Ball State alumna, Niki Fitzgerald, said she would not be as successful as she is today without the first-hand experiences she got while participating in an immersive learning project.
During the project, Fitzgerald was able to help people in the community, which influenced her decision to switch from a teaching focus. Through Fitzgerald’s current job at the Muncie YMCA, she was granted the opportunity to be an international businesswoman for the YWCA in New Delhi, India.
She said she sees the value of Ball State students being “great contributors and great humans that can make an impact,” because she was once in their shoes.
“Because [professors] taught me so well in my projects, I am able to hold these positions that I hold now,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s how I learned it – my immersive-learning and my out-of-the-classroom, hands-on experiences. That is what made me the good professional I am today.”
Immersive learning programs and internships have similar benefits, such as preparing students for the workforce.
According to a graphic on internships.com, 63 percent of people who were hired in 2012 had at least one internship.
Brian Hayes, a journalism instructor and workshop director, also serves as the journalism internship coordinator.
As a part of their graduation requirements, journalism students are required to do an internship in their field of study.
Hayes said students have to submit weekly updates while doing the internship, write a final evaluation of the “good, bad and ugly” of the internship and create an online portfolio.
Although not all majors at Ball State are required to do internships like the journalism department, it is still encouraged by all faculty.
“It gives you an opportunity to practice the skills and put in place the knowledge you've been learning in the classroom in a real-world environment,” Hayes said.
Hayes said that the faculty hopes all Ball State students complete an internship in order to “have a very robust experience.”
Although Hayes said students could get similar skill sets from both internships and immersive learning, internships are individual efforts while immersive learning is team-based. He said they both have “vastly different” experiences.
“I truly believe it’s vital … to go out to a business and work in that business environment and get that hands-on, practical experience of what it’s like working a day-to-day job in their career area,” Hayes said. “I don’t think there’s a replacement for that. For great as immersive learning is, it still doesn’t give students that opportunity.”
Jennifer Blackmer, director of immersive learning, said the differences between internships and immersive learning are internships are company-directed and involve one student helping as an employee, while immersive-learning projects are “true collaborations between the university and the partner with equal stakes in the outcomes.”
Blackmer said she does not have a preference for internships or immersive learning, because they both provide good opportunities for students.
“They both have their merits, depending on the situation,” Blackmer said. “In my opinion, immersive learning is a great experience you can only get in college. An internship is a great bridge between college and the first foray into the work force.”
She said immersive learning is more beneficial than class work because it teaches students soft skills such as how to communicate, collaborate and develop problem-solving skills.
“In addition, since they work with a partner on a real issue, there are real stakes — it isn’t theoretical like a class project,” Blackmer said.
Joshua Dudley, a sophomore telecommunications major, is doing an immersive learning project this semester, partnering with Aw Yeah Comics in Muncie to look at the representation of religion in comics.
Dudley said this project “goes hand in hand” with his major because he specializes in digital production and emerging media. His work with adobe products, and collaboration with the photojournalism student in his class, helps him practice for his career. Dudley has even had the opportunity to work with notable comic artists.
“I would compare this to an internship, but more in depth,” Dudley said. “It’s much more immersive. Teammates are there to collaborate with you to help you create one final product for the seminar.”
Dudley said he would recommend doing an immersive learning seminar because it helped him learn the skills needed to do an internship.
“I would not have known what I was doing if I did an internship first,” Dudley said.
Tatyana Briscoe, a sophomore nursing major, is not currently doing an internship or immersive-learning project.
However, she said the nursing program is hands-on and it helps teach her basic skills she will need in the future, like learning how to work with actual patients by operating on dummies.
A part of her program is to work with an agency, such as a hospital, which has similar qualities to an internship and immersive learning.
“Doing it hands-on is a little more effective and helps you remember, and it’s more in your mind,” Briscoe said. “The experience makes you feel more like a nurse. You will kind of care about it more.”
Gaining work experience early allows students to learn the skills and experience that would make them stand out more to potential employers and help them ensure they are going into the right field, according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
“Without those projects, I wouldn’t have the experience to be hired,” Fitzgerald said.
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