3.1. The internship
Within our demand-driven educational programme, students have to deal with (external) employers on several occasions. However, this is the first time that they will carry out an external project (as a life performance) at a company and act in the context of an authentic, professional work field. The internship takes place at the company during the fifth semester of the programme, which takes place in the first half of the third year and has a duration of 90 business days (18 weeks of five business days).
The internship assignment
The internship assignment must correspond with the study programme of the student (see section 2) and must contain sufficient research components by which the student has to demonstrate his/her skills in working methodically (see section 4). Assignments, directly related to a commercial client with fixed requirements and/or deadlines are not permitted.
An intern must be able to carry out the internship project independently but obviously under the necessary supervision of the company supervisor. That is why so -called “shadow internships” in which the student does not carry out an assignment independently, are not permitted. The internship project must, by far, form the main component of work activities of the intern. Other work activities (such as routine work) outside of the immediate internship project must be of a minimal scale (a maximum of 0.1 FTE).
Completion of an internship
Upon completion of the internship the student presents his or her project to the company. The formal conclusion and assessment takes place at the university with two assessors (Fontys ICT instructors, the first being the student supervisor) who determine the final grade.
When assessing not only the portfoilio is considered, but also the (quality of the) work, the presentation and the defense at school. The assessment form comprises both criteria for ICT competences, like analysis, design and realisation, but also criteria about written and oral communication, research and learning capacity.