Experience for Increasing Learning

Greetings again. I hope that all is going well for you.

Well, it happened again.

And again, I wasn’t sure how to react. First I was angry. Then I felt frustrated. Then I was puzzled. But finally, I was pleased.

Let me tell you the story.

My science journalism graduate students commonly do internships as part of their work. In his or her internship, the student receives practical experience under the supervision of an experienced professional. Each student keeps a journal about the experience and prepares a final report.

A while ago, I received a final report in which a student said that she had learned something very useful in her internship. When I read what it was, I saw that it was something that had been in the students’ reading and that we had discussed in class.

More recently, another student reported some useful learning from the internship. Again, it was something that had already come up in the reading and class discussion.

In each case, I initially thought that something was wrong. Did the students have trouble remembering? Was I a bad teacher?

Finally, I realized that things probably were happening as they should. Students cannot remember everything from their courses. By providing a practical context, internships and related experiences help students complete their learning.

Perhaps this point should be kept in mind as we try to help others improve their research communication skills—and as we try to improve our own such skills.

Until the next post,

Barbara