Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 47(1): January 2021 anonymous online survey sent to a wider pool of for- mer URI interns with the intent of both confirming and expanding on themes identified in the interviews. In addition to these direct responses from participants of URI’s internship programs, we also reviewed URI internal monitoring data, studied archival video foot- age of conversations with former interns, and drew from firsthand experience of the URI internship pro- gram. By collating data from these various sources and perspectives, we sought to capture the most comprehen- sive snapshot of URI’s programming. Data Collection and Analysis Interviews We conducted semi-structured interviews with cur- rent graduate student interns and staff from URI’s urban forestry clinical training programs to uncover core competencies and unique learning outcomes. Interview subjects were asked about their profes- sional background and interests as well as how their experiences as URI interns contributed to their pro- fessional development as urban foresters or other- wise. Interviewees were also asked to describe the most important skills and experiences they gained during their internship as well as where the program may have fallen short. They chose to either provide in-person interviews or respond to interview ques- tions by email. In total, nine in-person semi-structured interviews were conducted with current students (6), current staff (2), and former staff (1). Additionally, archival video footage taken in 2009 of interviews with former URI interns was transcribed and included in the interview analysis (Urban Resources Initiative 2009). These interviewees (15 in total) rep- resented professionals from a range of fields related to urban forestry, including academia and research (6), municipal urban forestry and natural resource manage- ment (4), nonprofit urban forestry and greening (2), international conservation (1), community development (1), K–12 education (1), and renewable energy (1). All interviews were analyzed for patterns and over- arching themes using an open-coded system (Creswell 2013). Interview responses that referenced particular skills or learning outcomes related to urban forestry were coded according to a corresponding core compe- tency theme, as adapted (with some modifications) from Baumeister (2014). These included (1) Arbori- culture, Operations, and Urban Forestry Management; (2) Community Engagement; (3) Environmental 39 Education and Youth; (4) Environmental Sciences and Urban Ecology; (5) Planning, Design, and Aes- thetics; (6) Professional Skills; and (7) Social Forestry. Survey After conducting a preliminary analysis of interview responses, we next distributed a wider-reaching, anon- ymous Internet survey to former URI interns. We sought to confirm emerging patterns regarding the unique learning outcomes that interns were reporting. We also hoped to better understand which skills former URI interns were using most often in their professional careers and identify any opportunities for program improvements. Respondents were former URI interns who were contacted through an internal email database of pro- gram alumni. The survey was administered online via Google Forms. A total of 223 former interns were asked to participate with an initial email and three follow-up emails. Of the original 282 recipient addresses, 69 were rejected due to out-of-date records. The online questionnaire (see Appendix 1) included a mix of checklist-style and open-ended questions. Respondents were asked to indicate and describe the skills and competencies they had developed as URI interns. They were also asked to identify skills they did not develop as interns as well as to provide feed- back on possible areas for program improvement. Open-ended responses were coded by common themes, as described above in the “Interviews” section (Cre- swell 2013). Historical Documents: Urban Issues Archives To further explore and confirm trends in the survey and interview responses, we screened and coded arti- cles in Urban Issues, URI’s semiannual newsletter, for articles that explicitly referenced student learning outcomes. Urban Issues provides a forum for stu- dents to write articles reflecting on their internship experiences. We screened these archived issues for articles that explicitly referenced student learning outcomes, and with the resulting 24 newsletter arti- cles, we coded each piece as described above in the “Interviews” section (Creswell 2013). Excerpts from these articles can be found in Appendix 2. RESULTS Survey Summary Statistics In total, 56 URI alumni completed the online survey (25% response rate). Eight respondents had been ©2021 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2021
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