ACCESING DRIVING AND RESTARTING FORCES OF STUDENT LEARING THROUGH INTERNSHIP TRAINNING PROGRAMME

Abstract

internship has been viewed as an etTective approach to equip university students with preliminary job knowledge and experiences. Undergraduates during their internship period, get good experiences as well as face some challenges. In this context, this study has explored these phenomena by conducting interviews with graduates, training providers and Intemship Coordinators of Eastern University, Sri Lanka. Therefore. this study aims to explore the driving and restraining forces of students learning through internship training programmed. Further, qualitative approach was undertaken, thirty graduates from Faculty of Arts and Culture, Faculty of Commerce and Management and two Internship Training Coordinators were interviewed from Eastern University, Sri Lanka and five Internship Training Providers were interviewed for this research purpose. Interviewed by using a semi-structured interview method. Collected data were analyzed through Total Interpretive Structure Modeling Analysis, Thematic Analysis and Thematic Content Analysis. According to the findings, driving and restraining forces were observed regarding students learning through internship training programmed of graduates. Researcher found there are driving forces such as personal attitude, parents support, cognitive skill, flexible and good working environment, academic support, link between course and practical aspects in the theory, staff support, ability of communication and leadership skills. At the time there are researcher found restraining forces such as internship duration, lack of personality attitudes, family influence, University support, other professional courses, task unclarity, unexpected situations, lack of soft skills, coordination issue, credit purpose, gap between theory and practical knowledge, handling diversify customers, work setting and payment. The researcher. acknowledges the limitations of the research, in particular, the small sample size, which has resulted primarily in qualitative results being presented. Finally, the researcher proposed some recommendations and frameworks for policy makers to improve the Internship learning of undergraduates in Eastern University, Sri Lanka