Internships: Theory and Practice

"Internships: Theory and Practice" focuses on the history, theory, value, design, administration, and evaluation of professional internships as an educational experience for college students. Internships are guided, pre-professional experiences that combine academic and professional components as a managed transition to professional careers. Touted by many as an educational innovation for the 21st century, internships (or experiential learning, or apprenticeships, as they once were called) have been a staple of professional preparation for centuries, dating back at least to the earliest documentation in the Middle Ages and no doubt far beyond that.Charles Sides and Ann Mrvica trace this history through primary sources to explore the development of internship experiences over the past 800 years, create an introduction to the topic of internships, and provide a foundation for modern college-corporation partnerships in professional education and training. The authors present specific guidelines and discussions on issues important to corporations, in terms of providing for internship experiences; issues important to colleges, in terms of designing and evaluating internships; and issues important to students, in terms of participating in and learning from internships.