Economics 3481/294 - Internship - Field Study

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A.            Instructions For Student’s Journal Reports

1.   Students are required to maintain a weekly journal of activities for the duration of the internship. The purpose of this journal is to document that the student is learning from experiences on the job. A typical weekly entry should be as long as it takes to accurately describe your activities, but at least one single-spaced typed page.  Each week's entry should be identified by week (dates).

2.   The journal entries to date should be submitted before mid-term evaluations and at the end of the semester. Thus mid-term entries are typically due around October 15 in the fall semester and just before Spring Break in the winter semester. Course-end entries are due on the last day of the semester. You can submit your journal by email or in hard copy. If you submit by email, the journal must be in an attached document in Microsoft Word format.

3.   Each week’s entry into your journal should contain your reflections on what you have done and learned during the week, and how things are going at your work site. More explicitly they should answer questions like the following:

•       What new professional skills have you learned at your internship?

•       What new technical skills did you learn, such as computer, statistical, Internet, etc.?

•       What did you learn about economics? How does your work experience relate to Economics and other courses you have completed or are now taking? What other courses do you think you might be interested in as a result of this week’s internship experience? Explain.

•       What new skills did you learn about time management, interpersonal relationships on the job, teamwork, and quality of management?

•       How has your job site supervisor been? Are you being appropriately trained and supervised, etc.? Is he or she a good leader?

•       How have your fellow workers been? Are they supportive or not? Have “office politics” affected your work/learning experience?

4.    Please, add any other reflections you may have on your work/learning experience.

B.            Evaluation Reports from your Site Supervisor (Click here for form)

We ask that at midterm and final time your site supervisor submit an evaluation of your work. They may submit the evaluation by mail, fax, or email. They may use the form provided (see below), or may simply write their impressions in free-form style. Occasionally, site supervisors are late in sending in their reports, and you will be asked to assist in requesting their report.

Basically, we need to know from your site supervisor that you are coming to work promptly as required and are performing adequately all assignments.  It would also be helpful to know the nature of the assignments and learning experiences. Further guidance on evaluation reports is given in the report questionnaire. 

C.            Grading

Econ 3481/294 is for 2 credits. It is graded as S (satisfactory) or U (unsatisfactory).