Career and Experiential Learning in Online Education Literature Review

Table of Contents

Models and Approaches to Consider

Career Identity Modules

Thomson, A. (2010). Embedding an online career development program into student learning. Australian Journal of Career Development, 19(3), 6-14. Embedding an Online Career Development Program into Student Learning

• Elaborates on a program implemented to embed career development into online learning with modules. 

Bridgstock, R. S., Thomas, A., Lyons, K., Carr, L., & Zelenko, O. (2012). Putting the cart before the horse? Driving student engagement through first-year career identity development in a large multidisciplinary creative industries cohort. In FYHE 2012 Conference Proceedings (pp. 1-5). University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

• Academic and industry resources relating to Creative Industries careers are introduced during the lectures, and students learn information retrieval and evaluation skills via scaffolded searching exercises during tutorials and another online module - Information PILOT (Queensland University of Technology, 2012). The industry and careers research phase involves obtaining, Putting the cart before the horse? Driving student engagement through first-year career identity development in a large multidisciplinary Creative Industries cohort. Nut and Bolts evaluating and information on topics relating to creative career opportunities, including the world of work trends, occupational tasks, skill requirements, industry and role outlook, role challenges, and broad employability strategies (such as who to network with).

Internships in Online Learning

Computer Science 

Bayerlein, L., & Jeske, D. (2018). Student learning opportunities in traditional and computer-mediated internships. Education & Training, 60(1), 27–38.https://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/1027

• “The findings of this paper highlight that CMIs are able to replicate most of the benefits of traditional internships, whilst concurrently addressing many of their limitations. However, the current paper also identifies a number of important limitations for student learning in CMIs, and provides advice that aims to assist students in maximising their learning outcomes in these situations.”

• University of New England & National University of Ireland

• “systematic student learning outcome focussed comparison of traditional internships and CMIs. In addition, the paper establishes the high potential of simulated internships for student learning in higher education, and provides students, higher education providers and researchers with learning outcome focussed criteria sets that enable the empirical evaluation of CMIs in future research.”

• Computer-mediated internships mean either e-internships or simulated internships.  E-internships are referred to as virtual internships or CMIs in the literature.  E-internships are “real-world work placements where the interactions between the intern and their employer are predominantly computer mediated”

Library Science 

Directed Field Work (DFW) Documentation at the University of Washington iSchool 

Directed Fieldwork & Internships

• This material includes a learning objectives document for sites. 

All Disciplines 

Online Internships: A Successful Model 

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1071408.pdf

• Outlines best practices at the time of its publication: assessment, communication, demonstration, internship supervisor, organization, planning, and self-assessment.  “Perhaps the single most important aspect of the online internship is a viable and credible means by which to assess the learning and work of the intern. Effective assessment starts with a clear understanding of expectations.” 

Sykes, D. M., & Roy, J. (2017). A review of internship opportunities in online learning: Building a new conceptual framework for a self-regulated internship in hospitality. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education / Revue Internationale Du e-Learning et La Formation à Distance, 32(1), Article 1. http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/1027

• A framework for online hospitality internships based on established best practices. Students enrolled in online learning complete an in-person internship.

• Proposed Model with 4 stages that involves a self-regulation component in all phases.

  • Planning - curriculum design with an internship course, and letter of commitment that clarifies roles and responsibilities.

  • Engaging - all stakeholders journal or log activities, students maintain reflective journals, utilize the LMS as central access/storage, email communication between supervisor and instructor, student-to-student sharing, and regular check-ins with all stakeholders.

  • Assimilation - connecting theory to practice, potential role-play opportunities, written assignments, and student-to-student interaction.

  • Review and Reflection - journaling or blogging as a form of reflection, evaluation, instructor and supervisor feedback, and sharing the experience with others.

Experiential Learning; Laboratory Environment 

Intensive Laboratory experiences to safely retain experiential learning in the transition to online learning [Biology]

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.6886?sid=worldcat.org

• After participating in asynchronous lectures and other learning activities, students went to regional field stations to engage and learn in person at those places. The research work and group work were of value to the learning. 

• Specifics: “Intensive laboratory experiences (ILE) would be designed such that they occur over a 1- to 2-week period and require students to stay on site after being tested. The intensive laboratory experience does not necessarily need to occur during the online course and has the flexibility to occur between semesters or during ecological or evolutionarily relevant phenology (e.g., migrations, flowering). A variety of approaches to information delivery could be adopted but in general, we suggest 1- to 3-hr long field activities 2–3 times per day with 15 min—1-hr long intermissions.”

Evaluation

Kraiger, K., Ford, J. K., & Salas, E. (1993). Application of Cognitive, Skill-Based, and Affective Theories of Learning Outcomes to New Methods of Training Evaluation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(2), 311–328. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.2.311

• Developed a “classification scheme for evaluating learning outcomes” with respect to “training.” 

• Cognitive (adapted from Gange)

  • Verbal knowledge

  • Knowledge organization

  • Cognitive strategies

• Skill-based

  • Compilation (proceduralization & composition)

  • Automaticity

• Affective learning

  • Attitudinal

  • Motivational (Motivational disposition, Self-efficacy, and Goal setting)

Dotson, K. B., & Bian, H. (2013). SUPERVISION ON SITE: A Critical Factor in the Online Facilitated Internship. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 14(2), 51–62.

• Uses PRECEDE-PROCEED model - “has been used to plan and evaluate health behavior change programs.”

  • “Site supervisors’ perceptions of their roles, responsibilities, and online facilitated internship programs can be classified into three domains: predisposing, reinforcing, or enabling. These domains have direct and indirect effects on the success of internship programs.

  • Learning that the university’s expectations were a significant factor in success. Recommended that the university share information about roles and expectations. Site supervisors wanted more guidance regarding requirements for interns’ work. 

Competencies

• VALUE Rubrics (16 rubrics) from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

• The Eight Essential Employability Qualities (EEQs) from the Quality Assurance Commons

• 10 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed from Strayer University

• Employability Skills from Perkins Collaborative Resource Network & the U.S. Department of Education

• Career Readiness Competencies from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

Themes and Subthemes in the Literature 

Online internships 

DeWitt, D. M., & Rogers, C. (2009). Online Internships: A Successful Model. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 4(4). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1071408

• Capella University’s Graduate programs in Education in a 2-quarter administrative internship/fieldwork to practice skills in real-world situations. It includes an online course with approximately 15 students per class. Doctoral students log a minimum 320 hours over 6 months (or 2 quarters) and Masters students log 250 hours over 6 months. The intern has a committee that includes the university internship instructor and the on-site supervisor, who work closely.  Candidates develop an internship proposal to be approved by the committee. Then they create a portfolio for review at the end of the internship.

• Best Practices

  • Assessment - clear expectations, rubrics & checklists

  • Communication - especially between the intern, the internship instructor, and the site supervisor (synchronous conversations are recommended - e.g. phone, Skype, etc.). The trust relationship between instructor and site supervisor.

  • Demonstration - ePortfolio was key, with regular review and not waiting until the end to talk about the contents.

  • Internship Supervisor - someone w/ experience (former or current) in the field

  • Organization - record keeping by all parties

  • Planning

  • Self Assessment - Pre-assessment identifies gaps in the candidate’s skills/experience, then internship and portfolio can seek to fill those gaps.

Franks, P. C., & Oliver, G. C. (2012). Experiential learning and international collaboration opportunities: Virtual internships. Library Review, 61(4), 272–285.Experiential learning and international collaboration opportunities: virtual internships

Internships taking place online

• Explores virtual alternatives for practical placements (library and information science) due to constraints with a physical location.

• Recommendations for SITE SUPERVISORS

  • Establish clear expectations, guidelines and outcomes; emphasize virtual is as much work as in person and that deadlines must be met.

  • Set weekly  check-in meetings 

  • Keep track of time spent; try to use a specified amount of time each week so you do not have to cram a lot of hours into the last weeks. Enjoy!

  • Develop a plan before accepting virtual interns and have clear objectives for projects they will work on.

  • Prepare manageable project chunks. Two very different projects allow the intern to continue with some work while waiting for something in the first project.

• Recommendations for SCHOOL

  • Prepare students by providing them with a way to collaborate w/ supervisors 

  • Check-in w/ supervisor periodically

  • Better communicate expectations of the number of hours and work evaluation

• Recommendation for STUDENTS

  • Be comfortable with multiple communication styles & tools (online, phone, etc)

  • Read about the responsibility & expectations of “telecommuting”

  • Set a schedule for work time

Gates, L. (2014). The impact of international internships and short-term immersion programs. New Directions for Student Services, 2014(146), 33–40. doi:10.1002/ss.20088

• Examination of the benefits and recommendations for short-term, study-abroad internships.

Internships taking place remotely, but in person

Franks, P. C., & Oliver, G. C. (2012). Experiential learning and international collaboration opportunities: Virtual internships. Library Review, 61(4), 272–285.Experiential learning and international collaboration opportunities: virtual internships

• Relationships/Community/Partnering for placing students 

• Supervision on-site (and assessment of placement locations/partners

• Coordination at the education institution/department/program

• Weaving the student experience into the courses/content/reflection/activities

• Student Self-reflection and Self-advocacy in exploring career identity

• Assessment of learning

• In-person internships in wide geographic locations vs. virtual internships where they perform the work online. Like something for the ROHM program?

• Identifying potential learning outcomes to categorize the different outcomes of the experience

• Best Practices for partnerships -- what are the responsibilities of all parties (program, student, and external organization)

• Career-relevant teaching (incorporating w/ class content)

Pedagogical Approaches to Career Education 

Taylor, S.C. and Haras, C. (2020). Beyond classroom borders: Linking learning and work through career-relevant instruction. American Council on Education, February 2020. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Beyond-Classroom-Borders.pdf 

• Faculty are in a position to influence students as they choose paths of study, seek internships, and/or consider options for applying skills in the workplace. 

• Shift from talking about a discipline to engaging students in conversations that make connections between a discipline and its relevance to future work. This allows students to recognize their abilities and communicate them to potential employers.

• Focus on Learner Adaptability and Job-Crafting Behavior

• The habits of a profession or industry can be shared by faculty with that experience.

• 5 High-Impact Practices (of the 10 high-impact education practices identified by AAC&U) that are grounded in the classroom

  • First Year Experience

  • Common intellectual experiences (e.g. core curriculum or general education)

  • Learning communities

  • Writing-intensive courses

  • Collaborative assignments

• Individual problem-solving is as important as collaborative activities in the classroom.

• Engage in professional development that addresses faculty roles in career education in online learning. From the report, “Most faculty either do not have a solid understanding of what is meant by career-relevant teaching or do not have the expertise to help students practice for the future.” (p. 16)

Jenkins, D., & Spence, C. (2006). The Career Pathways How-To Guide. Workforce Strategy Center.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED496995

• “Career pathways is a series of connected education and training programs and support services that enable individuals to secure employment within a specific industry or occupational sector, and to advance over time to successively higher levels of education and employment in that sector.”

Toor, R. (2022). How to help your students prepare for life after college. Chronicle of Higher Education, January 12, 2022. 

• Tips for educators to help prepare or respond to students’ questions for landing their first job out of college.

New College of Florida

• Internships - New College of Florida  

• Students can propose an internship that is a project they will pursue. They “interview” for it to get it approved using a similar style as applying for a job. Can get credit for completing it.  Sort of like an independent study?  Dwayne Peterson @ New College talked about it. 

Career Portfolio (vs Career Path)?

• Why You Should Build a “Career Portfolio” (Not a “Career Path”) - April Rinne 

Suess, J., Austin, M, Augusta, U., Palmer, I, & Beaulieu, G. (2022) Readying students for jobs of the future. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from Webinar: Readying Students for Jobs of the Future April 28, 2022.

• Career education can be as simple as faculty including and identifying five skills a student will learn in a course that can translate to work or to further one’s education, whichever their choice.

• Employers look to social networking sites like LinkedIn to determine a potential hire’s skills, not the transcript. Students need to be able to identify the skills they learned in the classroom.

• “Microcredentials are only as good as how well they are recognized by an industry,” per Iris Palmer at New America. It is important to verify what an industry will recognize before incorporating it.

• It is important to make a connection to the campus Career Services as early as possible in the college experience, particularly for first-generation students.