So far in this internship my supervisor has been more than willing to give me the space to express myself and add my ideas to the project. She has been extremely open to all the ideas that I put on the table. At first I was very tentative, and I still find myself hesitating, to make suggestions about how to do something. This caution comes from my lack of familiarity with assessment and the components we have discussed such as IRB’s and who at the university holds the information and data that we need. As I have become more comfortable with Talia and more knowledgeable about assessment in general (thanks to Research and Assessment class) I have found my voice in the project. Even more importantly I have learned how to share my voice. Unique to this experience I have found that asking questions is still sharing my voice. Whether the question is because I have no idea what is being discussed, I need clarification, or I am wondering if a different idea would not be better, they are all a way for me to express my voice. Additionally, asking those questions is how I am going to learn, and be able to add more to the project.
I started looking at meaning making from two sides in terms of this internship. First there is meaning of the project and the data but then there is the meaning of the experience to me. The latter is a much more extensive reflection. As far as the data goes, Talia and I have each individually been considering, and cumulatively discussing what the data we are collecting is going to mean, what questions we will still have or will be raised by that data, and how can we find the answers to those. The data itself should show that LEAP has a positive impact on student outcomes, but that can mean a lot of things. That was one of our first major discussions along the way. What outcomes were we looking at, and which could we realistically measure? We would love to ask students, “How did LEAP have an impact on your college career?, Did it help you integrate to University Park? Did it make you a more successful student academically? Did LEAP encourage you to pursue something you had not previously considered?”, and the list could go on. But what would that really tell us, and how could we credibly measure those things. This is a continuing discussion between Talia and myself.
Even within what meaning this experience has for me I can break it down into multiple pieces. Finding the internship actually gave me a lot. In my search, as I mentioned in an earlier post, it was important for me to see a program that really utilizes its large university setting because I thought about that and knew it would be an important part of my educational experience. Along the way I also found another job this summer which does the same thing (is a program that could only happen at such a large institution) and is another amazing educational experience for me. Finding the internships, although I did not realize it at the time, became very relevant in my assistantship. Part of my duties in the spring semester was to TA a class focused on finding an internship. I was able to credibly tell students how to reach out to programs or organizations which may not be advertising opportunities but which are willing to create opportunities, or have them and as an applicant you are able to get in the door early. This meant a lot to me, especially when one of my students found an organization and fell in love with their mission. She never would have found them if I had not been able to encourage her in that way and now not only does she have an internship with them, she also plans on working for them after graduation, when she had previously felt lost in her career options. The actual work of my internship is going to be invaluable to my future career. I know that as an assessment intern I am gaining valuable knowledge and not just because the past CSA students told me so. I have seen what evaluation has done for LEAP in the past, I learned in class what evaluation and assessment can do and should do, and now I know what assessment is going to be able to do for LEAP this summer and in the future. This is going to be directly applicable to almost any job I get, and I know will be a major selling point in any interview.
I started looking at meaning making from two sides in terms of this internship. First there is meaning of the project and the data but then there is the meaning of the experience to me. The latter is a much more extensive reflection. As far as the data goes, Talia and I have each individually been considering, and cumulatively discussing what the data we are collecting is going to mean, what questions we will still have or will be raised by that data, and how can we find the answers to those. The data itself should show that LEAP has a positive impact on student outcomes, but that can mean a lot of things. That was one of our first major discussions along the way. What outcomes were we looking at, and which could we realistically measure? We would love to ask students, “How did LEAP have an impact on your college career?, Did it help you integrate to University Park? Did it make you a more successful student academically? Did LEAP encourage you to pursue something you had not previously considered?”, and the list could go on. But what would that really tell us, and how could we credibly measure those things. This is a continuing discussion between Talia and myself.
Even within what meaning this experience has for me I can break it down into multiple pieces. Finding the internship actually gave me a lot. In my search, as I mentioned in an earlier post, it was important for me to see a program that really utilizes its large university setting because I thought about that and knew it would be an important part of my educational experience. Along the way I also found another job this summer which does the same thing (is a program that could only happen at such a large institution) and is another amazing educational experience for me. Finding the internships, although I did not realize it at the time, became very relevant in my assistantship. Part of my duties in the spring semester was to TA a class focused on finding an internship. I was able to credibly tell students how to reach out to programs or organizations which may not be advertising opportunities but which are willing to create opportunities, or have them and as an applicant you are able to get in the door early. This meant a lot to me, especially when one of my students found an organization and fell in love with their mission. She never would have found them if I had not been able to encourage her in that way and now not only does she have an internship with them, she also plans on working for them after graduation, when she had previously felt lost in her career options. The actual work of my internship is going to be invaluable to my future career. I know that as an assessment intern I am gaining valuable knowledge and not just because the past CSA students told me so. I have seen what evaluation has done for LEAP in the past, I learned in class what evaluation and assessment can do and should do, and now I know what assessment is going to be able to do for LEAP this summer and in the future. This is going to be directly applicable to almost any job I get, and I know will be a major selling point in any interview.