Crafting Opportunities: Establishing a Micro-Internship Program for Computing Students
This program is tentative and subject to change.
Prior research has shown that internships are “high impact practices” that help undergraduate students in computing cultivate valuable skills while offering them practical insight into the computing industry. The aim of our study was to gain an understanding of undergraduate computing students’ perceptions of a three-week micro-internship (called a “Sprinternship”) program. We sought to explore their experiences throughout its duration, which included a priori professional and technical development training. The methodology of phenomenography was applied, including semi-structured interviews with n = 27 students and taking the developmental approach to the analysis. We noted cognitive and affective factors, as well as career goals, often influenced students’ views of the experience. We share the six categories of description that emerged from the analysis and provide the implications. The findings of this investigation can offer guidance for educators and administrators looking to create similar opportunities.