Internship Grading

Your grade for the Internship is determined half by your performance at your site and half by your academic paper or project and other written work. If you are signing up for six credits, you will be registered in two three-credit sections, and you may receive different grades for each section if your grade is borderline or there is a discrepancy between site and academic performance. Due to university policy, graduate students must register for the Internship under Independent Study numbers and therefore may only receive Pass/Fail instead of letter grades.

Your site supervisors fill out a midterm appraisal and final evaluation. They are supposed to give you regular feedback so you can improve your performance, if necessary. I use these appraisals to judge the quality of your performance, and I try to discuss any problems with you as they occur.

Your written paper or project is about ten pages for a three-credit internship (about 20 pages for six credits). Usually, in the paper you will write about the interplay of theory and practice at your internship site. A good balance would be half the paper showing research and half personal experience, interspersed together. For example, a student may look at a text on management and see how a process such as "management by objectives" or "quality circles" is carried out at their site and what problems may occur. A student may also explore a topic in depth; i.e. a student may do a paper on rehabilitation strategies for juvenile delinquents and see if any of these are successful at the reformatory site. Another good topic idea is "Problems in the Field of X." Ask your supervisor what they would like you to learn more about.

An A paper fulfills the following criteria:

is neatly typed
no typographical errors
no mistakes in spelling, grammar, or punctuation
appropriate formal style together with examples from own observations, using "I"
paper is well organized, with a coherent thesis that is supported by the evidence presented
ties observations and your own experiences at the site to the thesis
uses both scholarly and popular literature as well as observation to make points
shows evidence that the student has considered the problems of applying theory to practice at the work site.

In order to get an A, you are expected to turn in a draft of your paper which will be returned with suggested revisions. When you turn in your rewrite, please turn in both the old and new versions of your paper together. An unrevised paper is acceptable, but unlikely to earn the highest grade. Please keep all notes for your paper until you have received your grades (or longer), so that any questions on your sources can be easily resolved.

Also included in your grade is your journal summary. Please follow directions on the format to include all questions. Complete all paperwork on time to get an A.

PAPER DUE DATES 1st draft Friday, November 16
Final Revision -Monday, December 12