Complex practicums

Ross Woods, Rev May, '06, June '09, Sep. '16

 

What are they?

The current trend is away from simple practicums toward complex practicums, with a much richer learning experience.

Its distinctive characteristic is that it replaces class-room learning with practicum-based learning, which differentiates it from a traditional apprenticeship. In a complex practicum, many units are combined into a large, holistic learning experience that covers much of the learning that would have once been taught only in a classroom, including some content that was previously only taught in theory-driven units.

The program needs a clearly field-driven philosophy and ethos. The point of the program is to "do it out there" and not in isolation in a classroom. It attracts people who would rather do it than study it.

The advantages

By the time interns graduate, they have both excellent applied skills and a solid track record of experience in a workplace at professional standard.

Compare the alternative: a campus program with a simple practicum. Students have few skills that are proven in the actual workplace, and have little chance during their studies of gaining a track record. Besides, pre-service training tends to produce professional students rather than practitioners.

As a result, the amount of time spent is simply the answer to "How long does it take to meet program outcomes?" There isn't really a formula. The issue then is scheduling the component activities.

You can use real job requirements to drive the program, as opposed to teaching information in a classroom. Practice interfaces with reflection, information input (e.g. reading), and peer support. This is quite different from the classroom study of theory supported by simple practicums.

 

The elements

Complex practicums comprise at least:

• individual or small group meetings with a supervisor and/or mentor
• the practicum itself (e.g. orientation, observation, applying new skills), and
• assessment of proficiency in applied skills and related knowledge.

 

Aspects as program stages

There can be up to ten stages in all, but generally they fall into four parts:

Selection & orientation

On-job learning

Formative assessment

Summative assessment

 

1. Selection of interns. This is most important in interpersonal fields where aptitude and personality are essential; they are honed in training rather than gained through training.

2. Pre-internship basic skills. These are the kinds of things that employers expect interns to know before they show up. These are more important in technical fields, and some interpersonal workers can skip this stage.

3. Formal induction and orientation. There may be policies to read, introductions to key people, a description of responsibilities, and a tour of the premises.

4. Orientation to the workplace: Learning social and cultural expectations.  It is generally a "how we do things here" kind of knowledge that makes people familiar with their surroundings and the expectations made of them.

Learning is mostly unconscious and interns can't necessarily tell you exactly what they are learning. However, they may feel overwhelmed in the first week that they're learning so much. In fact, it is a much richer learning experience than was once thought.

Interns learn the daily schedule, accountability structure, paperwork, quality expectations, socialisation with other workers, expectations of other workers, how decisions are made, where things are kept, and more about the layout of the workplace. Ethnographers research this kind of learning.

5. Students observe work practices. Students are given structured observation tasks, and some kind of forum where they can ask questions and discuss their observations. Structured observation is particularly relevant in community services where newcomers need time to understand a subculture and be accepted in it.

This stage has several variations:
• Students might not be permitted to work at all.
• The observation may be overlapped with orientation to the workplace (stage four above) and learning or practicing basic tasks (stage six below) .

6. Learning and practicing basic tasks. This tends to flow naturally from the previous stages, and there may be some allowance for error.

7. More complex tasks. Later on, interns may get more difficult tasks, perhaps with less margin for error. Some staff group work is also a rich learning experience: 

• staff professional development meetings
• staff meetings
• organizational planning, policy, and/or review meetings
• network meetings of workplace professionals.

8. Formative assessment. Interns progress in monitored so that they get up to speed.

9. Summative assessment. An extended period where interns must maintain practice at the normal professional standard. The reference of the workplace supervisor is usually essential.

10. Gaining experience. Senior interns are sometimes expected to work for a period as fully competent persons at the end of the internship.

 

Supervision

Interns need four kinds:

• Accountability to a training program supervisor. This always requires a paper trail of reports and reviews. These supervisors have the student's learning program at heart and want to ensure that he or she is making satisfactory progress. As a program monitor, they keep an eye on program effectiveness and provide help when needed.
• Accountability to a local workplace supervisor. This might require a paper trail of reports or reviews. These supervisors have the workplace at heart, and are most interested in getting the job done. If they have something that urgently needs to be done and have a spare pair of hands, they are tempted to push an inadequately trained student into the job.
• Mentor for developing skills. This is often the local workplace supervisor, but could be someone else.
• Personal mentor. This is essential in intensively interpersonal work. It is usually best if it is not a supervisor to whom the student is accountable; mixing personal growth with organisatonal politics is usually unwise, and one of the main stressors is relationships with supervisors.
 

Standards and Goal-setting

The program must work to a generic standard, but interns need their own specific goals within the standard. Interns negotiate goals with their supervisors, and these are reflected in the interns' job descriptions.

Group sessions. Interns need to meet with peers, preferably out of the workplace. Sessions are for:

• learning new content
• creatively reflecting on what they are learning
• making friends with intern peers, so they know others who "are going through this too."

Groups sessions may also take the form of seminars, network meetings and conferences (including externally-run conferences).

Assigned activities

There may also be assigned activities relating to the group sessions.

• writing or research tasks that relate to issues arising in the practicum
• assigned reading
• journaling
• observation tasks
• e-mail discussion topics, some of which attract more discussion than others.
• writing or research tasks that relate to applied issues

Field trips and secondments

Visits to other organizations may be necessary if interns cannot learn everything in one workplace.

 

Reflections

The proportion of time spent in classroom work apparently needs to be higher in some professions, where students must master a larger body of cognitive information. This is especially so in professions accredited through the higher education sector.

Which is the driver: the classroom or the practicum? The idea is that the practicum is the driver for cognitive development. That is, students bring questions from their practicum to a body of theory. This is not as convenient as classroom-driven studies, which derive from a body of literature in an academic discipline, and that presume that the theory can be "put into practice" along the lines of a linear logic.

So far, I've learned new lessons about complex practicums:

1. You can use real job requirements to drive the program, as opposed to teaching information in a classroom. Practice interfaces with reflection, information input (e.g. reading), and peer support. This is quite different from the classroom study of theory supported by simple practicums.
2. Orientation to the workplace is a rich learning experience in itself, and one that campus-based programs often don't do well.
3. Interns in some large organizations have less need of the internship because they already get good peer-team support and mentoring.
4. Interns in small organizations may get most benefit from the program because they work alone, get little or no mentoring, and will more likely be given heavier responsibilities sooner.
5. Interns who are doing a good job still need regular support. The program can fall in a heap if they feel they need it but don't get it.
6. Students usually need a set-apart time at least every week with their mentors.
7. Keep paper trails (especially on time usage and projects) for Austudy.
8. Use mentor and supervisor references to simplify assessment.
9. Skill and personal mentors need to be different people.
10. When students have an holistic experience of the work, it becomes easier to reflect on it and analyze it from different viewpoints (shine light on it from different directions).
11. One practicum was split into three stages:
• Period of grace: orientation, tolerance of mistakes
• Middle period: expect consistent performance. The main part of assessment is done at this time. If you leave it too late, there is so much to do that you have chaos.
• Final period: expect consistent performance at full professional standard.

 

Internships and projects

The schema below contrasts aspects of two practicum-based programs, one as an internship and the other as a practical project. In an internship, the student fits into a routine that requires particular expertise. Projects have a more clearly defined end point. The student starts by planning to build or establish something and ends when he/she has achieved that goal.

They are not totally different, in that they both integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes from all units into an holistic learning experience. Such programs are eligible for Austudy/Abstudy if defined clearly in terms of unit outcomes and if the time usage is accountable.

Either could be split into stages according to the following diagram:

 

Number of stages	Internship	Project
One stage (See diagram)	The initial stage of the internship is orientation to a real situation, followed by supported work that builds toward final competence.	A single stage is possible if the early stages are not too demanding or intensive.
Two stages (See diagram)	The student is an observer-learner or a junior in one location. The student then moves to another location in which he/she is a professional working under supervision.	The first stage is a simpler project that prepares the student for the next stage. The student is freer to make mistakes. The second stage is a more challenging project.