As rewarding and successful as the internship experience is, there are still associated challenges. When starting the program, we had numerous experiences with highly interesting and engaging tours, activities, lectures, and demonstrations. From these experiences, there was an abundance of information to absorb and process. At the same time of processing and reflecting on this information, we have had to develop lesson plans revolving around this information. This has been a challenge due to the overwhelming amount of new knowledge and tools we have at our disposal. Not a bad challenge though, it just takes time to go through all of the ideas.

In addition to sorting out the abundance of ideas, it has been a challenge developing the lessons knowing that we are using 100% of the tools and knowledge correctly. As we develop the lessons, there is repeated checking and clarifying that terms are being used appropriately and the tools being utilized are applicable in industry. This is required if we want to make sure our lessons prepare students for real-world applications of current tools and knowledge.

Successes are a huge aspect of the internship. The lesson plans being developed (while challenging doing so) are successfully coming together and will be a positive application in the classroom as they are further refined. In addition to the development of lessons, the gain of knowledge and experiences that can be used in the classroom is a huge success as well. One of the more difficult things as a teacher is keeping examples and tools current with what is being used in industry. By successfully job shadowing researchers, we are able to provide students with up-to-date examples of what they can experience in their futures.