Conference Session

CEED Paper Session 2: Leveraging Internships and Experiential Learning in Higher Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Massi, University of Central Florida; Jenna Christie-Tabron, University of Central Florida; Michael Georgiopoulos, University of Central Florida; Mari Pina, University of Central Florida; Richard Allan Quinn, University of Central Florida; Jackie Herold, University of Central Florida; Kim A. Small, University of Central Florida

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

fieldsupport the need for universities to find ways to effectively foster professional identitydevelopment. For example, three ways in which the institution can foster identity formation asan engineer are: (1) program admission criteria, coursework, etc. (institutional identity), (2) co-ops and internships (self-identification through exposure to the norms and values held byprofessional engineers), and (3) communities of practice (recognition by other in-group membersas a professional in the field)12,13. Co-ops and internships contribute to students’ desire tobecome an engineer14, retention and work self-efficacy15, and higher starting salaries and thepotential for a job offer by graduation16. However, “lack-of-belonging” has been found to be

Conference Session

CEED Paper Session 1: Using Co-Op and Internships to Improve Diversity, Retention, Learning, and Assessment

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy J. Garrison, York College of Pennsylvania; Wayne Blanding, York College of Pennsylvania

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

Pennsylvania.While the benefits to the students are vital, the impact of a co-op program goes beyond thestudents. Industry can gain benefit by obtaining staffing for projects at a substantially reducedrate (and typically without the benefits overhead). Moreover, by hiring interns and co-opstudents, industry can develop a recruiting system that allows them to make better hiringdecisions than can be done via a resume and interview alone.The benefit also extends to the higher education institutions. An organized co-op program canhelp the institution develop relationships with regional and national industry. Thoserelationships can be valuable in many ways. For example, at the authors’ institution, the industryrelations developed through the co-op program have