Design Assignments For Internships

Internships integrate accredited academic coursework with periods of supervised, relevant experiences in the workplace. Internships not only provide students with an opportunity to practice and apply knowledge in a field of study but also provide a learning scaffold for real-world workplace issues such as morality and ethics, spirituality, diversity, values-based leadership, managing conflict, change management and leadership.

Strategies and Resources

  • Employ online asynchronous discussion forums - Student schedules vary; create online forums for sharing and community-building as well as for more formal academic discussions.
  • Encourage shared learning - employ theoretical readings or resources as a lens through which to review and reflect upon their workplace experiences.
  • Create assignments that build the student's career portfolio and develop career skills such as writing a resume and interviewing for a job.
  • Sample assignments from the University Internship Program.

Additional Readings

Moon, Jennifer (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice. 2004 New York: Routledgefalmer

Experiential learning articles and critiques of David Kolb's theory. From the Active Reviewing Guide, a website on active learning and reviewing (debriefing). United Kingdom.

DePaul Resources

University Internship Program
Contact the director, Lynne Copp, for more information.

  • Through four courses, combines workplace experience with workplace learning
  • Fulfills experiential learning requirement
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