Evaluation of the Cooperative Education And Internships Program at Prince George’s Community College
Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Diane Bryant
Committee Member
Susan Torbenson
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
assessment, career development, Cooperative Education, criteria, employer feedback, employers, evaluation, evaluation methodologies, evaluation tool, faculty, faculty advisors, feedback, higher education, internship experience, internship placements, internships, job development specialists, major area of study, perceptions, placement effectiveness, placement experience, placement sites, Prince George’s Community College, program evaluation, program objectives, program effectiveness, recommendations, research questions, student employment, student feedback, student work experiences, students, survey research, t-test, work environment
Abstract
The Cooperative Education and Internships program is charged with placing students in positions that will allow them to gain experience in a work environment related to their major area of study. Job development specialists receive no type of written feedback from the employer, the faculty advisor, or the student on whether or not the placement was successful. The problem is that Cooperative Education and Internships has not demonstrated its effectiveness; therefore, there is reluctance from students, faculty advisors, and job development specialists to continue participating and/or promoting the program.
The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Cooperative Education and Internships program at Prince George’s Community College. The results of this project will be used to (a) make recommendations on the instruments to use for evaluating the Cooperative Education and Internships placements, (b) determine the effectiveness of the Cooperative Education and Internships placements, and (c) provide feedback to job development specialists on placement sites and student work experiences. There were 5 research questions for this project. First, “What are the appropriate criteria to be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of a cooperative education and internship program?” Second, “What specific content should be included in an instrument that might measure the effectiveness of a cooperative education and internship placement?” Third, “Is there a significant difference in perceptions of the placement experience between the students and the employers?” Fourth, “Is the cooperative education and internship program effective in meeting its objectives from the perspective of students, employers, and faculty?” Fifth, “What changes, additions, or deletions should be made to the Cooperative Education and Internships program given the evaluation results?” The research hypothesis is that there is a significant difference in perceptions of the placement experience between the students and employers.
The development, research, and evaluation methodologies were used to conduct this project. A survey was developed and administered to students and employers. A t-test for independent means was used to calculate the results. There was no significant difference in students’ perception of their co-op or internship experience from their employers. Students, employers and faculty agreed that the Cooperative Education and Internship program is effectively meeting its objectives. Recommendations were to expand the evaluation tool for faculty and administer the evaluation tool on an ongoing basis shortly after the internship period has concluded.