Learning & Teaching

Title of case study	Surfacing skills… in reflection on experiential learning
School/Subject:	School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health / Sport and Exercise Science
Lecturer(s):	Nairn Scobie
Course:	Life Sciences Internship Honours Project
Student Level:	Level 4 (SCQF Level 10)
Cass size:	Dependent on successful application
Location:	Various locations throughout Scotland and overseas

Brief summary

When students reach their honours year, they have a choice of the type of project they wish to undertake. It can be either outreach, investigative, dissertation or internship. The internship project allows Sport and Exercise Science students to gain applied work experience in either a professional sport or public health setting. 

Crucially, it also provides structured opportunities for students to reflect on how they develop and apply future skills, such as communication, adaptability and relationship-building through experiential learning. 

Objectives

The main aims of the internship project in terms of reflection are to: 

• provide opportunities for students to identify and reflect on future skills in Sport and Exercise Science.  

• support students to translate skills gained into future employability contexts (e.g. interviews, applications). 

• help students to explain the skills they have developed and how these experiences shape them as future professionals, i.e. their professional identity 

The primary aim of the internship is to generate data and facilitate knowledge transfer. This data will be used by the host organisation to help support athletes/participants performance and well-being, as well as being utilised by the student to fulfil assessment requirements. 

What is done? 

Internship placements are advertised to those wishing to be considered for one at the end of their 3rd year. Students then submit a CV and a cover letter for their favoured placements. These are passed on to the internship host and an interview process takes place.  Through CV, cover letter and interview preparation, students critically assess their strengths, identify skill gaps and reflect on how their abilities align with placement expectations. They are supported by staff and resources from the Careers, Employability & Opportunity.  

Successful students will generally be placed within a sports science support team and learn key skills on how to work in this applied environment. Placements tend to take place during semester 1 (minimum 3 days per week on placement for 10 weeks) but can be out of term time also.  

Whilst on placement they may carry out a research project or have access to data that will be used for the various assessments on this project: portfolio report, structured interview and presentation. During placement, students may complete a research project or work with available data, which they then use for their assessments: a portfolio report, a structured interview, and a presentation The portfolio report allows students to curate evidence of skills and reflect on their growth across the placement. The structured interview allows students to articulate deeper learning and make explicit connections between their experiences and future skills and the presentation is a chance to showcase their skills and for others to ask questions.  

What works well?

1. The process of securing a placement: 

• This was designed to be a ‘real-world’ experience where students will need to consider the content of their CV, compose a cover letter and then prepare for an interview. Applying for an internship requires students to understand their skills and then be able to communicate these to prospective placement hosts through the application process. This experience pushes students to step up and reflect honestly on their skills and areas for development. For many, the competitive process is a wake-up call, an eye-opening reminder that they need to raise their game and take ownership of their development. 

• Students can also try to secure their own internship placements. This requires them to research potential host organisations and consider how their skills and knowledge will fit into that environment.  

2. Assessment of the internship project: 

• The portfolio report (aka dissertation). The final report submitted for assessment differs from traditional report writing. The portfolio style report allows students to showcase how they developed specific future skills in practise. As part of the report, students provide a critical reflection of their time on placement, e.g. problems faced and how they were overcome, how their active learning has helped understanding, etc. They are given prompt reflection questions which are outlined in the life sciences project CID. The report is worth 70% of the total grade, and within that, 15% is allocated to the critical reflection. 

• The 30-minute structured interview with two academics - allows students to reflect on the deeper learning and skills gained during placement. It is the main way students uncover hidden learning and begin to see themselves as professionals. Interview questions explore areas such as testing techniques, reliability and validity and data interpretation in organisational contexts (e.g., How did you ensure the reliability of your findings? What challenges did you face when applying testing techniques? How might your analysed data influence decision-making in the host organisation?). The interview counts for 10% of the overall project grade.” 

• A 10-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions, delivered in front of peers, academics and an external examiner. This component is worth 20% of the overall grade. In addition, a member of the Careers & Employability team t will ask skills-related questions to prompt students to reflect on their employability and professional development. (How did you adapt to challenges in the workplace? What skills will you prioritise for future career goals?) 

3. Enhanced employability: Many students are invited to continue their placement into the second semester and beyond. They recognise that staying in the role helps them build confidence, develop additional skills and gain a deeper understanding of applied Sports Science in practice. As a result, a significant number of secure full-time positions in Sports Science after completing their internship project, demonstrating the strong value this experience holds for employers. 

Benefits

Student benefit

Below are testimonials from students who completed an internship project, showcasing their reflections on the experience: 

1) This internship gave me unique exposure to the research design process within the sports industry, including participant recruitment, adaptability in response to constraints around time and athlete availability and the critical role trust plays in researcher-athlete relationships. I gained first-hand experience in designing hypothesis-driven research that accounted for athlete availability, fatigue levels and scheduling demands. This required simplified communication, an impact-specific value proposition, effective time management and flexibility to adapt to their schedules.  

Through these experiences, I developed critical skills, learning how to establish credibility and build trust in an elite sports environment. I enhanced my ability to communicate complex scientific concepts clearly and simply, both verbally and through writing, to successfully recruit the athletes and create an accessible educational resource, respectively. Additionally, I gained a first-hand awareness of the influence of biopsychosocial factors have on performance. Through comprehensive physical testing and education initiatives, I had the opportunity to apply scientific principles directly, with the ultimate goal of improving athletic performance beyond the theoretical and localised in-lab level.  (internship completed with Scottish Ballet) 

2) This internship enabled me to develop a range of technical and professional skills that could only have been acquired in an elite applied setting. I became proficient in the use of GPS monitoring systems and developed a practical understanding of data cleaning, analysis and reporting procedures under real-time constraints. I also gained experience presenting performance insights to coaches and adapting the communication of scientific concepts to suit both technical and non-technical audiences. In addition, working within the cultural context of Spanish football taught me to adapt quickly, develop strong interpersonal relationships and better understand how sports science is embedded within different footballing philosophies. 

The internship significantly enriched my understanding of applied sport and exercise science, particularly in the areas of load management, performance testing and the integration of objective data with player feedback and coach expectations. Observing the day-to-day operations highlighted how scientific methods are adapted to fit practical environments, reinforcing the value of context when applying theoretical knowledge. (internship completed at Sevilla football club, an elite European club) 

Staff benefit

Watching students grow in confidence and expand their knowledge during placements is a genuinely rewarding experience for staff. Many of the skills students gain in these settings simply cannot be replicated in the classroom, making internships an invaluable way to develop essential future skills. Each placement also provides supervising staff with the opportunity to share their expertise with the host organisation, while deepening their own applied understanding and considering how to embed future skills into the curriculum. Importantly, many internship graduates go on to secure roles in applied sports science, demonstrating the lasting impact of the skills they acquire. 

Challenges            

The main challenge for the internship programme coordinator is sustaining strong relationships with multiple host organisations to ensure placements are available for students year after year. Currently, partnerships are maintained with around 25 hosts. Internships are the most popular project choice for Sport and Exercise Science students in their honours year and are a major attraction of the degree. As a result, the academic workload involved in managing the programme is substantial, with approximately 60–70% of the cohort undertaking an internship each year.

A further challenge has been to encourage other courses to adopt the internship project. To date, Microbiology and Anatomy also offer internships. 

The main challenge for students is obtaining a placement. With so many students wishing to take this type of project, competition is fierce reflecting the reality of applying for sports science roles after graduation.  Another difficulty lies in articulating their skills when applying. Many students struggle to recognise the skills they have developed, to translate technical or academic experiences into professional language or to provide concrete examples of their abilities. This highlights the importance of integrating reflective practice into placements, helping students build confidence in identifying, evidencing and communicating their skills. 

What did you learn?

That providing experiential learning for students is not just about acquiring future or disciplinary skills but also how to recognise and communicate them. The reflection part is the bridge between experiential learning and employability.    

Lastly this opportunity is vital for enhancing their chances of employment in sport and exercise science roles after graduation. As mentioned in the student testimonials, many of the skills they obtain on placement are very difficult to ‘teach’ effectively in a classroom environment. The active learning that takes place whilst on placement is invaluable to them. 

What advice would you give to others?

My advice to colleagues thinking about introducing internship projects for their students is simple: do it! We must recognise that not everything students need for the workplace can be taught in the classroom.  

It’s important to build in structured reflection points throughout the internship, such as portfolios, interviews, presentations or debriefs to help students make sense of their experiences and articulate their learning. 

Finally, I strongly recommend staying in touch with your graduates. Many of our sport and exercise science internships are supported by alumni who once completed internships themselves. This network not only makes it easier to secure placements but also strengthens long-term relationships with host organisations.