Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Using Web-Based Supports To Transition Students To Professional Roles
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By: Donna Wooster |
Abstract
Many college students are expected to complete pre-service, fieldwork, or internship course work as part of the educational curriculum. The transition from student role to professional role is often stress provoking. A web-based support course was developed to provide asynchronous mentoring and informational supports to assist students in successfully making this transition to professional roles. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the use of these resources was conducted. This information will be shared along with ideas for customizing a similar course for your students.
Description
Many college curriculums include an educational component requiring demonstration of knowledge and skills in real world work environments. These may be known as pre-service, fieldwork, internship, residency, or other descriptors according to the discipline. Students often experience high levels of anxiety about transitioning to these new professional roles. The quality and quantity of on-site supports available to individual students vary with each placement.
A web-based support course was designed to assist students with the transition from student role to professional role. Participation in the course was voluntary. There were no additional charges assumed by the students. There were no grades assigned for this participation. Students were welcome to participate as needed. Resources were provided asynchronously so students could access whenever and wherever they could gain access to the Internet to log on to the course.
Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data was conducted. Data analysis included frequency of participation in the course, the emerging themes discussed in the course, outcomes measurements for student performance, and student and faculty perceptions based on participation in the course.
The information gained during this exploratory study will be useful to assist other faculty in developing similar supports for students. Faculty will gain an awareness of the possibilities of using low cost technology to provide supports to improve student success in real world environments.
The skills developed in this course lend themselves to the establishment of mentoring relationships after graduation. The students also gain computer skills to later participate in professional on line discussions and chats related to their professional associations.