An Internship Program at a Computer Science Department –Theoretical Foundation and Overall Coordination

Introduction Internship courses are different than traditional courses that typically teach and lecture in the classroom. While the emphasis of the both type of courses is still on the learning of the students, the delivery method and the mechanism by which the teaching/learning of the internship courses is different than other courses (Arnold, 1998, Gault, Redington, & Schlager, 2000, Rieks, Greene, Costa, Flaherty, & Solinger, 2011). Typically, a faculty member at a department oversees the planning and coordinating for internship courses. The position of this faculty member is often called the "internship coordinator". For the work of the internship coordinator to be successful, he/she needs to connect with different people and coordinate at different levels. The internship coordinator needs to synchronize the work at all levels to ensure a successful experience (Robeck, Pattison, Pate, & Pattison, 2013). This paper explains the experience of a faculty internship coordinator at the Computer Science department (COSC) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). It begins by giving theoretical background literature review about internship courses and the different levels of coordination that are typical involved in an internship course. It then discusses the experience of the internship coordinator at COSC at IUP. About Internship Courses Internship courses are newer in their formats and delivery methods than traditional in-classroom courses. While both types of courses (in-class and internship) share the goal of student learning in attaining their objectives, each use a different methodology to achieve the goal. Traditional courses use the "cognitive" and lecture style of teaching and learning (Arnold, 1998, Furco, 2002). In this style, the transfer of knowledge goes from the teacher to the student (we call this one directional). The view of a professor sitting on a high podium lecturing to the students in the class while the students take notes is one representation of this kind of teaching/learning. The teaching/learning style of an internship takes a different approach. Some called this approach "Learning by Doing" or "Learning by Experience" (Tooley, 1997) to explain the learning that is taking place during the work of the internship. Gault et al. (2000) call it "structured work experience" to emphasize the structured work that the internship brings and the learning that is taking place through the work. Internship courses still achieve the goal of student learning--there is still knowledge gained by the students--but the method by which knowledge is gained is different. It is gained through the work experience and whatever goes in the internship process. Nevertheless, given that the transfer of knowledge is not done directly by the teacher, some consider this new format and delivery method as a deviation from the "cognitive" style of traditional classroom teaching (Furco & Holland, 2004). Internship courses started initially as a recognition of the need to embed a system that helps students "learning through work" (Champagne, 2006). This transition from "in-class, lecture type learning" to "learning through experience" took a span of years and followed the development of different theories (Casperz, Olaru, & Smith, 2012). Additionally, this type of learning through experience is not limited to internship courses, instead different course formats are implemented that emphasize learning through experience. Thus we deem an explanation of the development of internship courses is helpful to our discussion. The remainder of this section explains some of the theories that led to the development of internship and similar courses that implement "learning through work". It then discusses the different format of the courses and sheds light on the development of these courses in the computer science field. Theories of Learning through Experience An internship course entails colleges and businesses working together to provide better learning opportunities for the students. …