Abstract
Evaluating the success of internships is important to provide evidence of the impacts of experiential internship learning programs. The use of appropriate assessment techniques serves as a potential approach to examine whether desired internship learning outcomes have been satisfactorily achieved.
Evaluating the success of internships is important to provide evidence of the impacts of experiential internship learning programs. The use of appropriate assessment techniques serves as a potential approach to examine whether desired internship learning outcomes have been satisfactorily achieved. This chapter offers insight on how to evaluate internship programs through recommending approaches to conduct formative and summative assessment. It concentrates on providing examples on how to effectively assess students’ different learning outcomes. This chapter also elucidates a number of strategies to examine the effectiveness of selected online social media platforms.
1 What is Assessment?
In school settings, there are specific scenarios that call for the need to adopt relevant assessment strategies. How can teachers know if students have learned domain-specific academic skills (e.g., solving word problems in algebra and trigonometry)? How do teachers judge the quality of students’ projects? What can teachers do to improve their instructional practices? Why are students not learning various lessons in a specific academic domain? How do students learn a particular academic skill? These questions can be directly answered through conducting theoretically sound and practically relevant educational assessment.
Assessment is a systematic process involving (1) collection of information about student learning, (2) review and interpretation of collected information and other relevant variables vis-à-vis desired learning outcomes, and (3) using knowledge, expertise, and resources to make informed decisions to improve learning (Farrell & Rushby, 2016; Palomba & Banta, 1999; Walvoord, 2004). Simply put, assessment is interpreted as a process of gathering evidence about the students’ learning process quality to improve instructional practices in an academic context. Assessment serves as a valuable approach to determine whether or not the desired learning objectives have been satisfactorily achieved. Consistent with this observation, it has been found that assessment approaches matter significantly for enhancing the quality of learning outcomes (Fernandes, Flores, & Lima 2012; Flores, Veiga Simão, Barros, & Pereira, 2015).
The extant literature has provided specific approaches to classify educational assessment. One of the most popular taxonomy involves categorizing assessment into three forms, namely assessment of, as, and for learning (Earl, 2003). Assessment of learning refers to the process of evaluating the extent to which students have learned and whether the desired learning outcomes in a specific academic domain were satisfactorily achieved. Typical examples of this assessment include tests and individual projects that are given at the end of an academic year. Assessment for learning pertains to the assessing of a student’s learning process to improve teaching strategies that typically take place during a class or course. The use of quizzes and diagnostic tests serve as concrete examples of assessment for learning. Compared to assessment of and for learning that emphasize the role of teacher in evaluating learning processes and outcomes, assessment as learning places much importance on the ability of students to assess their own learning experiences. In assessment as learning, students gain opportunities to monitor their learning processes through identifying and implementing learning strategies that may result in better academic performance.
Alternatively, assessment can also be categorized into two major categories: formative assessment and summative assessment.
2 Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is carried out usually at the beginning and in the middle of a course to gain insights about students’ learning in a specific area (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Dixson & Worrell, 2016). The primary aim of this assessment approach is to enhance the quality of instruction or learning tasks rather than to evaluate the actual academic performance of students (Earl, 2003; Gikandi, Morrow, & Davis, 2011; Marshall & Drummond, 2006). Examples include classroom observations, interactions and questioning, assigning homework exercises, giving feedback, and structured class activities and presentations (Looney, 2011). Results of formative assessments are used to alter any challenging aspects of the learning activities embedded in a specific course. It has been also considered a pedagogic approach (Black & William, 1998) because conducting formative assessment is a gradual process of enhancing students’ academic competencies with reference to specific learning objectives.
Recently, researchers explored the potential utility of technological platforms in conducting formative assessment (Maier, 2014; Maier, Wolf, & Randler, 2016; Russell, 2010) and the importance of online formative assessment tools to monitor student’s learning progress (Gikandi et al., 2011; Hooshyar et al., 2016; Vasilyeva, Pechenizkiy, & De Bra, 2008). In particular, studies showed that online formative assessments could improve motivation and interest in an online learning platform (Gardner, Sheridan, & White, 2002; Hooshyar et al., 2016). For example, researchers have explored and provided evidence about the effectiveness of online multiple-choice tests with post-test feedback (Peat & Franklin, 2002; Kibble, 2007). A review by Gikandi and colleagues (2011) on the effects of online formative assessment also pointed out that the exact mechanisms may support the effectiveness of this assessment strategy “through offering expanded opportunities to document, monitor and assess students’ progress and achievements, which informs the desired formative feedback” (p. 2345).
One of the strategies in conducting technologically supported formative assessment is with social media tools. For example, the author has encouraged his students to select and use a specific social media tool (e.g., PBworks, Google Sites, and Google Docs) in co-constructing a group assignment wherein students are expected to provide a critical review of a Master’s dissertation project. Students are expected to provide comments on the following aspects of the dissertation: (a) clarity of focus and context; (b) engagement and treatment of literature; (c) justification and implementation of the methodology; (d) implementation and presentation of data; and (e) quality of discussion and recommendations. Students are asked to present their initial comments on the five areas to the lecturers as they are working on this project during the course. This technique is an example of “assessment for learning”.
3 Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is utilized to evaluate students’ learning at the end of the course (Angelo & Cross, 1993; Gardner, 2010; Gikandi et al., 2011). Findings from a summative assessment can provide comprehensive insights on the cumulative and overall learning experience of students in a particular course or program. The goal of summative assessment ensures that the learning goals or objectives of a program have been adequately fulfilled through quantitative and qualitative approaches. Whereas formative assessment involves examining relevant insights from the learning activities that are used to improve the delivery of instruction, summative assessment encompasses the evaluation of whether learning outcomes have been satisfactorily achieved (Stobart, 2008). Summative assessments can also provide concrete indication of how much students have learned at the end of a program (Dixson & Worrell, 2016). Common examples of summative assessment may include but are not limited to a learning portfolio, class examinations, national achievement tests, and investigative projects. Dixson and Worrell (2016) also noted that performance-based assessment is another form of summative assessment that requires students to exhibit what they have learned about a specific subject. For example, teachers may require students to produce a multimedia children’s book to demonstrate a critical appreciation and understanding of the qualities, features, and scope of multimedia children’s literature.
4 Formative and Summative Assessment in the Context of Internships
Traditional formative and summative assessment strategies have been adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of internship programs. In terms of formative assessment, internship instructors have commonly relied on student self-assessment or reflective activities (Jackson, 2018). An example is the use of weekly journal logs of learning experience to examine students’ learning processes. The journal logs may specify the date and time of duty, tasks performed, and the number of hours earned for a particular timeframe (see Table 8.1 for a sample of a weekly journal log). Although weekly logs may provide essential descriptions of the weekly experience of students in their respective internship sites, minimal insights can be gained on student’s learning experiences. Other techniques for formative assessment for internships include structured reflection, oral presentations, and e-portfolios (Jackson, 2018).
Table 8.1 describes the weekly journal log of John Doe (all names are pseudonyms), a Bachelor of Science student in Secondary Education at a university in Hong Kong, who underwent an internship program with Ms. Antonia Richards, a specialist in Secondary Mathematics Education. The first and second columns provide details on the date, day, and time of John’s internship exposure. In the third column, his actual tasks (e.g., assistance in teaching preparation and assessment-related duties) with his supervisor are briefly stated. The next column reports the number of hours that he rendered for two days (e.g., March 6–7, 2017). This weekly journal log offers important details on a student’s learning experience within a specific period of time. A log of learning experience can be also curated through alternative and non-traditional strategies such as using a social media tool (see Appendix 8.8).
A reflective diary has been also used to gain insights about students’ learning experiences during an internship. Normally, this assessment technique involves requesting students to: (a) report the tasks that they performed in a specific period of time; (b) articulate lessons that they gained in performing such tasks; (c) highlight challenges that they faced in fulfilling such duties; (d) record the reactions that they felt after encountering a particular challenge; and (e) suggest potential solutions that they can do to overcome such challenges in the future.
Table 8.2 reports the internship learning experience of Julia Leung, a Master of Business Administration student, who is pursuing a business postgraduate degree at a university in Hong Kong. She worked under the supervision of Mr. Mason Churchill (all names are pseudonyms), a human resources specialist of a company in Hong Kong. The schedule of internship sessions and tasks are stated in the first and second columns. In the succeeding columns, her learning insights and challenges in performing work-related tasks are documented.
Different techniques are frequently used in conducting a summative assessment. In the medical field, doctors undergoing residency receive clinical performance assessments, usually from multiple assessors (Scarff, Bearman, Chiavaroli, & Trumble, 2019). In Spain, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination is a compulsory internship assessment for pharmacy students (Beitia, Beltran, Ortega, Perez-Mediavilla, & Ramirez, 2019). It involves seven stations where student interns must perform pharmacist duties with doctors or patients that are played by trained actors.
The more common approach in performing summative assessments is to ask the workplace supervisor to fill in the student’s internship performance evaluation form. The form may include a number of items that measure the degree to which students have demonstrated mastery of various performance areas. Evaluative forms may also include an assessment of how the students exhibited non-cognitive characteristics that are relevant to fulfillment of work-related duties and responsibilities. An example of a summative assessment form that can be used by workplace supervisors to provide feedback on students’ overall performance throughout the course of an internship is presented on Appendix 8.9.
5 Technology-Enhanced Assessments in Internships
5.1 Use of Facebook Groups for Learning Logs
Studies have shown that technology may be utilized to conduct both formative and summative assessments. For instance, Chu, Kwan, and Warning (2012b) have explored the effectiveness of blogs for enhancing academic and non-academic abilities during the internship of Bachelor of Science in Information Management students in Hong Kong. In terms of academic abilities, the authors have demonstrated that blogging could enhance the ability of students to reflect on their learning experience as interns in specific professional contexts. In particular, blogs have enabled students to monitor their tasks and projects systematically and with a high degree of convenience. Furthermore, students have gained opportunities to interact with their classmates without requiring physical meetings. This result corroborates findings from existing investigations which yielded evidence on the ability of blogs to catalyze cognitive, metacognitive, social/collaborative, and affective learning processes (Chu & Chan, 2011; Chu, Chan, & Tiwari, 2012a; Chu, Malhotra, Ho, Leung, & Mo, 2009; Kwan et al., 2009).
Existing literature has also compared how different social media tools can facilitate the sharing of students’ internship experiential learning. For example, Chan, Chu, Lee, Chan, and Leung (2013) explored students’ perceptions on the benefits of using blogs and Facebook to optimize effective internship learning. Findings of their study revealed that both blogs and Facebook may serve as effective platforms to enhance learning throughout an internship. However, it seems that Facebook could play a stronger role than blogs in promoting social-collaborative learning as students reported higher frequencies of receiving feedback from peers and faculty supervisors. Some features of Facebook may account for the beneficial impacts of using Facebook for managing the sharing of students’ internship learning. Studies have shown that the newsfeed, photo album, comment, and tag features of Facebook could facilitate optimal academic outcomes during an internship (Chau et al., 2013; Siu & Chu, 2017). These findings indicate that Facebook can serve as a valuable tool for knowledge sharing when appropriately applied in an internship program.
Although little is known about what technologically supported assessment practices are considered effective, it is pivotal to explore what types of technologies can be utilized to effectively assess student’s performance based on specific learning outcomes. One of the documented approaches to assess the quality of student’s learning involves the use of social networking sites such as Facebook. There are specific aspects of the Facebook-inspired social media internship platform that can resemble formative assessments. The following paragraphs aim to describe how various facets of this platform for an internship may characterize traditional assessment strategies.
The log of learning experiences component of the platform serves as a concrete type of formative assessment. Documenting student reflections about the internship experience may provide an opportunity for teachers or course instructors to examine how students are actively applying the theories that they have learned in real-life contexts. In the case of Information Management interns, the use of learning logs pinpoints the actual tasks that can boost the practical relevance of the concepts that they learned through various university coursework activities. This assessment technique can also give teachers an idea regarding any challenges that students may be facing in their respective internship sites. Students are encouraged to share their reflections about their practicum experiences. Knowledge about typical issues or problems that interns are facing may enable teachers to design and implement relevant solutions which may lead to optimal learning environments for interns. Furthermore, as other interns can freely post in the Facebook group (that comprises logs of learning experiences), they can learn from each other regarding how to effectively fulfill their internship tasks and requirements. Indeed, these aspects of online learning logs may elucidate how and why this assessment approach can potentially improve the quality of instructional practices in teaching internship courses.
5.2 Learning Logs Through Vlogs and e-Portfolio
This subsection briefly discusses alternative digital outputs such as vlogs and e-portfolios that can be used for formative or summative assessments. Vlogs, or video blogs, have been reported to be useful for sharing learning during internships. In Fidan and Debbag’s (2018) study, teachers undergoing internship shared weekly vlogs on YouTube that are about 3–7 min long about their experiences and the group members are encouraged to watch and comment on each other’s’ vlogs. Their findings show that vlogging helped the participants reflect on and correct shortcomings as well as foster self-expression, information sharing, and critical thinking. On the other hand, Kajder and Parkes (2012) have utilized a multimodal approach in developing a reflective practice for pre-service teachers by having them alternate between vlogging and blogging in their weekly logs. In their findings, blogs had more surface-level reflection and its composition is more curated as it can be revised and hyperlinks can be used in the entries to connect other relevant information while for vlogging, it involved more pedagogical reflection and the composition is more conversational and had a stream-of-consciousness nature (Kajder & Parkes, 2012).
Another method for sharing learning logs is through the use of an e-portfolio. The use of e-portfolio has been shown to deepen learning and promote critically reflective learning among master’s students (O’Keeffe & Donnelly, 2013). E-portfolios may also be utilized for a summative assessment as in the case of an online graduate program in educational leadership where students curated their professional credentials, internship artifacts, and internship final report (McBride et al., 2018). Similarly, it has been used as a summative assessment for teacher preparation programs (Parkes, Dredger, & Hicks, 2013).
Additionally, Parkes, Dredger, and Hicks (2013) have found that although blogging or vlogging can be a useful standalone reflective practice, when used as an artifact in building an e-portfolio, individual posts can be connected and re-connected to varied themes and help students make sense of their learning process.
Furthermore, because the e-portfolio documents coursework, research, internship, and extracurricular activities and promotes reflection, the students may receive additional benefits such as showcasing accomplishments to potential employers and facilitating career and/or academic advising (Reese & Levy, 2009). Faculty supervisors can also benefit as well because students’ e-portfolios can be used for assessment, departmental review, facilitate advising, monitor and archive coursework and reference for recommendation letters (Reese & Levy, 2009).
5.3 Assessment Criteria
Effective evaluation of learning logs entails identifying clear assessment criteria. For instance, the author and his colleagues have used the following criteria in assessing the quality of interns’ logs of learning experiences in Facebook: (a) logical information organization; (b) regular posting of reflection; (c) clarity of presentation; and (d) quality of the reflection. In terms of the quality of reflection, students’ reflection in the learning logs exhibited enough evidence and/or artifact of reflection, use of reflection model or approach whenever appropriate, and depth of reflection were examined. Students’ logs of learning experiences constitute 40% of students’ final grade. Table 8.3 presents an example of assessment criteria for the logs of learning experiences during an internship. Learning logs in different media (i.e., blogs, vlogs, Facebook posts, e-portfolio), may have output-specific differences that need to be considered when setting the grading criteria.
In addition to Facebook-based learning logs, the author and other faculty supervisors also asked their student interns to prepare a written report that summarized their practicum experiences. It is expected that students would provide discussion points about the following issues in the report: (a) personal expectations toward their internship; (b) internship preparation such as acquiring any skill necessary to be selected by the host organizations; (c) analysis on the workplace using models on information management; (d) major tasks performed during their internship; (e) discussion of any changes in the interns’ attitudes toward learning or working after their internship and identification of factors that lead to such changes; and (f) reflection of personal achievement during their internship versus the original personal expectation toward the practicum. These reflective discussion points generally target metacognitive skills with reference to cognitive (b–d), affective (e, f), and social/collaborative skills (d, e) that may have manifested throughout the internship. With regard to the grading of the report, each intern’s output is based on the report’s coverage of the abovementioned issues, organization, clarity, clarity, and coherence of the content. The abovementioned assessment criteria are reported on Table 8.4.
6 Evaluating the Perceived Effectiveness of Social Media Tools in Managing Sharing of Internship Learning
Social media tools can be used to facilitate learning processes and outcomes during internships. As previously noted, examining the effects of social media platforms on students’ cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social/collaborative skills is a suitable research initiative to achieve key internship learning outcomes. However, it is equally important to determine whether such social media tools are effective in optimizing internship experiential learning. This subsection briefly describes the authors’ studies on the effectiveness of blogs and Facebook as tools to manage students’ sharing of internship learning.
Chu et al. (2012b) evaluated whether blogs can be valuable for optimizing information management, learning, and social support in an internship course. The authors conducted a telephone interview with Bachelor of Science in Information Management students using close-ended and open-ended questions. Findings showed that blogs could be used to facilitate communication and self-reflection. Furthermore, Chu et al. (2012a) investigated the effectiveness of blogs to optimize students’ internship learning. Through a mixed-methods research design, these authors have shown that using blogs could serve as an effective social media tool to promote sharing of knowledge and information. Drawn from these studies, the survey has been recently updated with Facebook as the selected social media platform. The scale appeared to have excellent internal consistency, α = 0.91. Table 8.5 illustrates some of the sample questions. The content of the survey is reported in Appendix 8.10.
7 Summary
Educational assessment plays a crucial and pivotal role in optimizing key learning processes and outcomes. It provides a visible indicator of students’ academic progress as well as a concrete guide to enhance teachers’ instructional practices. Given the critical function that assessment has in facilitating successful acquisition of knowledge and skills, existing literature has pinpointed both broader (e.g., assessment of learning and assessment for learning) and specific techniques (e.g., weekly diary) that can yield valuable insights on students’ academic functioning in a specific course. However, little work has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of these assessment strategies, especially in the context of internships.
Hence, the present chapter builds on previous literature to discuss the possible role of assessment in managing sharing of students’ internship learning. Studies on the common techniques that were used in assessing students’ learning-related experiences have been cited to support the role of effective assessment during internships. Different types of assessment strategies (i.e., assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning) are also described to inform readers on how various types of assessment can promote learning processes and outcomes. Recognizing the role that technology plays in students’ lives, actual examples on how a social media tools (e.g., blogs, vlogs, Facebook posts, and e-portfolio) can be used to assess students’ internship experiences in their respective sites have been discussed. Conducting formative assessment via SNS, such as Facebook, has apparent advantages as it allows interns to share reflections about their internship experience with their course instructors and classmates without requiring face-to-face meetings. This technique also gives greater opportunities for interns to offer feedback on each other’s learning experiences as well as to receive immediate feedback from their course instructors on issues that they are facing in their internship sites. Facebook and blogs have been used by the author and his colleagues to manage students’ sharing of internship learning for years but literature also illustrates that vlogs and e-portfolios can also be of valuable use.
Even with the potential benefits of integrating technology with traditional ways of carrying out assessment, more research is needed to identify other technology-supported and innovative approaches in conducting internship assessment. Future empirical investigations should focus on evaluating other types of technology-supported assessment strategies that can improve the delivery of internship courses in various programs. For instance, is technology-supported internship assessment more effective than traditional internship assessment? Which social media platforms can best support internship assessment? How and why can technology-supported assessment optimize better learning outcomes during internships?
8 Appendix: Sample of a BSCIM Student’s Log of Learning Experience Using Facebook in a University in Hong Kong
Student YHF shared a post on Facebook on his learning in 2015.
- Student:
-
After checking and correcting the metadata record of new books for 7 days, I feel relieved now because I’ve gained more practice in managing this task. Although I made some mistakes in the first few days, my colleagues did not blame me and instead taught me how to do better and I was able to correct my errors. This a good way to let me learn from mistakes, since I will remember the wrong things I have done. It left a deep impression on me and many mistakes were reduced….
… I think the work atmosphere is great in my workplace. I can see that the director and his staff have a close relationship and they would help each other when they have any problem. This work culture should be followed by organizations that want to be successful and operate smoothly. Employees will feel more passionate about their work and will likely perform well. I learned about these concepts in the Knowledge Management course and I find that my internship workplace has actually applied them!
- Internship Supervisor:
-
Great! (This is as an encouragement and praise for the student’s work/self-reflection. Sometimes, the internship supervisor may offer advice for problems encountered by students).
9 Appendix: Sample of a Workplace Supervisor’s Evaluation on Student’s Performance
10 Appendix: Sample of a Survey to Evaluate the Effectiveness of SNS in Supporting Internship Learning
A. Learning through your own postings on Facebook | ||||
1. It is useful for you to reflect on your summer internship in Facebook private group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Why do you consider reflection as not useful? | ||||
2. Facebook is a suitable platform for you to keep your reflection regarding the summer internship on record | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: Can you explain why? If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: What other platform do you think would have been more suitable and why? | ||||
3. Comments from your classmates in your Facebook private group postings are useful to your summer internship learning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why/Why not? | ||||
4. Comments from your faculty supervisor in your Facebook private group postings are useful to your summer internship | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why/Why not? | ||||
B. Learning through others’ postings on Facebook | ||||
5. Reading your classmates’ postings on Facebook private group during the summer internship is useful | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why/Why not? | ||||
6. Your classmates shared something about their problem-solving experience during the summer internship on Facebook | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
7. You have learnt something from their problem-solving experience posted on Facebook | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: Can you give me an example about what you have learned? If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Why? | ||||
8. Other than your classmates’ problem-solving experience, you learnt something else by reading your classmates’ Facebook private group page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: What else did you learn? | ||||
9. Facebook is a suitable platform for you to learn from your classmates’ summer internship experience | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: What other platforms do you think may have been more suitable and why? | ||||
10. Reading your classmates’ Facebook private group postings is an effective and efficient way to learn how to improve your performance in summer internship | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: please explain why? If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: How reading classmates’ postings actually help you improve your performance in the summer internship? | ||||
C. Social Influence on using Facebook | ||||
11. During the internship, Facebook facilitated information sharing among the classmates | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: How did it facilitate information sharing? If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Please explain why Facebook failed to facilitate information sharing | ||||
12. During the summer internship, I think Facebook have facilitated knowledge sharing among the classmates. If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Please explain why Facebook failed to facilitate knowledge sharing | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: How did it facilitate knowledge sharing? | ||||
13. During the summer internship, Facebook facilitated emotional support among the classmates | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: How did it facilitate emotional support? If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Why did it fail to facilitate emotional support? | ||||
14. You felt supported by your classmates via discussing the summer internship on Facebook | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why/Why not? | ||||
15. You felt supported by your own faculty supervisor via mutual interaction on Facebook | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: What did he/she do to support you? If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Why did you feel not being supported? | ||||
16. You supported your classmates via Facebook | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”: What did you do to support them? | ||||
17. I think other students in this course have found it helpful to use Facebook private group for the course | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why/Why not? | ||||
18. I think other students in this internship course have used the Facebook private group actively | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why/Why not? | ||||
19. According to my memory, I received comments from classmates on the Facebook private group from time to time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
20. According to my memory, I received comments from my own faculty supervisor on the Facebook private group from time to time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
D. Other aspects on your perceptions of Facebook private group as a learning tool | ||||
21. Setting up the private group on Facebook for this course was easy for me | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
22. It was easy for me to use Facebook private group to write reflections | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
23. It was easy for me to track others’ comments to my reflections on Facebook | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
24. It was easy for me to communicate with classmates and supervisor on Facebook private group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
25. I felt enjoyable when posting reflections on the Facebook private group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
26. I felt enjoyable when communicating with others in my Facebook private group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
27. I had fun when using Facebook private group for the internship course | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
28. Using Facebook private group increased my interest and engagement in the internship | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Which type of posting are you more interested in posting or reading? | ||||
29. I had difficulties in accessing Facebook in my internship location (network infrastructure, country policy, working place policy, etc.) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
30. My device (computer, mobile phone, tablet) worked well with Facebook private groups for the internship | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
31. I received support/help when I had difficulties in using Facebook private group for the internship | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If yes, from whom? | ||||
E. Recommendation on future arrangement on using Facebook for the summer internship | ||||
32. You are satisfied with Facebook’s functions for sharing what you learnt from the summer internship with your classmates | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Strongly Agree” or “Agree”: Name the functions that satisfied you. If “Strongly Disagree” or “Disagree”: Name the functions that failed to satisfy you | ||||
33. What does “Like” mean to you? | ||||
34. Did you enable the email notification function for the BSIM internship group? Why or Why not? | ||||
35. Do you have other suggestions to improve the group feature on Facebook? And are there any particularly good functions that should be maintained? | ||||
36. It was sensible that posting on Facebook accounts for around 40% of your grade on your summer internship in 2014 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
If “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree”: Why not? | ||||
F. Behavioral Intention on using Facebook to support learning | ||||
37. I intend to use Facebook private group to support my learning in the future | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
38. I would encourage others to use Facebook private group to support their learning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
39. I recommend the BSc[IM] program to continue to adopt Facebook private group for next year’s summer internship | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Why or Why not? | ||||
40. Besides Facebook and blog, are there any other platforms you would recommend for summer internship? | ||||
41. Do you have other concerns/comments regarding the use of Facebook for sharing internship experience with classmates/lecturers? | ||||
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Chu, S. (2020). Evaluation of the Internship and the Effectiveness of Online Platforms. In: Social Media Tools in Experiential Internship Learning. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1560-6_8
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