26799 Internship Experience
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Grade and marksThere are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 21890 Industry Research Project AND 27769 Professional Internship for Graduates
Note
Enrolment requires meeting the subject’s prerequisites and completing prerequisite tasks. For more information, go to Business School Internships.
Description
The Internship Experience subject is the culminating professional experience of a student’s postgraduate degree. It brings together the key features of a capstone subject and the ability to learn in a professional setting, including through the integration of theory and practice and the extension of prior learning; the use of authentic and contextualised experiences; challenging and complex problems; socialization into professional roles; autonomous yet collaborative learning and development of professional agency; and through the application of critical inquiry and creativity.
Internship experiences may involve a single placement where students have direct involvement with industry or community and make contributions within the host organization in ways that are meaningful to the learner’s academic, personal and career goals, and also all the while, beneficial to the host.
For those students who have limited work experience in a relevant industry, the subject provides the opportunity to gain such experience and to relate it to the theoretical and applied learning developed throughout the course of their degree. For those students who are already working in a relevant industry, the subject provides the opportunity to diversify their experience in a related area and to more critically reflect on their theoretical and applied learning and professional development. The subject is underpinned by the UTS good practice guide for WIL including experiential learning and purposeful, critically considered and intentional approaches to professional practice and emerging professional identity.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| 1. | Reflect on and effectively articulate personal employability skills, experience and attributes relevant to own career goals and chosen professional field |
|---|---|
| 2. | Apply and integrate conceptual and theoretical knowledge acquired from previous coursework to develop a creative or innovative solution to an authentic problem in a workplace or community placement |
| 3. | Demonstrate capabilities of using various communication media professionally, ethically and appropriately, and delivered to a professional audience |
| 4. | Critically reflect on the learning and developmental outcomes concerning the experiences of professional practice |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the following program learning objectives:
- Develop and justify innovative solutions that respond to community and business needs and meet challenges in a management context (1.1)
- Communicate information clearly and persuasively to a diverse range of stakeholders (2.1)
- Integrate advanced knowledge of complex management concepts and technological skills in forming socially responsible judgments to lead professional management practice (4.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject is designed for students in suite of masters offerings delivered by UTS Business School, in order to integrate academic coursework with postgraduate professional development. Through authentic work integrated learning experiences (WIL) taking place in classroom, online and workplace settings, students are challenged to critically reflect on their experience, relating theory to practice. In addition to the development of relevant business knowledge and skills, the subject has a strong emphasis on enhancing students’ understanding of applying ethics, sustainability and social justice ideas in authentic settings. Hence the subject contributes to the development of each of the graduate attributes:
- Intellectual rigour and innovative problem solving
- Communication and collaboration
- Social responsibility and cultural awareness
- Professional and technical competence
Teaching and learning strategies
The subject is underpinned by active, collaborative learning approaches that may include role play, peer learning, learning by observation, learning by doing, reflective practice. The subject is making optimal use of blended learning - classroom, online and workplace settings as learning environments, built around a supported work placement experience. This commences with two preparatory online modules and two collaborative face-to-face seminars. In-class activities include workplace simulations to sensitise students to the messy realities of a workplace environment; and class presentations to prepare students to apply and integrate conceptual and theoretical knowledge from coursework, using problem-based inquiry methodology. Industry experts will participate in these sessions. Communication and support during learning in professional settings will be provided by teaching staff and workplace mentors to ensure adequate workplace supervision and enhance students with the necessary confidence, resilience and professional capabilities to develop their employability and professional networks. A major assessment task will be designed in collaboration with industry/community partner and student that relates to the shared purpose and work tasks given to the student, and which is relevant to the student’s disciplinary background*. The placement duration will, in most instances, be equivalent to a maximum of 140 hours. Students will participate in a midpoint review and reflection seminar which supervisors will be invited to attend. At the completion of their placement, students present an innovative solution in the nominated workplace challenge. Students then participate in a peer-based, critical reflection of their experience. Co-curricular career management skills are incorporated into a final “transition out” seminar to assist students in taking the next steps in their professional career and professional capabilities development.
An aim of this subject is to help you develop academic and professional language and communication skills to succeed at university and in the workplace. During the course of this subject, you will complete a milestone assessment task that will, in addition to assessing your subject-specific learning objectives, assess your English language proficiency.
Content (topics)
- Preparing for the work placement: culture, communication and managing expectations
- Work skills and attributes assessment
- Understanding professional practice and identity development
- Applying classroom learning to workplace settings
- Problem-based inquiry methodology for work-integrated learning
- Communicating in professional settings, for example, presenting in a professional environment
- Engaging in reflective practice alone and with peers and mentors
- Strengthening employability through understanding the future of work and career transition
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Internship Reflection Portfolio (Individual)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1 and 2 This addresses program learning objectives(s): 4.1 |
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| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: |
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Assessment task 2: Problem Solving Presentation (Individual)*
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 2 and 3 This addresses program learning objectives(s): 2.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 25% |
| Criteria: |
*Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero. |
Assessment task 3: Final Report (Individual)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3 and 4 This addresses program learning objectives(s): 1.1 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 40% |
| Criteria: |
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Assessment task 4: Assessment from internship organisation (Individual)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 3 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 5% |
| Criteria: |
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Minimum requirements
Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.
References
Billett, S. (2010). The practices of learning through occupations. In Learning through practice (pp. 59-81). Springer, Dordrecht.
Quintanilla K & Wahl S (2018) Business and Professional Communication: Keys for workplace excellence (4th Edn), Sage, Los Angeles, US.
Trede, F. (2012). Role of work-integrated learning in developing professionalism and professional identity. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 13(3), pp.159-167.
Trede, F., & McEwen, C. (2012). Developing a critical professional identity: Engaging self in practice. In Practice-based education (pp. 27-40). Brill Sense
Trede, F., & McEwen, C. (2016). Scoping the deliberate professional. In Educating the Deliberate Professional (pp. 3-14). Springer, Cham.