Motivation
The Molecular Life Sciences program has a limited number of internships available due to a lack of space and resources. In addition, the Department of Cell Biology has also hired twice as many students in the academic year 2021/2022 than there are internships. With this in mind, how can we ensure that all students can do an internship in a laboratory?
A strategy called "InternShifts" could provide a solution to the problem. In this strategy students are paired up, and they work part-time in the laboratory and part-time from home. As far as is known, no research has been conducted into the effectiveness of paired internships in the past.
Desired solution
Koen van Dries will be incorporating this method in research-internships within the Molecular Life Sciences program. Through research, his goal is to gain more insight into the experiences of students in the field of the practical learning project and their own professionalization. In addition, it is his intention to find out the best working method for supervisors.
Based on the collected data, the concept of InternShifts can be improved. If successful, it could provide a solution to the shortage of internships in research labs. Moreover, students are expected to improve their collaboration and communication skills as they have to make agreements about their presence and activities in the workplace.
Action plan
In January 2021, six student couples will start an internship at the Department of Cell Biology. Koen will then research the learning experiences and professional development during the InternShift. This includes both the perspective of the student and the researcher.
Qualitative data is collected through interviews with the students and supervisors. Koen and his team will take these interviews both halfway through the internship and when the internship is finished. The data that is collected can be compared with the exit interviews that were conducted with students over the past eight years after their (regular) internship.
Results
During the first evaluation, it emerged that communication and coordination between students and supervisors are important for the internship to run smoothly. Each pair arranged their own schedule, but a week-on/week-off rhythm proved inefficient, as it is inconvenient not to be able to go to the laboratory for a whole week. Students also reported that they did not feel sufficiently part of the laboratory team, as they were only in the lab half the time and therefore missed social moments such as breaks.
Panel discussions towards the end of the internship revealed only positive experiences from supervisors. They noticed that students showed more independence, pro-activity and planning abilities than in regular internships. Working from home encouraged students to prepare better, resulting in more efficient use of the lab. The 50-50% ratio on working from home and working in the lab was considered an effective approach to reap the benefits of both. In addition, supervisors indicated that the other learning objectives of the internship, such as gaining practical skills in the lab, were as fulfilling as in a regular internship. However, supervisors did indicate that the time investment in supervision is similar to a regular internship.
Students also saw benefits: they got a better grip on their planning, felt better prepared, therefore experienced more ownership over their project and used guidance more effectively. Yet there were also disadvantages. Students missed the social and professional environment of the lab and experienced pressure due to limited time to carry out experiments. Many students expressed a preference for more time in the lab, e.g. an 80/20 ratio.
A key lesson is that InternShift is especially suitable as a solution for lack of space, but not for lack of tutors. It also became clear that students and supervisors sometimes prioritise different learning goals. Supervisors see completing the scientific cycle as the most important learning goal and indicate that this goal is not disrupted by the design of InternShifts. For students, gaining practical experience is the most important learning goal, which does get disrupted by this set-up, as they can only be in the lab half the time.
Funding
This project is funded by a TLC voucher from the Radboud Teaching and Learning Centre. This voucher programme aims to set up projects in the field of educational innovation, lecturer development and educational research.
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