Report of an educational psychology internship at College of the North Atlantic including a research report on the transition experience of reentry versus early entry first year female college students

摘要

This report provides an overview of an educational psychology internship at the College of the North Atlantic. The placement component includes a description of the internship setting, specific goals and objectives, a description of the internship activities, as well as the intern's personal reflections on the internship experiences. The research component focuses on the transition experience of older, “reentry female college students as compared to more traditional age, early entry female college students as they complete the first year of their program. Anticipated differences between reentry and early entry students in their reasons for entering college, the personal and institutional barriers they experienced in making the transition, and the supports they received throughout the transition, were not supported by the research findings. However, concerns were raised regarding the high numbers of students in both groups that had considered dropping out of their college program, as well as the high numbers that worried about competition with other students. Recommendations and suggestions for future research are included.