Internships as Experiential learning: Reflections and suggestions

It is often claimed that internships offer students an opportunity to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical application. I have participated in various internships from my high school years to my current studies as a Geography Master’s student in France. Some were directly related to Geography and others broadened my skill in different areas.

In this presentation, I will share my reflections on my diverse internship experiences. I will share how these internships helped me to connect the classroom with the so-called ‘real world’. I will highlight what I found most valuable, such as skill development and adapting to new environments. I will also discuss what I wish I had known beforehand, what was missing in my internships and what should be done to make internships, not just a bridge, but also a real learning experience.

Several relatively simple changes can easily be made to internships to turn them into experiences for learning. One is to think of an internship as a kind of simulation, one in which the intern is made aware of the fact that they are not acting as a ‘real’ professional, but merely representing a professional. Another is, regardless of the nature of the intern’s experience, the intern should be more fully accompanied than they appear to be. One accompanying action should, in all cases, be regular debriefing sessions, which are important for transforming the experience into learning.