Guidelines
for Internships/Practicum Courses
Spring/Summer 2006
John M. Gerber, Professor
Plant, Soils and Insect Sciences Department
308 Bowditch Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
(413)545-5301
jgerber@psis.umass.edu
I encourage
most students to try to get some practical experience while in college.
This may be working on a local farm or doing other supervised work
related to your area of academic interest. I’ve sponsored students
working on a range of topics and generally you can be quite creative in setting
up a Practicum course. If you are interested in this option, please make
an appointment to discuss this with me as soon as possible. I will
provide you with the necessary forms (there are several). Any faculty member
can sponsor you for Practicum credits, of course. If you want to work
with me, these are some guidelines.
UMass offers academic credit for the learning,
not for the actual work (although this is necessary too). If you are
taking the Practicum course for a grade (not Pass/Fail), I will ask you to
provide documentation of the learning. Specific guidelines for these
requirements and my grading criteria are described below.
The number of credits offered is based on the number
of hours involved in the experience. We expect 40 to 45 hours of work for
every academic credit awarded. During a 15-week semester, this equates to
about 3 hours of work experience per week for each credit earned. So for
a typical 3-credit course, you are committing to one day a week on your
Internship project. For a full-time
internship experience, a student can earn one credit for each 40 hour work
week. During the summer, this means you can earn up to 12 credits for 12
full time (40 hour) workweeks provided the experience is truly
“learningful.”
Plant, Soils and Insect Sciences Department also
offers a Pass/Fail option for Practicum courses. This option only
requires a written certification from an on-site supervisor that the student
contributed the expected number of hours to the work, and a final conversation
with me. We may also arrange for a site visit during the experience.
When you take a Practicum course during the fall or
spring semesters, you may include these credits as part of your regular course
load. The University will not allow you to take more than 18 credits
however. When you take a Practicum course during January or the summer
term, you will need to register through the Division of Continuing
Education. This includes a registration fee of $35, plus $175 per credit
earned.
Documentation
Requirements for Internship/Practicum Credits
In order
to take a Practicum course for credit, I will ask you for the following
documentation:
A
proposed set of learning objectives prior to the experience - This is a brief statement of what you hope to learn
from the experience. For example, you might write:
I will learn practical skills related to managing a
commercial vegetable farm
I will learn how to grow and market herbs
An
outline of the intended activities or work – This is a brief statement describing the intended
work. For example;
I will help evaluate the electrical needs of
homeowners, work with an engineer to design a photovoltaic system, and do
installations of these systems.
I will do regular farm work on a local CSA, including
planting, weeding, cultural care, harvesting and working with customers.
A
means of communicating with me during the experience – This may be periodic telephone conversations,
personal visits if it is convenient, or email. The purpose is to keep me
informed of your progress during the experience.
A
journal documenting your experience and reflections – The journal is intended to encourage you to reflect
on your experience while it is happening. The journal will not be
examined or graded. You will be asked to show me that it exists
however. This is a private journal of your own thoughts. Your
privacy will be respected.
A
site visit from me during the experience
– Sometime during your Practicum, you should arrange for me to visit the site
of your work experience, if practical. Since I sponsor quite a few
students, it will be your responsibility to contact me and arrange for a
suitable time.
A
written summary or expression of the experience and learnings – You will be asked to describe or express your
learning experience in a written or other creative form. This will be
required before a grade is filed with the university. If you are writing
a summary of your experience, please include:
A description of your place of employment, including
its mission or purpose, how it is organized and managed, and the general
culture of the work environment.
Your typical work experience. For example, if
you are working on a farm during the summer, describe your day.
Reflections on your learning. Review your learning
objectives and describe how these were or were not met. What surprised
you? What obstacles did you find and how did you deal with them?
Would you recommend this experience to others? Be creative.
If
you want to be creative in creating an expression of your learning, please
discuss this with me “sooner than later.” Some examples of alternatives
might be: a photo essay of your experience, a book of poetry that reflect your
experience, a “how to” manual based on your work. There are lots of creative
and perhaps useful ways to express your learning.
A
written certification from an on-site supervisor indicating the number of hours
you worked – This is simply to
provide documentation that you actually showed up for the experience. A
note or email from your on-site supervisor documenting your hours is fine.
A
meeting with me upon completion of the work – If it is feasible, I’d like to have a conversation with you about the
experience. Please arrange for a suitable time.
Final
Assessment and Grading
As
Practicum courses are interdisciplinary and experiential in nature, grading is
more challenging than in traditional classroom settings. The following criteria
are provided to help students understand the process by which they will be
graded.
Each student is expected
to meet the expectations of the organization or business providing the
experience.
That means “showing up on time” and doing the work expected in a quality
manner. To do the expected work and nothing more however will
generally earn a final grade of “B”. To earn a higher grade, we look beyond
these minimum requirements for more qualitative or creative aspects of your
work. On-site supervisors will be asked for input on these qualitative
factors.
Below
is a list of examples of ways that you may go beyond the minimum requirement
for the course. They are not “an equation” or a list to complete - just
examples. They point out some of the many ways in which active involvement in
the work may be factored into your final evaluation. There may be other
or more appropriate ways to demonstrate excellence based on your individual
experience.
·
Demonstration of
leadership—taking on more responsibility, initiating new ideas
·
Attentive and active
participation in the work and learning; asking questions
·
Reading additional
materials which might complement the work experience
·
Conversations with other
people for further information and knowledge
·
Suggesting improvements
or novel ways of doing the work
·
Integration of outside
learning (such as from reading or conversations) and the work – bringing new
ideas to the experience from outside sources
·
Other self-directed
learning—learning that takes place outside of the work experience
·
Quality
or amount of work; did you do more than expected?
·
Synthesizing the
experience—relating what you have learned in the work to your life and sharing
those learnings
Final
Grade; I will assign your grade and
register it on SPIRE when you complete the work. It is not unusual to register in Incomplete at the end of the
experience to allow more time for completing any reports etc. I will change the Incomplete to a letter
grade upon completion of the project. Supervisors on site often recommend
a grade, based on their personal assessment of student performance. I will
interview all students easily accessible prior to submitting a final
grade. Other students may be asked to submit a written self-evaluation of
their performance.
Process
for Registering
Discuss your internship or Practicum course with me as
early as possible.
Arrange for the internship or experience with an
organization or business. Make sure they know you are taking this for
credit and that they will be asked to provide a note or email certifying your
attendance. You may also need free time once or twice during your
experience to show me around!
Complete the Plant, Soils and Insect Sciences Independent
Study – Practicum Agreement Form. Get my signature on this form.
Get Dr. Deborah Picking’s signature on this
form. She is the Plant, Soils and Insect Sciences Department
Undergraduate Coordinator. Her office is 206 French Hall. Make an
appointment by calling her at 545-2249 or contact dpicking@psis.umass.edu. If you
are taking the course during the spring or fall semesters as a full time
student, that’s it! Check with SPIRE in a week or so to make sure you are
registered.
If you are taking the course during the summer or
winter term (or as a part-time student with Continuing Education) you will need
to register with the Division of Continuing Education and pay their tuition
fees. Fill out the Continuing Education Independent Study
Registration Form and take this along with a copy of the departmental form
and your payment to their office at:
Division
of Continuing Education
University of Massachusetts
100 Venture Way
Hadley, MA 01035-9430 USA
413-545-2414
413-577-3838 (fax)
info@contined.umass.edu
www.umassulearn.net
That’s it! Please ask me for help if you
are unsure of how to complete this process.