Dr. Miserandino Publishes Chapter on Psychology’s Internship Program

By Caitlin Burns | September 17, 2020
Arcadia University professor Marianne Miserandino

By Katherine Haines ’21

Dr. Marianne Miserandino, chair and professor of Psychology, authored a chapter in the book, High Impact Educational Practices: A Review of Best Practices with Illustrative Examples, published by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. 

Dr. Miserandino wrote Chapter 35, “Internships: The Example of Arcadia University,” which highlights Arcadia’s undergraduate internship program in the Psychology Department as part of the senior seminar. The senior seminar in the Psychology Department is one of the oldest at Arcadia University, launching in 1963. It requires students to, in addition to completing a written thesis, also participate in an internship, which can be a research project with a faculty member or work with a local agency or organization.

“Teaching senior seminar and watching students rise to, and grow from, the challenge of working with real people in community settings has been a highlight of my teaching career,” said Dr. Miserandino. “The best successes are when students are hired by their internship site or land admission to graduate programs based on their newly developed skills, transferable skills, work experience, and new-found confidence as young professionals in psychology from their internship experience. 

High Impact Educational Practices is a compilation of chapters each written by different scholars in the teaching and learning fields. Each section and subsequent chapters outline eleven high impact practices (HIP) that have been shown to increase student connection and retention.

The book describes each of the HIP, then gives examples of how to implement it with suggestions and resources that can be utilized by an educator.