AP Internship – Reflective Individual Report and Poster Presentation
This assessment for the AP Internship module is designed to encourage students to critically reflect on their experience in an external learning environment and evaluate how their internship has influenced their knowledge, understanding and professional development. The assessment consists of two components: a Reflective Individual Report worth 80% and a Poster Presentation worth 20%. The module is assessed on a Pass/Fail basis, and students are required to achieve 50% or above to pass. The Reflective Individual Report has a suggested word limit of 3,000 words, with an additional 10% permitted. The report should provide a critical account of the student's internship experience and demonstrate how existing disciplinary knowledge was applied in an unfamiliar professional environment. Students are expected to reflect on their learning, personal development, professional skills and contributions during the placement, supported by appropriate examples and academic literature. The report is structured around four main areas. The first is Finding an Internship, which asks students to explain how they secured their internship, including the criteria considered when selecting an opportunity, the types of organisations approached, the level of proactivity demonstrated during the application process, and recommendations for improving future job applications. The second area is Professional Development Activities, where students reflect on formal training or induction provided by the organisation and additional self-development activities undertaken during the internship. This section can also address the student's role, responsibilities, relationships with colleagues and efforts to integrate positively into the workplace. The largest section is the Progress Report, which brings together the main internship activities and requires students to build a portfolio of the major tasks undertaken during their placement. Students should discuss key activities, personal contributions, skills and knowledge gained, and the development of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills through broader work-based engagement. The final section, Reflection of Learning and Development, requires critical reflection on achievements, contributions, strengths and weaknesses, continuous self-development and employability. Areas include decision making, problem solving, communication and influencing, technical skills, collaboration, innovation and proactivity, together with the relevance of internship activities to the student's programme of study and future career. The second component is a 10-minute Poster Presentation worth 20%. The poster should provide an introduction to the internship and company, showcase key internship activities, and communicate the most important or interesting findings from the internship project. The poster should maintain an appropriate balance between visuals and text and follow the template provided through Blackboard.
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