Year
2024Credit points
40Campus offering
Prerequisites
HIST115 Global History: Six Degrees of Separation AND POLS104 Introduction to International Relations AND SOCS101 Global Society and Change
IMPORTANT: This unit is subject to a strict application and approval process. Only students who have received formal Faculty approval for their proposed internship can enrol in the unit.
Unit rationale, description and aim
The Global Studies International Internship is available, subject to a formal application and approval process, to Global Studies students who wish to undertake an international work placement as an alternative to study abroad for their compulsory international semester. The aim of the unit is to support students to plan for future study and career development in a globalised world. The unit builds cultural awareness and global competency (i.e. students' capacity to effectively interact in a globally interdependent world) and allows students to develop knowledge of a real workplace environment, including the identification of needs and the allocation of resources to achieve organisational objectives. Students will develop important transferable skills in an area of employment that relates to their academic studies and enables them to work effectively, both as an individual and as a member of a team, to achieve organisational goals. Throughout the international internship students will apply the knowledge, understanding and skills that they have acquired at university to the workplace and, through practice and reflection, will integrate classroom and work-based learning.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Describe accurately the aims, objectives and operations of the international internship organisation | GC1, GC9 |
| LO2 | Demonstrate an awareness of their own culture and that of the country that they will visit | GC6 |
| LO3 | Apply relevant transferable skills and knowledge to work-based tasks and activities connected to the international internship | GC2 |
| LO4 | Demonstrate use of initiative in dealing with issues or problems relating to the international internship | GC3, GC8 |
| LO5 | Critically reflect on the cultural, practical and skills-based learning experiences of the international internship and consider how these experiences fit with and contribute to personal, academic and career objectives and development in both short and long-term | GC7 |
Content
The exact nature, activities and emphasis within each internship including virtual internships will vary with the nature, location and context of the internship and the aims, objectives and operations of the internship organisation. All internship students (including virtual internships) will need to complete:
- The internship application process, including documentation review and approval
- Pre-departure or pre-virtual internship cultural awareness training, organised by ACU and/or the internship organisation or approved third party internship provider as appropriate
- Pre-departure or pre-virtual internship briefing(s) on the internship organisation, student welfare (including health, safety and wellbeing, culture shock, reverse culture shock and vicarious trauma), travel logistics, financial assistance, insurance, emergency procedures (including International SOS registration), student code of conduct, and assessment tasks and criteria. Briefings will be organised by ACU and/or the internship organisation or approved third-party internship provider as appropriate. These briefings may be in the form of online modules.
During the placement, all international internship and virtual internship students will maintain:
- Regular attendance in accordance with the work hours agreed with the academic supervisor and internship organisation
- Regular contact with their academic supervisor to discuss student wellbeing and issues linked to the internship
- Regular contact with their assigned supervisor in the internship organisation to allow the supervisor to provide regular feedback to the student on the work they do
All international and virtual internship students will need to complete an evaluation of their internship upon completion of their placement and, if relevant, return to Australia.
All internship organisations or third-party internship providers must provide written guarantees that the internship organisation will:
- Support internship students through relevant training and guidance
- Provide students with a safe and secure environment in which to carry out the internship
- Set students appropriate workplace tasks and activities
- Monitor student progress and provide regular feedback to students on the work they do
- Comply with legal and statutory requirements regarding the workplace
- Provide written feedback on the student’s performance on the completion of the internship
The academic supervisor will provide academic and pastoral support to internship students for the duration of the unit, they will liaise as required with the internship organisation or third party internship provider, and they will provide guidance to students on the assessment tasks connected to the international internship.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is composed of an international internship of 10-12 weeks’ full-time work that is typically undertaken in the semester period. The internship is normally undertaken outside of Australia, to ensure that students complete an extended period of immersion in a different country and culture and have the opportunity to develop and practice a range of important cross-cultural competencies. In exceptional circumstances, students may be allowed to undertake the internship in Australia either as a virtual international internship or as a domestic internship with an appropriate NGO, as approved by the Dean of Arts. These exceptions operate as per section 5.6 of the Academic Regulations.
Central to the internship is the concept of authentic experiential learning: the internship allows students to participate actively in their own learning, gaining and applying knowledge and skills to ‘real world’ work activities and tasks and reflecting through thoughtful analysis on what they have done and how they have done it. Through practice and reflection, students become ‘deep’ learners and develop a range of transferable skills and new understandings (linking ‘new’ and ‘old’ knowledge). Students ‘learn to learn’ on their own (i.e. independent learning) and learn with the help, support and guidance of others (i.e. cooperative learning). Experiential learning opportunities extend beyond the workplace environment: students will also be encouraged to reflect on and learn from the opportunities and challenges linked to living and working in a different culture to their own. Compulsory pre-departure training and briefing modules offered online are designed to help students navigate successfully the transition from domestic student to international intern (including how to recognise and manage culture shock and vicarious trauma) and equip them with the tools to engage in meaningful reflection.
The internship organisation will provide workplace support, instruction and feedback to students throughout the placement as per guarantees made by the organisation (or the third-party internship provider on behalf of that organisation) at the application stage. The nominated academic supervisor will provide academic and pastoral support throughout the unit. Students will undertake a critical reflection as their final assessment task. This reflection is designed to allow students to reflect on the internship/international experience and to compare their internship and international experience with their everyday lives. Students will also be asked to complete a post-experience evaluation that will afford staff the opportunity to identify any issues with the internship itself as well as identify students who may be experiencing symptoms of reverse culture shock or vicarious trauma.
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with ACU assessment requirements. The assessment tasks and their weighting for this unit are designed to demonstrate the achievement of each learning outcome. To pass this unit, students are required to submit and participate in all assessment tasks.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
HURDLE: INTERNSHIP Pre- Internship a) Signed student internship agreement b) Faculty medical consent form indicating approval for travel signed by a qualified medical practitioner (if appropriate) c) Current Working With Children Check (if appropriate) d) Registration of trip details with ACU- recommended emergency service (e.g. International SOS) (if appropriate)
Post Internship a) Satisfactory report from Host Organisation on student’s performance in the Internship b) Internship evaluation | Pass/Fail | LO1 |
Organisational profile and cultural awareness The purpose of the assessment task is to prepare students for working at their host organisation in a new culture. | 25% | LO1, LO2 |
Application of knowledge and skills The purpose of the assessment task is to help students identify how the work that they are doing applies to the knowledge and skills learnt in their course and to demonstrate how they are dealing with challenges they face. | 30% | LO3, LO4 |
Critical reflection The critical reflection enables the student to think holistically about the experience and how it will contribute to their personal, academic and career objectives. | 45% | LO5 |
Representative texts and references
Sides, C.H. and Mrvica, A. 2007. Internships: Theory and Practice. Baywood Publishing Company, Amityville, NY, 166 pp.