Comparing the Impact of Two Internship Experiences on Student Learning

This article is a report of the quantifiable learning progress of a college student intern. To evaluate the effects that an internship has on student learning, the researchers had the students write a letter to a friend about how to communicate in the business world. They had the students do this before and after their internships. If the students had guided learning experiences during their internship, in which classroom instruction was directly linked to their work, the changes in the pre and post letters were dramatic. The pre-internship letters will filled with cheery platitudes, while the post-internship letters used theories that had been discussed in the class in light of their work experiences. The letter to a friend reflected the depth of the knowledge that the students had gained, and showed that they were now applying inert knowledge to real-life situations.