Research on School Experiences that Facilitate Proactive Behavior in Practicum

Abstract

This study investigates the influences of the students’ internships and practicums（practical experiences）on formations of proactive behaviors at universities and special training colleges. Regarding the group of 144 students with practical experiences and the other group of 101 students with internship experiences, we applied the path analysis（multi-group analysis）to examine the influence of practical experience contents, coursework experiences, and extracurricular activity experiences on proactive behaviors. Results of analyses clarify that, not only the contents of the practical experiences, but other factors such as preparative studies for practical experiences and learning about career models also positively influenced proactive behaviors through practical experiences in both groups. Based on these findings, we discussed implications for improving the effectiveness of internships and practicums positively.