Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Hy Edelstein
Keywords
career development, career interests, career resource assistants, career services, career skills, Campbell Interest and Skill Survey, experiential learning, helping orientation, internship programs, peer advising, quasi-experimental research, self-confidence, student internships, t test, University of Connecticut
Abstract
Career Resource Assistants (CRA's) deliver several of the comprehensive career services provided for students at the University of Connecticut through their participation in a structured internship program at Career Services. The literature in the field of career development shows that students usually gain crystallization of career interests and skills through participation in an experiential learning experience such as an internship.
The purpose of this practicum project was to determine whether the internship experience for CRA' s at Career Services provides the benefits traditionally associated with internship experiences for students. The research questions for the study were: "Will there be a significant difference in pre versus post scores obtained when measuring CRA's career-related skills (self-confidence in skills) before and after a six month peer advising internship at the Department of Career Services?" Second, "Will there be a significant difference in pre versus post scores obtained when measuring CRA's career-related interests (strength of attraction) before and after a six month peer advising internship at the Department of Career Services?"
A quasi-experimental research design was used to compare pre versus post helping orientation scores of skills and interests using the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS) to generate profiles for CRA' s participating in the study. The sample consisted of 8 subjects. A parametric test of dependent means, the t test, was used to determine if there was a significant difference in the pre versus post helping orientation scores ofCRA's on the CISS. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, which indicated no significant difference in the pre versus post mean scores, the null hypotheses "There will be no significant difference in pre versus post scores measuring CRA's career-related skills (self-confidence in skills) following six months of internship experience at the Department of Career Services" and "There will be no significant difference in pre versus post scores measuring CRA's career-related interests (strength of attraction) following six months of internship experience at the Department of Career Services" failed to be rejected (accepted) for the skill and interest scores of the CRA's. It was concluded that based on the results of the study the CRA experience does not provide the outcomes typically sought by students in an internship experience.
Based on the body of information presented by the literature supporting the positive benefits of internship experiences it was concluded that: (a) expanding the sample of CRA's for additional study, (b) increasing the time-frame allowed between the pre versus post CISS administration and, ( c) inclusion of additional measures of career-related self-perception scores for skills and interests, beyond the helping measure, may yield research results which parallel the findings of the literature review. It is recommended that additional study of the CRA internship experience is warranted to learn more about the specific nature of the CRA internships' experience on students. It is further recommended that an expanded research design be considered which might include triangulating results for a broader profile of the effects of the internship on CRA' s.