Faculty Syllabus

BITC 2486

Informal internship experience where students are closely supervised under a mentor and apply their entry level knowledge and training in a bioscience laboratory. The experience may be internal to the college where the student works on independent projects such as assisting in classroom laboratory preparation or protocol development under the supervision of an ACC instructor. Or the experience can be external to the college, where the student is mentored and supervised by a workplace employee. This may be paid or unpaid experience.

I.               Grading Criteria

The following is the grading rubric for the Internship course.  Note that all points are given for the evaluations, assignments and reports; there are no tests for this course.  The course grade will be based on points earned:  Divide total points by 10 to obtain your percent grade. Letter grades are assigned as follows: 90-100% = A;   80-89% = B;   70-79% = C;   60-69% = D;   below 60% = F

Student Evaluations by Mentor (200 points). 

The student must provide the industry mentor with a Student Evaluation form. The mentor will complete the form and share with the student in a face-to-face meeting if possible. The mentor may also use their own company evaluation. Take this as an opportunity to practice hearing feedback and responding appropriately. You will not be faulted for any improvements needed, but for not responding to the feedback given.  The student should be evaluated by the mentor at least two times during the semester. Upload final evaluation to Blackboard.

Final Resume (100 points)

Update your resume with your internship experience. Upload a PDF of your final polished resume.

Attendance Logs (100 points)

Record in the daily log the dates and times you worked and request your mentor’s signature on a weekly basis. Alternatively, you may submit copies of your timesheets. Some of you have started your internships early – unfortunately you cannot bank hours. Only hours that fall between the semester’s start and end date are counted for the internship hours. This is an entire semester commitment, you may not quit without discussing with your instructor first. Scan and upload attendance logs to blackboard.

Final Paper, Presentation or Poster (600 points)

Work with your mentor and instructor to determine what method of final presentation is appropriate for your internship experience. For example, you may be performing research and have written and submitted a final paper for publication, or prepared a poster for a conference, or presented your research at a department meeting. Please determine what method you will use by mid-way of the semester during your mid-way evaluation. 

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) Use Policy

You may use approved GAI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) for brainstorming, drafting, editing, coding help, and language support, as long as you verify all information, acknowledge AI use, and ensure the final work reflects your own thinking. Do not use GAI to create work for graded assignments without permission, fabricate data or sources, or enter confidential information. You are responsible for the accuracy and ethical use of all AI-assisted work.

There are no required texts for this internship. However, you may be expected to refer to previous biotech course material and apply them in a workforce setting. 

Instructional Methodology

This is an informal internship experience where the student may apply both soft skills and technical skills in a biosciences workplace. The student may work in a biosciences lab at ACC or outside of ACC. During the first week of the class the interns will meet in the classroom to discuss course policies and review the syllabus. There is one additional meeting at the end of the semester for final presentation and poster session. The remaining meeting times and places will be determined by the student and mentor.

Course Rationale

This course is designed to help you to apply the entry-level academic and technical competencies that you have learned in the classroom to real world problems. This may be in research project, or a technical job such as sample testing, or general lab maintenance. You will also develop the employability skills that will assist you in your chosen field such as team work, research, dependability and resourcefulness. 

Course Objectives & Outcomes BITC 2486 Internships

By the end of the course the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate employability skills; including safely and competently working in a biosciences lab
• Demonstrate the academic and technical competencies of the position
• Maintain positive relations with others through teamwork
• Maintain a work notebook, and/or prepare a presentation or poster describing the internship

The competency outcomes for this course reflect skills necessary in the biotechnology workforce, which emphasize communication skills, punctuality, and teamwork in addition to biotechnology skills. The State of Texas has adopted the Washington Skill Standards for Biotechnology. The ACC Biotechnology Program has formally adopted these standards and is recognized by the Texas Skill Standards Board. Our TSSB certification is posted here: http://www.tssb.org/ctc/acc.  Each core course in the Biotechnology Program fulfills a specific set of skill standards. BITC 2486 (Internal internship) or BITC 1471 Undergraduate Research are not core courses, however, based on the required activities in those courses, they both help the student master the following skill standards.