approaches, so that the internship courses can implement the educational effect of “learning from experience”.

To minimize the discrepancy between the cosmetology program under the five-year junior college education and the employment market, credit-based off-campus internship courses are arranged for students' final years at school.

Through on-site trainings, students accumulate work experience and explore into a related career field. The accumulation of experience and gaining of insights mirror the philosophy of learning by doing, which involves students' reflective thinking.

It is hoped that the analysis can serve as reference for internship courses planning in the future.

This chapter illuminates the impact of providing informal learning experiences for students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teaching careers at a time when there is a considerable shortage of qualified teachers in America's urban centers. Preservice STEM teachers were provided with the opportunity to participate in a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant funded Noyce Internship Program prior to serving as counselors and teaching assistants in a STEM camp for underrepresented middle school students. Through the Noyce Internship Institute, participants were introduced to interactive sessions that model promising teaching practices including inquiry-based and project-based learning. This narrative inquiry examines the impact of these experiences on preservice STEM teachers' self-efficacy and highlights outcomes in three areas: increase of preservice teachers' confidence, classroom management, and strengthening their desire to teach STEM.

Internal audit student internship programmes are an integral part of the curriculum for Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) target schools of US universities. The internship concept is explored ‐ how it is implemented, its characteristics, and its advantages and disadvantages – at six target schools. It is concluded that the benefits, to the items, employers and academic institutions, outweigh the potential disadvantages.

This study aids to examine the impact of extending the internship period on the transition from school to work of vocational school of higher education graduates and subsequent employment outcomes.

Within the scope of the study, the results regarding the labour market of the vocational school students (experimental group) whose internship period were extended were compared with the results of the vocational school students (control group) whose internship period remained the same. Thus, it is provided to examine the effects of prolonging the internship period. The surveys were conducted five years after graduation.

The study found that increasing the duration of the internship period and making it a compulsory part of the curriculum facilitates the transition from school to work for graduates. Graduates who participate in the programme with a long internship period find a job in a shorter time and with higher wages than the control group. It is found that those in the experimental group with an extended internship period have higher employment rates and wage levels compared to those in the control group, five years after graduation.

Although there are publications, in the international literature, on the impact of internship, there are only few publications in which experimental and control groups are formed, as in this article. The second contribution of the study is to measure the impact of internship on employment outcomes five years after graduation. The third important contribution of the study is that it was conducted in Turkey, which has a young population and is an emerging market. This study contributes significantly to the restructuring of vocational higher education, especially in countries that are struggling with youth unemployment.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a practical model of work integrated learning for undergraduate engineering students in relation to Conceiving-Designing-Implementing-Operating standards 7 (Integrated Learning Experiences) and 8 (Active Learning). Moreover, it is discussed the role of cultural-social perspective and peer learning in enhancing the developed learning model from a pedagogical point of view.

The model is based on an organized collaboration with the industrial partners in the surrounding geographic region. As a part of the collaboration, each participating student is guaranteed internships at a chosen company over the summer period. In the model, company-based projects are integrated with some of the study program courses. Moreover, the participating students are given a possibility to perform their final thesis at the chosen company.

A number of positive effects have been observed and documented as follows: first, the integrated learning improves the learning process for the students, where learning, knowledge and practice are integrated into the engineering curricula; second, the general quality of the study programs in the faculty has been developed and improved based on the professional skills as required by modern industrial companies; and third, the obtained advantage for the industrial partners has been to establish professional contacts with the students as well as the possibility to be acquainted with potential future employees.

The feedback the authors received so far from the industrial partners has been positive. A detailed evaluation will be made at a later stage when more information is available.

The developed learning model supports the expected learning outcomes, especially with regard to interpersonal skills, teamwork and communication. As a part of the collaboration, each participating student is guaranteed internships at a chosen company over the summer periods. The authors consider this collaboration as a “win-win situation” for the three parties involved in the learning model: the students, the university/faculty and the industrial partners.

Case study based on observations and evaluation of a developed learning model.

Transnational learning has become a mainstream issue in recent years due to the rise of global education. There are many kinds of overseas learning, including degree-seeking, joint/double degree, student exchange, internship, service learning and so on. The scope of learning may involve research, teaching/learning and community service. The purpose of the case study is to investigate how the Taiwanese students participating in an international internship project of the US–Taiwan Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) acquire professional knowledge and soft skills, including cross-cultural awareness, interdisciplinary communication, skill development and social networking. It also explores how a joint research project contributes into a collaborative educational program.

To better understand participants' experiences in the PRIE, this study held three focus groups and seven in-depth interviews on the students, faculty members and project managers for data collection.

Three major findings are shown in the study. First, participants agreed that the overall learning experiences in knowledge acquisition or skill development have been positive. Second, participants obviously expressed their greater interests in intercultural interaction with the locals, which did not happen quite often during the internship. Third, the extent of interest in applying for the PIRE deg ree program after the internship program is escalating year by year.

More investigation into participants’ social and cultural engagement in similar project will be needed for future research.

The results will be implicated into other cross-border education project evaluation.

This study manages to investigate the cross-border research initiative from different participants' perspectives and received comprehensive feedbacks.

Morgan State University (Morgan) is a leading undergraduate institution for black science and engineering doctoral degree recipients. Morgan also is a leader in the production of black engineering degree recipients in the United States. This chapter provides a historic overview of the major programs with a tie to the impact on the institutional metrics, a discussion of the process for developing researchers in science and engineering, and alumni perspectives. The undergraduate research development models used in engineering at Morgan are compared and contrasted with the life sciences and physical sciences. The programs focus on developing communities of engineering practice and communities of science, thereby enhancing students’ self-efficacy and resilience, shaping disciplinary identity, and creating learning communities. These approaches are critical for the success of minority students and are supported by the social science literature. Best practices have been adopted at varying levels by the School of Engineering, the School of Computer Mathematics and Natural Science and the Behavioral Science departments that have netted these Ph.D. outcomes including multiyear mentored research, research training courses, and participation in professional meetings. Multiple approaches to student development, when matched with the disciplinary culture, are shown to result in national impact.

The world of work is becoming digital, a process accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic and resultant remote working guidelines. Online internships have become more popular in this context, and yet there remains a lack of research investigating how these internships are perceived across stakeholders. The purpose of this paper was to begin to address this research gap by exploring academic, student and employer perceptions of online internships with a focus on employability.

The research explored 156 stakeholders (53 students, 50 academics and, 53 employer/professionals) perceptions via a mixed-methods online study encompassing quantitative responses to internship vignettes, alongside open-ended questions designed to explore stakeholder attitudes in more depth.

Stakeholder groups reported similar attitudes towards online internships. Overall, online internships were viewed as valid, flexible, work experience, linked to skill development and likely to enhance student employability. However, concerns were raised regarding communication protocols and development, intern isolation and a lack of organisational immersion.

Based on the research, the authors make three recommendations to continue to enhance and develop the online internship experience: ensure multiple methods of regular communication between student and organisation, attempt virtual immersion in the organisation and assign each intern additional support beyond their immediate supervisor.

Based on a holistic and novel analysis of key stakeholders' viewpoints, this paper provides much needed insights and evidence on how to design and quality assure effective online internship practice.

Research internships are integral components of undergraduate programs that nurture students' skill sets. However, the current trend of these internships adopting a direct apprenticeship model, often termed “cookbook” laboratory sessions, falls short of cultivating 21st-century skills. Therefore, this study proposes an innovative Outcomes-directed Research Internship Model (ODRIM) designed to enhance research competencies.

This study introduces a pioneering research internship model by integrating the course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) framework with principles rooted in outcomes-based education (OBE). To evaluate its effectiveness and compare it with traditional research internship models (TRIMs), a two-group pretest-posttest design was utilized. Statistical analysis was performed on data collected from 66 participants to assess their research competencies.

The results revealed a significant positive difference in utilizing the tailored innovative ODRIM track (pre-mean = 17.525, post-mean = 19.875; p = 0.009) compared to the TRIM track (pre-mean = 19.769, post-mean = 19.615; p = 1.000) in enhancing overall student research competency. Specifically, this innovative internship model notably enhanced students’ abilities in conducting research, showcasing technical skills, collaborating within teams, and disseminating research outcomes, encompassing the composition of research articles and reports.

This tailored approach to the “Research Internship” encourages a harmonious blend of hands-on, inquiry-based learning and clear, measurable learning goals. It not only cultivates an immersive and thorough research experience to improve students’ research competencies, but also guarantees a concentrated alignment with predetermined research learning objectives.