The Impact of an Internship Program on Understanding Human-Centered Design and Development of Its Mindsets

• In Event: Instructional Strategies and Tools to Support Learning Process

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand how an 8-week summer internship program impacted the interns’ understanding of human-centered design and the development of its mindsets. All the program activities were performed virtually due to the COVID 19 pandemic and they aimed at engaging interns in authentic design projects that matches their majors or interest. Using mixed methods evaluation design we collected and analyzed interns’ responses to questionnaires, reflection prompts, and post semi-structured interviews. Findings from this study indicated that this HCD-focused internship positively impacted students’ understanding of HCD and their development of mindsets; they also pointed at the complexity of the HCD processes and mindsets and the role of individual factors in interns’ performance during the internship.

Authors

• Saadeddine S. Shehab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Alissa G. Irvin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Mike Tissenbaum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign