Applied Purpose Science Research Internship 100% Remote

APPLIED PURPOSE SCIENCE RESEARCH LAB INTERNSHIP

Qualitative Study of How Students Use AI

Academic Credit Eligible

The Qualitative Research Internship offers undergraduate and graduate students a unique opportunity to explore how students are currently using artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily lives, learning, creativity, and decision-making—through the lens of purpose, identity, and human development.

Building on the Lab’s mission to study how people connect to purpose across life stages and contexts, this internship centers on a foundational research question:

How are students actually using AI today—and how does that use shape their sense of voice, agency, learning, and purpose?

Rather than focusing on technical development or coding, this internship emphasizes human-centered qualitative research, reflective inquiry, and ethical understanding. Students examine AI use as a lived experience, grounded in real stories, behaviors, and meaning-making processes.

Learning Goals

By the end of the internship, students will understand AI not as a technical system, but as a social and psychological tool shaping how students think, learn, reflect, and express themselves.

Participants will:

Develop foundational skills in qualitative research methods, including interviews, focus groups, reflective journaling, and thematic analysis

Examine how students use AI for learning, organization, creativity, emotional support, and reflection

Analyze how AI use intersects with purpose, identity, voice, and well-being

Practice ethical inquiry, cultural humility, and responsible research with human participants

Articulate their emerging identity as a purpose-driven researcher

Students will connect their own lived experiences with AI to broader social patterns, learning how personal narratives inform rigorous research questions.

Internship Structure (8–12 Weeks)

Phase 1: Purpose, Identity, and AI in Everyday Life

Students begin by reflecting on their own experiences with AI and reviewing existing research on student AI use. Emphasis is placed on positionality, ethics, and the role of purpose in inquiry.

Phase 2: Qualitative Data Collection

Students design and conduct qualitative research activities such as:

Semi-structured interviews with students

Focus groups or listening sessions

Reflective prompts and narrative data collection

They learn how to listen for meaning, not just usage patterns.

Phase 3: Analysis and Meaning-Making

Students engage in coding and thematic analysis, identifying patterns related to:

Agency and autonomy

Learning and motivation

Creativity and expression

Stress, overwhelm, and clarity

Purpose and future orientation

Phase 4: Purpose-Based Research Artifact

Each student produces a Qualitative Purpose Research Brief, which may include:

A thematic report

A narrative synthesis

A student-centered insight guide

A contribution to the Applied Purpose Science Research Library

The internship culminates in a Purpose Research Reflection, articulating how the student’s understanding of AI, research, and purpose has evolved.

Participation & Alignment

Students may participate for academic credit, volunteer service, or through Voice Up University, with all pathways receiving the same level of mentorship and access, consistent with the internship structure described in the provided template .

This internship aligns with:

Qualitative research competencies across social sciences

Ethical research standards involving human subjects

Emerging national conversations on AI, youth, and education

Purpose development and identity formation literature

It supports early pipeline development for future researchers, educators, policy analysts, designers, psychologists, sociologists, and human-centered technologists.

How Voice Up Connects People to Purpose

Voice Up helps people connect to purpose through a blend of reflective practices, mentoring, community engagement, and applied challenges. Participants explore questions like:

What experiences shaped me—and what do they reveal about what I care about?

What problems or needs do I feel pulled toward, and why?

What strengths, skills, and values do I want to bring into the world?

What does contribution look like for me right now—not someday, but now?

Instead of treating identity and purpose as abstract ideas, Voice Up makes them practical. People learn how to translate what matters to them into a plan for action—whether that action is a small step in their community, a project, a career direction, a research question, or a new way of showing up for others.