Practical Internship

Course

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/B_PRACINTERN

Course Objective

During the practical internship, students will gain experience in working as a human movement scientist at a professional organization. Prior to the internship, students are required to formulate their own learning goals on which they need to reflect at the end of their internship. A central aspect of the internship is to objectively analyse the work performed by the student. E.g.: if data was collected to answer a certain question, the student is expected to analyse this data using statistically sound methods and to draw conclusions accordingly. If the student was asked to (help) develop a testing protocol; the student is expected to critically reflect on this protocol with the aid of relevant scientific literature and to provide recommendations when applicable.

Course Content

Practical internships can take place at companies, institutes or organizations. Therefore, there can be considerable differences regarding the content of the internship. The student is expected to become familiar with the activities within the company, institute or organization, as well as to gain insight into the role of their assigned department within the organization. This includes evaluating which aspects of human movement sciences are applied within the department and which aspects could be applied in the future. In many instances the student will perform measurements or assist with measurements. The measurements may involve physiological measurements concerning for instance maximal oxygen uptake or heart rate, or video analyses of game situations, performance measurements such as basketball shot percentages etc. etc. The work you will be doing should allow you to apply your knowledge and skills acquired during your study of Human Movement Sciences so far. E.g. shooting video's of training sessions in hockey generally will not qualify as a suitable internship, whilst aiding in the analysis of training video's would qualify (in which case, shooting of video's may still be done by you).

Teaching Methods

Students will perform the internship on an individual basis or together with other students (in which case an individually written report is still expected). The internship must be supervised by a staff member of the department of human movement sciences and by a supervisor within the organization in which the internship is performed. The faculty staff member is responsible for approving the written assignment and final proposal as well as for the final formal assessment. The supervisor within the organization is responsible for the daily supervision. You are responsible for finding a suitable supervisor within HMS.

Method of Assessment

Both the students performance at the organization and the final report will be assessed. The assessment for performance during the practical internship and the assessment of the internship report must both be marked with a pass (5.5 or higher). The final score for the internship is a weighted average of the mark for performance during the internship (40%) and the mark of the internship report (60%). The HMS staff member is responsible for determining the mark for the internship and the overall final score. Note that in general, external supervisors are not allowed to grade the work. Instead, HMS supervisors are expected to consult the external supervisor(s) before formalizing the final grade.

Additional Information

FINANCIAL COMPENSATIONS For most of the internships, there is no financial compensation. Financial compensation is not forbidden, but, to prevent any potential conflicts of interest, students are required to inform their daily supervisor in the case the organization does provide any form of financial compensation. COMBINING YOUR PRACTICAL INTERNSHIP WITH A MASTER RESEARCH PROJECT In some instances, it might be appropriate to perform your practical internship at the same organization as your master research project (MRP). This is possible under the condition that the work that you perform for your practical internship is sufficiently distinct from the work that you perform for your MRP. This includes data collection, data analysis, and reporting. Your practical internship thus cannot act as a mere extension of your MRP. Whether or not the work you will be performing for both proposed projects is sufficiently distinct from one another is at the discretion of both your internal (HMS) practical internship supervisor and your MRP supervisor, so make sure that your supervisor(s) agree before you start with your projects. Note that if you fail to do so, you will run the risk of having the “practical part” of your work not being recognized as a practical internship, and therefore missing out on 6 ECTS! Some organizations actively advertise with the possibility of combining your practical internship with a research internship. While this may provide a great opportunity to further enhance your skills and knowledge in a topic of your interest, performing your MRP at an external organization is only possible if the above conditions have been met and if a staff member at the VU has agreed to supervise your MRP and has provided full approval of the intended MRP in advance. In most cases this implies you have a research proposal approved by your MRP supervisor at the VU. PRACTICAL INTERNSHIPS WITH EXTENDED DURATION Some organizations require students to be present for a period of time much longer than the intended 168 hours (6 ECTS). It is the students responsibility to agree with this or not, but generally, such internships are not endorsed by the VU, particularly not if a combination with a MRP is not possible.

Entry Requirements

Students participating in the practical internship should have successfully finished the Bachelor or Pre-Master of Human Movement Sciences, or an equivalent education.

Explanation Canvas

New possibilities for internships will regularly be published on the CANVAS page. Alternatively, you can propose an internship yourself. In this case, you need to write a proposal in which you describe the organization and the nature of the work you will be performing at the organization. The decision whether or not your proposal is eligible for an internship lies with the HMS supervisor. Internships should be in line with the course objectives described above.
Academic year1/09/2431/08/25
Course level6.00 EC

Language of Tuition

  • English

Study type

  • Master