Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Archive

Sharing Internship Experiences Through Writing Online

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Professor Greg Downey (Inter-LS 260)

Half of all college graduates report completing at least one internship during their time as students. This online course provides a way for College of Letters & Science students who have found exciting outside internships to earn academic credit in connection with their work experience. 

Students will analyze their professional training experiences in the high-tech workplace in the context of the goals of a liberal arts and sciences university education, by practicing critical reading, writing, and observation skills.

A diverse variety of L&S professors teach this class over the course of the fall, spring, and summer terms. See the Inter-LS 260 online course page for more information: http://interlsinternship.pbworks.com/w/page/20058673/INTER-LS%20260

 

Grading

While working for various individual outside organizations as paid or unpaid interns, students will come together online to:

  1. Read a series of scholarly articles (available at our online Reading Repository) on the intersection between liberal education and professional practice;
  2. Produce a shared wiki of organized field notes on their work site and training experiences, responding to issues in those scholarly articles; 
  3. Converse and comment on other student wiki pages in order to discuss internship experiences and reactions to the articles;  
  4. Read and discuss one academic book connected to their field site, chosen by the professor; and
  5. Write a final paper (minimum 2000 words, the equivalent of 8 pages typed and double-spaced) relating their work experiences, the scholarly articles, and the book they have read to the broader themes of the course, to be posted on the shared wiki as part of the student’s overall “online portfolio.”

Final grades will be based on:

  1. Wiki-based fieldnotes and article responses (25%)
  2. Collaborative discussion of fieldnotes and articles (25%)
  3. Summary of the book you have read (25%)
  4. Final written paper (25%)

The internship is graded on the normal A-F system.

 

Sample Summer Calendar for Inter-LS 260

Orientation Meeting: Before the end of spring semester—Wednesday, May 4, 3:30pm

All students registered for the class by the end of April should plan on attending a one-hour orientation meeting at L&S Career Services (Middleton Building). If you cannot attend this meeting, or if you add the class after the end of April, please contact L&S Career Services to obtain the materials from this meeting.  

Your individual internships all vary in terms of their start and end dates, but for consistency in course management, we’ll start our academic work on the first day of the eight-week summer session. Although the academic course officially runs through the eight-week summer session, student internship work with the employing organization does not have to coincide with those dates (nor would we expect it to).

Getting your book

The professor will assign you each a book to read that relates to your field placement, and will post that book selection to the “Instructors and Students” page of the wiki (see above).

 

Week 1 of 8: Getting Started

Putting your page on the wiki

  1. If you’re reading this page, you’ve successfully received an emailed invitation to join our course wiki!  
  2. Go to the “Instructors and Students” page of the wiki
  3. You should see your name listed in a big table on the “Instructors and Students” page. Using the “EDIT” button at the top of that wiki page, add a link from your name to a new wiki page of your own (more instructions on that page)..
  4. Set up this personal wiki page with a short description of yourself—your name, major, hometown, etc.
  5. See if you can use the PBWorks instructions and help system to figure out how to add a photo of yourself to your wiki page. 
  6. Make sure to SAVE your page after you’ve edited all of your personal information.

 

Describing your organization

  1. Each week you will add detailed field notes to your wiki page. But first, you should name and describe the organization that you’re interning with. 
  2. Once again, go into EDIT mode using the button at the top of your own wiki page. 
  3. In bold text, type the name of your internship organization below the description of yourself that you entered above.
  4. Now add a brief description of the organizationwhere you’re interning to your wiki page. If you can, describe the mission, purpose, audience, and history of your organization.  Use headings to organize this information in a nice format. 
  5. You should probably write at least 250 wordsof description.
  6. Make sure to SAVE your page after you have entered this description.

 

Writing your fieldnotes

  1. Now you’re ready to enter your first week of field notes. (Even if you’ve been interning longer than a week by now, just write all of your reflections so far in this first weekly entry.) 
  2. Start editing your page again.
  3. Type a heading like “Fieldnotes—week of June 13” and then describe in as much detail as you can what your duties, experiences, and reactions were during your first week of interning. 
  4. Try to write at least 300 wordsand capture your experience in some detail. The more you write now, the more raw material you have at hand for your final paper at the end.
  5. You are expected to engage the readings in your fieldnotes. By focusing on a specific passage or other aspect of the readings, you’ll be able to reflect more deeply on your internship experience. Make sure to SAVE your page after you have added your first week of field notes.
  6. You will need to write fieldnotes at the end of every week of your internship through the end of the semester.

 

Important Guidance for Writing Your Fieldnotes—Read This!

Your fieldnotes are part of a semi-public communication system between you, the instructional staff, and the other students. Learning to write in an open and professional manner, while paying proper respect to others and their opinions, is an important skill which we hope you will acquire through this course.  This professionalism includes incorporating the articles and essays that we’re reading each week (see #5 above).  Get specific.  Quote the text and discuss it, perhaps by saying how the assigned reading does or does not reflect your internship experience.

Ideally, your fieldnotes will be of use not only to you, but also to your fellow students, whose internships may differ substantially from yours, and who may find your experiences instructive as parallels or contrasts.  Above all, focus in your fieldnotes on the advice you would give or insights you would share with another prospective employee in general, as well as a strong area of reflection for yourself. 

With that in mind, if you are involved in a politics-related internship, refrain from using this wiki as a platform for making political statements but instead focus on your experience.  There are plenty of venues on the web for expressing political views; this wiki is for building your professional competence in the area of your internship.

 

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page (note: the page of someone IN your section) and comment on the fieldnote experiences or reading reactions that he or she describes.  (You don’t have to EDIT their pages to do this; just use the “comment” field at the bottom of their wiki page.)
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.  If you like, you may write two 100-word comments to multiple students, rather than one 200-word comment to a single student.  (And no, before you even ask, you may not write a 10-word comment to each of twenty students.  The comments are meant to be substantive.)
  3. You will need to comment on other student fieldnotes every week of the summer session.  And we will be expecting to respond to the comments and questions that others leave on your page.  In short, we’re looking for you to use this space of comment/response to establish conversation and collaboration. You should feel free to comment on the pages of students not in your particular section, but your instructors will be keeping track of the comments you make inside your section only so please make sure to do that first.

Online readings

  1. Robert Emerson, Rachel Fretz and Linda Shaw, “Writing up fieldnotes I: From field to desk,” Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (1995), 39-65. 
  2. Robert Emerson, Rachel Fretz and Linda Shaw, “Processing fieldnotes: Coding and memoing,” Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes(1995), 142-168.  

 

Week 2 of 8: A liberal education and the world of work 

Online readings

Read at least ONE of these articles in detail so you can write about it within your field notes.

  1. William Cronon, “‘Only connect…’: The goals of a liberal education” American Scholar(1998); 6 pages.  
  2. Mark Edmundson, “On the uses of a liberal education: As lite entertainment for bored college students,” Harpers(September 1997); 11 pages.  
  3. Robin Marantz Henig, “What is it about 20-somethings?” New York Times(18 August 2010).  
  4. Michael Levin, “Ethics 101 for interns,” Bloomberg Businessweek(11 December 2009).  
  5. Tamara Draut, “The growing college gap,” in James Lardner and David A. Smith, eds., Inequality matters: The growing economic divide in America and its poisonous consequences(2005), 89-101; 10 pages.  

 

Fieldnotes and reading response

  1. Create a section for this week’s fieldnotes on your wiki page as before, and describe your experiences in as much detail as you can. 
  2. Incorporate some ideas from at least one of this week’s readings into your field notes.
  3. Your fieldnotes need to be at least 300 words each week. 

 

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or reading reactions that they describe.
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.

 

 

Week 3 of 8: The geography of the workplace

Online readings.  

Read at least ONE of these articles in detail so you can write about it within your field notes.

  1. Marc Bousquet, “Students are already workers,” in How the university works: Higher education and the low-wage nation(2008); 30 pages. 
  2. Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America (2002), selection. 
  3. Don Peck, “Early career moves are the most important,” National Journal (08 May 2010). 

 

Fieldnotes and reading response

See Week 2 instructions

Analyzing office geography

  1. On your wiki page, describe the geographyof your internship setting, both outside and inside, including spaces for work, meetings, storage, and relaxation. What’s your place in this geography? Write at least 250 words about the spatial organization of your workplace. 

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or reading reactions that they describe.
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.

 

 

Week 4 of 8: Exploring your internship area through your book

Fieldnotes and reading response

See Week 2 instructions

Book summary (first half)

  1. Read the first half of your scholarly book and post a brief summary of the topics you’ve covered so far to the wiki.
  2. Your first-half book summary needs to be at least 250 words.

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or book summary that they describe.  
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.  

 

Week 5 of 8: Technology in the workplace

Online readings.

Read at least ONE of these articles in detail so you can write about it within your field notes.

  1. Pew Internet and American Life Project, “Networked workers: Most workers use the internet or email at their jobs, but they say these technologies are a mixed blessing for them” (2008). 
  2. Frank Levy and Richard J. Murnane, “How computers change work and pay,” in The new division of labor: How computers are creating the next job market(2004), 31-54; 20 pages. 
  3. Farhad Manjoo, “Social networking your way to a new job,” New York Times(25 August 2010). 
  4. Nathan Ensmenger, “Resistance is futile?  Reluctant and selective users of the Internet,” in William Aspray and Paul Ceruzzi, eds., The Internet and American Business(2008).  

Fieldnotes and reading response 

See Week 2 instructions

Analyzing social networks

  1. On your wiki page, describe the social relationships and social networksof your setting, and your place in them.  Think about who holds power, who holds authority, who directs your activities and who sets the standards for behavior.  You should be able to write at least 250 words about this. 

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or reading reactions that they describe.
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.

Schedule a meeting with the L&S Internship coordinator

  1. This week you need to contact the L&S Internship coordinator, Spencer Atkinson (rsatkinson@wisc.edu) to set up a midterm “check up” meeting to see how your internship is going. 
  2. If you are here in Madison, you will need to schedule a 20-minute in-person meeting; if you are not in Madison, you will need to schedule a 20-minute phone or Skype meeting. You should schedule your meeting for sometime next week.

 

 

Week 6 of 8: Temps, creatives, and the changing demographics of work 

Online readings.

Read at least ONE of these articles in detail so you can write about it within your field notes.

  1. Richard Florida, “Preface to the paperback edition” and “Preface,” The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community, and everyday life(2002). 
  2. Jackie Krasas Rogers,”A temporary job: Is it the ‘temporary’ or the ‘job’?” in Temps: The many faces of the changing workplace(2000), 151-174. 
  3. Ronad Brownstein, “Children of the Great Recession,” National Journal (08 May 2010); 10 pages.  
  4. Robin Leidner, “Serving hamburgers and selling insurance: Gender, work, and identity in interactive service jobs,” Gender & Society(1991), 154-177.  
  5. Ryan Morris and Cameron Joseph, “The big picture,” National Journal(25 July 2010).  

Fieldnotes and reading response

See Week 2 instructions

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or reading reactions that they describe.
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.

Attend meeting with the L&S Internship coordinator

  1. This week you need to attend the meeting that you scheduled last week with the L&S Internship coordinator, Spencer Atkinson (rsatkinson@wisc.edu).
  2. If you are here in Madison, this will be a 20-minute in-person meeting; if you are not in Madison, this will be a 20-minute phone or Skype meeting.

 

 

Week 7 of 8: Finishing your book

 Fieldnotes and reading response

See Week 2 instructions

Book summary (second half)

  1. Read the second half of your scholarly book and post a brief summary of the topics you’ve covered so far to your wiki.
  2. Your second-half book summary needs to be at least 250 words.

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or book summary that they describe.  
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.

 

Resume critique

  1. Now that you’re nearly finished with your internship, you should think about how you’re going to describe it to future employers. The L&S Career Services professionals can help you translate your skills and experiences to an effective resume. 
  2. Email your current resume to the L&S Internship Coordinator, Spencer Atkinson (rsatkinson@wisc.edu), and she and the other L&S Career Services professionals will give you custom feedback on how you are presenting yourself and your skills.

 

 

Week 8 of 8: Summing it all up

Fieldnotes and reading response

See Week 2 instructions

Reflection

  1. Post a final reflective statement to your wiki page on what you thought about your internship experience, the online course experience, or both.
  2. Your reflection needs to be at least 250 words.  

 Analysis

  1. Write your final paperwhich ties together your fieldnotes of your experiences and the book that you read about your internship (minimum 2,000 words, or eight double-spaced, typewritten pages).  
  2. You should also refer directly to at least fourof the course readings in your final paper. 
  3. Post this paper as a separate page linked to your main wiki page. (Make sure to save a backup copy of your final paper; don’t just type it directly into the wiki.) 
  4. Read another student’s final paper and comment on it.

Comment and collaboration

  1. Visit a fellow student’s wiki page and comment on the fieldnote experiences or reflections that they describe.  
  2. Your comment needs to be at least 200 words each week.

Beginning of Fall semester: Debriefing

All students who have completed the internship must attend a one-hour debriefing meeting at the end of the summer, before Fall semester starts (date, time and location TBA). We would like to find out if your internship met your learning and training goals. At this meeting you will 1) Share experiences with the internship coordinator, 2) Fill out a written course assessment, and 3) Register on BuckyNet (if you aren’t already on the system) so that you can use your internship experience as part of your job search.