The Impact of a Career Course on Retention
and Academic Performance (Technical Report 34)[1]
By
Byron Folsom, Ed.D.
Gary W. Peterson, Ph.D.
Robert C. Reardon, Ph.D.
Barbara A. Mann, Ph.D.
Career Center
UCA 4150
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2490
http://www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter
April 1, 2002
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A credit career development course
has been offered at Florida State University for approximately 25 years. A
study, completed in 2000, assessed course effects on the following student
outcomes: 1) retention to graduation, 2) time taken to graduate, 3) the number
of credit hours taken to graduate, 4) the number of course withdrawals executed
by students, and 5) academic success as indicated by cumulative GPA at
graduation.
An ex post facto
design examined outcomes among students who completed the course between
1989-1990 and 1993-1994 (n = 544). A
comparison sample of non-course participants was evaluated based on the same
outcome variables (n = 544). The two groups were matched based on gender, race,
and high school grade point average (GPA). The variance attributed to academic
aptitude (SAT score), year in school, and initial year of matriculation were
partitioned and thus controlled through covariance. We compared outcome
variables for the two groups based on registrar data as of fall 1999. (Note:
the Registrar’s database uses the period of continuous enrollment prior to
graduation to calculate summary credit hours, which is why some subjects showed
graduation hours average less than 120.)
We found the following:
·
Course
participants graduated at a rate of 81% compared to a rate of 69% for the
general population of students.
·
Course
participants graduated with an average of 110 credit hours compared to 132 for
the general population.
·
Course
participants executed slightly less course
withdrawals than nonparticipants (.84 compared to .97) a statistically
but not practically significant difference)
·
Female
course participants graduated on average in 50 months, while female
nonparticipants took an average of 61 months (a statistically and practically
significant difference).
·
Male
participants in the course executed less course withdrawals on average (.88)
than did male nonparticipants (1.22).
This difference was statistically, but not practically significant.
These findings indicate that this
career development course may positively affect students in ways that support
University objectives of student efficiency in pursuit of degrees. The course appears to affect gender groups
differently. These indications should be further investigated through
replication of the study. Further, this
evaluation model may be useful with other applications such as evaluation of
student outcomes relative to the FYE course or the FSU online Career Portfolio
program.
Student academic performance, time taken to
graduate, and retention rates continue to concern college administrators,
faculty, state legislatures, and even governors. For example, Florida Governor
Jeb Bush recently noted that it costs millions of dollars annually to educate
the large number of full-time students who fail to graduate in four years, and
reducing this number should be a primary goal for each university’s trustees
(Spencer, 2001). This study sought to examine the premise that a semester-long
career-planning course taken for academic credit may be an effective
intervention program to address these concerns.
Career courses have a long and interesting history in
higher education. One of the earliest comprehensive career courses titled
“Vocational Planning” was offered in the General College at the University of
Minnesota in 1932 (Borow, 1960). Career courses in higher education became more
prevalent in the decades following the 1930s. As of the early1960s, 33 higher
education institutions were offering full academic credit career courses
(Carter & Hoppock, 1961). In a related report, Calvert et al. (1964)
estimated that over 100 two- and four-year colleges were providing
career-related courses.
A survey of 458 colleges and universities conducted in
the late 1970s sought information about the role and function of career
services and found that career planning courses were offered at approximately
29% (87 of 299) of responding institutions (Reardon et al., 1979). Another 33%
reported that a career-planning course was being considered for implementation.
An even larger survey, around the same time period, of 2,400 two- and four-year
institutions found that 353 (38% of respondents) were offering for-credit
career courses (Haney & Howland, 1978).
A survey of career course practices conducted in 1994
randomly targeted two colleges from each of the 50 states. Responses from 61 schools
in 32 states, showed that 62% offered some kind of career course geared either
toward career decision making, job search preparation, or examination of
specific career-related disciplines. Students who were enrolled in these
courses were almost equally distributed across the four college years. These
researchers also reported that 95% of respondents granted from one to three
hours of credit for completion of their career course and 5% of the courses
were graded pass/fail (Mead & Korrschgen, 1994).
In the most recent national survey
we found, Collins (1998) surveyed 1,688 college members of the National
Association of Colleges and Employers in 1997. Responses were obtained from
26.8%. Credit-bearing courses were offered by 30% of respondents, a figure that
has held steady since 1981, while 24% offered noncredit-bearing courses.
A recent e-mail survey using various
listservers found that 70% (28 of 40) of responding institutions reported
offering a career course. According to respondents, these courses were most
frequently offered for one credit. The findings further revealed that the
presence or absence of administrative and faculty support was a critical issue
to consider in offering a career course and that the longstanding battle
between student affairs and academic affairs over awarding academic credit for
career courses was still being waged (Halasz & Kempton, 2000).
Individual schools and colleges have
begun to offer career courses in the past two decades. For example, 64% of
business schools, responding to a survey, offered some type of career planning
and development service, and nearly 50% provided a formal course (Montana,
1989). A two-credit course offered at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)
was designed such that each academic department or college could offer the
course within their department and use departmental faculty to teach the course
(Heppner & Krause, 1979). The North Carolina State University College of
Business offers two different career courses. A recent study found that
students enrolled in these courses tended to begin their career planning
earlier, developed greater self-awareness, grasped realities of the job market,
wrote their resumes before graduation, and were positively evaluated by their
employers (Brooks, 1995).
Folsom and Reardon (2001) reviewed
over 80 articles reporting the design, development, management and evaluation
of career courses, most of which were written since 1970. Of these studies, 40
addressed outputs as contrasted with outcomes of career courses. While outputs reflect student learning in
relation to course objectives, e.g., learn more about interests, values and
skills related to careers, outcomes
refer to the resultant effects, at some later point in time, of attainment of
course objectives (Peterson & Burck, 1982). Examples of career course
outcomes include job satisfaction, selecting an academic major, career
satisfaction, time taken to graduate from college, and cumulative GPA.
Retention as an outcome variable in these studies was usually defined with a
short-term view as returning for the next school term (Folsom & Reardon,
2001). Folsom and Reardon found 32 studies (88%) reporting positive gains in
measured output variables, and 4 studies (12%) reporting no changes in output
variables. At the same time, they found 13 studies (87%) reporting positive
gains in measured outcome variables, and two studies (13%) reporting no changes
in outcome variables.
Several meta-analyses that we
reviewed provided further insight into the effects of career-related courses.
One such analysis reported that group or class interventions were more
effective than individual counseling or other interventions (Spokane &
Oliver, 1983). Later, in the same decade, an analysis of 240 treatment-control
comparisons in 58 studies compared 11 different types of career interventions
and found that career guidance classes produced the largest effect size,
resulting from the assortment of career interventions considered, with regard
to client gains (Oliver & Spokane, 1988). An analysis of 12 studies of
for-credit career development courses confirmed previous research findings as
to the overall positive effects of career courses on career decidedness and
career maturity (Hardesty, 1991). Finally, a recent meta-analysis found that
career classes were the third most effective career intervention among eight
different categories including individual and group counseling, group test
interpretation, workshops, computer interventions, and counselor-free
interventions (Whiston et al., 1998).
A recently conducted review of
several meta-analyses indicated that demonstrably effective career
interventions, including career courses, contain five components: (1) allow clients to clarify career and life
goals in writing; (2) provide clients with individualized interpretations and
feedback, e.g., test results; (3) provide current information on the risks and
rewards of selected occupations and career fields; (4) include the study of
models and mentors who demonstrate effective career behavior; and (5) provide
assistance in developing support networks for pursuing career aspirations.
Design and evaluation of career courses should assess the extent to which at
least three of these five components are included (Brown & Krane, 2000).
The positive impact of career
courses was further underscored by a previous evaluation of the career course
examined in this current study. This earlier evaluation revealed that course
participants decreased their negative career thoughts as measured by the Career
Thoughts Inventory (CTI; Sampson et al., 1996a) when the CTI was administered
as a pre-test and post-test measure. The greatest decrease in negative thinking
was found in students exhibiting the highest levels of negative thinking at the
beginning of the course (Reed et al., 2001).
Another recognized advantage of
career courses is the efficient delivery of career services to large numbers of
students (Gimmestad, 1984; Lent et al., 1986). Hence, large numbers of students
can be served with limited career service resources. When these courses offer
academic credit, institutions garner additional economic benefit due to
commonly used funding formulae, which are based on the generation of academic
credit.
We reviewed several studies that have addressed the impact of career courses on retention, usually defined as students returning for the subsequent school term. For example, a course entitled “Orientation to Higher Education” included three objectives aimed specifically at retaining students between the freshman and sophomore years: (1) academic planning, (2) selection of an academic advisor, and (3) selection of a major and a tentative career plan. Findings of a follow-up study of the course effects indicated that among freshmen students who were undecided with regard to an academic major, course participants returned for the following school term at a rate significantly greater than non-participants (Bechtol, 1978).
A longitudinal 10-year follow-up
study of undecided students who took a noncredit career orientation class in
the fall of 1966 found that a significantly higher percentage of course
participants, compared to nonparticipants, finished their college degree within
10 years (Goodson, 1982). Goodson recommended that similar studies be conducted
to assess longer-term effects of for-credit career courses.
Another
longitudinal follow-up study of three cohort groups of students enrolled in a
career course (fall 1989, spring 1990, and fall 1990) compared retention rates
between course completers and noncompleters. Course completers returned for the
next semester at a rate 8% higher than nonparticipants. African-American course
participants returned for the next semester at a 22% higher rate than their
counterparts in the group of nonparticipants (Schmidt, 1999).
Researchers
concluded that a career-planning course offered at the University of Northern
Colorado exerted at least some positive effect on the retention rate of
enrolled students. However, these researchers noted that this assertion needed
to be verified by further research, specifically recommending follow-up studies
aimed at longer-term effects of career courses on retention (Carver &
Smart, 1985). Several other researchers have mentioned this need for the study
of longer-term effects of career courses as well (Goodson, 1982; Hardesty,
1991; Kern, 1995).
Past
research has clearly demonstrated the positive impact of career courses on
short-term student outputs (e.g., career decidedness and reduced negative
career thinking). The present study was based upon the postulation that
students who gain improved career focus through participation in career courses
should then be expected to exhibit more positive longer-term outcomes as well
(e.g., increased graduation rates, more timely and efficient degree attainment,
and higher GPAs). As of yet, these long-term effects of career courses on
student outcomes have not been documented.
The
current study sought to address this absence of research substantiating the
longer-term effects of career development courses on college student outcomes
such as retention to graduation and academic performance. Two research
questions guided the study. First, what was the effect of the course on: (a)
retention to graduation; (b) time taken to graduate; (c) credit hours taken to
graduate; (d) course withdrawals executed prior to graduation; and (e)
cumulative GPA at graduation? Secondly,
is there an interaction between taking the career course, retention, and
academic performance with respect to gender?
The research hypothesis stated that
students who successfully completed the career development course would
demonstrate an increased rate of retention to graduation, reduced time taken to
graduate, fewer credit hours taken to graduate, fewer course withdrawals executed
prior to graduation, and higher cumulative GPAs at graduation compared to
students who had not completed the course. Secondly, it was hypothesized that
the course would have no differential impact with respect to gender.
The
participants were 544 students who completed all three units of the career
course offered at a large southeastern university between 1989-1990 and
1993-1994 and earned a grade of B– or higher. A comparison group of 544
students was derived through random sampling of non-course participants who
matriculated at the university during the same general time period. Both groups
included both students admitted as freshmen and transfer students. The two
groups were matched according to gender, race, and average high school GPA.
Both samples contained 311 females and 233 males, and similar race proportions
from the following categories: African American, Hispanic, Asian Pacific, and
other. A chi square test of independence confirmed that there were no
statistically significant (p >
.05) differences between the groups in terms of race proportions or high school
GPA.
Concerning other matching criteria,
a chi square test of independence indicated statistically significant (p < .05) between-group differences in
proportions of class levels represented. Participants included freshman 2%,
sophomores 42%, juniors 28%, and seniors 28%, while corresponding
non-participant percentages were 7%, 33%, 56%, and 4% respectively. Hence,
there were many more seniors in the class group. A matched sample t test indicated a statistically
significant (p < .05)
between-group difference in average SAT score (M = 1056 for participants; M
= 1093 for non-participants). Finally, a matched sample t test showed a statistically significant between-group difference
in initial year of matriculation to the university. Therefore, the variance
attributed to academic aptitude (SAT score), year in school, and year of
matriculation was partitioned through covariance.
Subjects in both groups were
assigned into five academic major categories, professional/business, social
science, natural science, humanities, and other. A chi square test of
independence indicated a statistically significant difference between the two
groups in the proportions of students in academic major fields. For example,
30.5% of course participants were professional/business majors compared to
38.8% of non-participants. Academic major category could not be entered as a
covariate since this criterion consisted of nominal rather than interval data;
therefore, the analysis proceeded with the understanding that this uncontrolled
factor could have an effect on results and should be considered in the
interpretation of findings.
The career course examined in this
study has existed since 1973 (Peterson et al., 1991). The original course was a
series of career seminars which was eventually developed into a formal three
credit hour course through the leadership of staff in the counseling center and
the career placement center. Instructional systems specialists further
developed and improved the course design and integrated multimedia career
development resources available through the university’s career resource
center. In 1984, the conceptual base of the course changed to include a systems
approach, and in 1993, a foundation in cognitive information processing (CIP)
theory was formally added. The present course is based on CIP theory (Peterson
et al., 1991; Peterson et al., 1996; Sampson et al., 1999), which is
incorporated into the text, Career
Planning and Development: A Comprehensive Approach (Reardon, 2000a) and
related workbook, (Student Manual;
Reardon et al., 2000b).
The course content is comprised of
three units. Unit I, “Career Concepts and Applications,” focuses on
self-knowledge, knowledge about options, and decision making. Assignments
include writing an autobiography and completing the Self-Directed Search
(Holland, 1994) and a skills assessment activity. Students develop knowledge
about occupational and educational options through the use of two
computer-assisted career guidance systems (e.g., SIGI PLUS or Discover, and
Choices) and by writing a research paper on one or three occupations. The
concepts of decision making and meta-cognitions are introduced in this unit and
students have the opportunity to apply this knowledge through creating an
Individual Action Plan (IAP). The IAP includes a career goal and a breakdown of
steps to meet that goal which includes activities, resources needed, and
completion dates. Since 1996, students also complete the CTI (Sampson et al.,
1996a) which helps them identify their level of negative thinking that can be
impeding their career problem solving and decision making. Students also have
access to Improving Your Career Thoughts:
A Workbook for the Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson et al., 1996b), which
may be recommended by the instructor as a vehicle to help students understand
and alter their negative career thoughts, using a cognitive restructuring
exercise.
Unit II, “Social Conditions
Affecting Career Development,” focuses on current social, economic, family, and
organizational changes affecting the career planning process and the need for
students to develop more complex cognitive schema to solve career problems.
Unit III of the course focuses on employability skills and strategies for
implementing academic/career plans. Assignments include two information
interview reports, the completion of a resume and cover letter, and a
strategic/academic career plan paper. This final paper utilizes the CASVE cycle
from the CIP model as an over-arching cognitive strategy to help students
integrate their learning and the career problem-solving and decision-making
model.
Course learning objectives are
designed to enable students:
Student achievement of course
objectives is assessed by instructors through the use of a performance contract
that provides a point scheme for evaluating outputs in 16 different areas of
behavior related to the course objectives. Letter grades are assigned based on
point accumulation, e.g., A = 90-100% of possible points.
The course was typically offered in
10-12 sections per year, each with 25-35 students and taught by a lead
instructor and a group of co-instructors, providing an instructor/student ratio
of 1:8-9. The class was a mixture of lecture, panel presentations, and small
and large group activities. Each instructor was assigned a small group of
students who met throughout the semester during class time. The instructors
also met individually with the students at least once during the semester to
assist them in developing their IAP and to discuss their assessments and
progress in the class. More information about this career course is available
at http://www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter/instructor/undergraduate/index.html.
Participant and non-participant
groups were compared using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) which
is based on a set of assumptions intended to reduce likelihood of Type I errors
(Bray & Maxwell, 1985; Wachs, 1986). A two-tailed test of the hypotheses
was employed to capture the potential effect on outcomes in either direction.
An alpha level of .01 was used to test the hypotheses at the univariate level
to control for family-wise error (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996).
The study was designed so that units
were randomly sampled from the population of interest and sampling units were
independent of one another. The assumption of similar correlation between any
two dependent variables was addressed through calculation of Pearson Product
moment correlations r (Light et al.,
1990) to determine the direction and extent of correlation r between the dependent variables. The amount of shared variance
between dependent variables was well below the level that would violate this
assumption. Other assumptions of MANCOVA including multivariate and univariate
normal distribution and homogeneity of variance posed mostly moderate, or less,
departure from normal. Therefore, the conclusion was reached that the large and
equivalent sample sizes combined with the observed power (P = 1.000) provided robustness against the extent of observed
violation of assumptions.
A MANCOVA analysis revealed a
significant multivariate effect, Hotelling’s Trace = 9.076, F = 1.467, p < .001, and Wilk’s Lamda = .009, F = 1.434, p < .001.
Univariate testing compared
differences between groups with respect to the five dimensions of student
performance. As mentioned previously,
analysis of covariance controlled for the following extraneous variables: SAT
score, class level, and year of matriculation. A summary of observed and
adjusted means is presented in Table 1.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insert Table
1 Means and Adjusted Means of College Outcome Measures
between Course Participants
and Non-Participants about here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graduation rates were 80.9% for the
study sample of students that completed the career course and 83.6% for
non-participants. A chi-square test of independence was used to compare
frequencies between the two groups in the number of students graduating by the
end of the fall semester 1999. Results led to the conclusion that there was no
statistically significant difference, X2
(1, n = 1088) = 1.418, CV =
6.635, in graduation rates between course participants and non-participants.
An F test was used to
determine whether the observed difference in the time taken to graduate between
course participants and nonparticipants was statistically significant (p < .01). Results showed no
statistically significant difference in unadjusted means (participants M = 52.26, nonparticipants M = 55.17) of months taken to graduate, F (1083) = 1.095, a = .01, p = .154.
Comparison of adjusted means (participants adjusted M = 52.08, non-participants adjusted M = 50.18) also indicated the absence of a statistically
significant difference and led to the conclusion that the two groups were
essentially similar in time taken to graduate.
An F test showed a
statistically significant difference in between-group unadjusted means
(participants M = 110.27,
nonparticipants M = 108.93) of credit
hours taken to graduate, F (1083) =
.1418, a = .01, p = .000. Comparison of adjusted means (M = 110.85 for participants and M
= 109.9 for nonparticipants) was also statistically significant. The effect
size was .03. Therefore, the conclusion was reached that there was a
statistically significant difference between groups (though slight) in the
number of credit hours taken to graduate.
As with the previous outcome variable, an F test showed a statistically significant difference (F (1083) = 1.535, p < .000) in unadjusted between-group means of the number of
course withdrawals executed prior to graduation (participants M = .81, nonparticipants M = .85). Comparison of adjusted means (M = .84 for participants and M = .97 for nonparticipants) also indicated
a statistically significant difference. The effect size was .08. Therefore, we
concluded that there was a statistically significant difference in the
between-group mean number of course withdrawals executed prior to graduation.
Finally, an F test showed no
statistically significant between-group difference (F (1083) = 1.149, a =
.01, p = .058) in adjusted means of
cumulative GPA at graduation (participants M
= 2.72, nonparticipants M = 2.79).
Comparison of adjusted means (participants adjusted M = 2.68, non-participants adjusted M = 2.67) also indicated an absence of a statistically significant
difference and led to the conclusion that the two groups had essentially
similar cumulative GPAs at graduation.
In order to further explore possible
differences in academic performance between course participants and
non-participants, study data were analyzed for potential interaction effects in
terms of gender status. Findings showed that female non-participants graduated
at a rate of 87% compared to 82% for female participants. Non-participant and
participant males graduated at an identical rate of 79%.
Significant interaction effects were
observed regarding several other outcome variables with gender as a fixed
factor. Statistically and practically significant effects in the expected
direction occurred with months taken to graduate and the number of course
withdrawals executed according to gender. Results indicated that female course
participants graduated with fewer months taken to graduate than female
non-participants, but executed more course withdrawals (Table 2).
Non-participant females took 60.8 months to graduate and female course
participants took 50.1 months to graduate (F
(1, 1083) = 52.079, a = .01, p = .000), a statistically and
practically significant difference (ES = .62). Female course participants
executed .81 course withdrawals compared to .53 for their non-participant
counterparts (ES = .20). Male course participants executed fewer course
withdrawals (Table 2, M = .83) than
did male non-participants (M = 1.2).
This difference was statistically significant (F (1, 1083) = 7.420, a =
.01, p = .007), but not very
practically significant (ES = .18).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insert Table
2 Means and Adjusted Means of Outcome Measures
Between Participant and
Non-Participant Males and Females about here
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlike female participants, male
course participants took longer to graduate compared to nonparticipants, 54.51
months compared to 47.68 (Figure 1). This difference was statistically (F (1, 1083) = 52.079, p = .000) and practically significant
(ES = .36). Also, male participants had slightly higher cumulative GPAs than
their nonparticipant counterparts (participant males M = 2.55, nonparticipant males M
= 2.42) whereas female participants had slightly lower cumulative GPAs than their
nonparticipant counterparts (participant females M = 2.87, nonparticipant females M = 3.03).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insert Figure
1 Interaction of Adjusted Means of Months to Graduation for
Non-Participant and
Participant Females and Males about here
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insert Figure
2 Interaction of Adjusted Means of Cumulative GPA for
Non-Participant and
Participant Females and Males about here
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This study sought to assess the
impact of a career course on the retention and academic performance of college
students. We did not find a significant course impact in the case of three of
the outcome variables of interest to the study. There was no statistically
significant difference in retention to graduation rates between course
participants and nonparticipants. Also, there were no statistically significant
between-group differences in time taken to graduate and cumulative GPA at
graduation. However, the course did have a positive impact, though slight, on
both credit hours taken to graduate and the number of course withdrawals
executed prior to graduation. These findings led to the conclusion that course
participants took significantly fewer credit hours to graduate and executed
significantly fewer course withdrawals than nonparticipants.
Isolating the effects of the course
based on gender led to two major conclusions. First, female course participants
graduated in significantly less time than female nonparticipants, but executed
more course withdrawals. Second, male participants took longer to graduate, but
executed fewer course withdrawals and had higher GPAs than nonparticipants.
Although course participants in this
study did not graduate at a greater rate than nonpartipants, it is noteworthy
that both groups graduated at a rate (80.9% and 83.6% respectively)
considerably higher than the general population of students at this institution
(69%). Non-equivalence of the control and comparison groups might have obscured
a positive effect of the course on retention. Because graduation rate is a
dichotomous outcome measure, this outcome was not part of the MANCOVA analysis
and it was not possible to control for SAT score, class level, and year of
matriculation (covariates in the MANCOVA analysis). Therefore, one of these
uncontrolled factors or some other group similarity could partially explain why
both groups graduated at a similarly high rate. For example, nonparticipants
matriculated on average about a year and a half earlier than participants and
hence had a longer time span in which to graduate.
Another observation, based on
conjecture, could be related to uncontrolled differences in the proportion of
academic major categories in each of the student groups. One could postulate
that professional/business majors, who comprised 38.8 percent of the nonparticipant
group and 30.5 percent of the participant group, may possess a clearer career
focus and motivation toward expeditious graduation. If this were true, then the
within-group proportions of professional/business majors noted above could have
contributed to relatively high rates of graduation for both groups, and an even
slightly higher graduation rate for nonparticipants.
At first glance, the fact that
course participants graduated with approximately one less credit hour than
nonparticipants may seem trivial though statistically significant and
detectable due to the high power (P =
1.000) of this MANCOVA design. However, a one credit hour decrease in the total
number of credit hours needed to graduate is a significant contribution to cost
efficiency when considering the hundreds of students who take this course on an
annual basis at the site of the study. If similar results were to occur at
numerous other institutions offering similar courses, the likely savings to the
public higher education system becomes considerable. Though not a scientific
comparison, it is also noteworthy that course participants graduated with more
than 20 less credit hours on average than the general population of students at
this institution. Hence, the positive impact of the course on efficient degree
attainment may be greater than detected by this study.
It should be noted that the adjusted
mean number of credits for course participants (110.85) and nonparticipants
(109.9) were below the 120 credits required for graduation from this
institution. The reason for this discrepancy is that some student records in
both samples contained very low credit hours taken to graduate due to stop-out
activity (sporadic activity that involved intermittently dropping out of school
for a period of time and then resuming degree pursuits). The manner in which
this institution reports the number of credit hours accumulated at graduation
only reflects the number of hours accumulated since the most recent enrollment.
This phenomenon randomly effected both groups and thus resulted in lower than
expected mean results for this outcome. We believe this phenomenon did not
diminish the usefulness of these data in comparing the two groups used in this
study.
Course withdrawals that follow the
drop/add period cause added administrative expense to the higher education
process. In addition, course slots may be unnecessarily denied to students who
need a particular course in order to efficiently proceed toward graduation.
Therefore, although the positive effect of the course on this outcome seems
slight, though statistically significant, the magnitude of this effect on
efficiency becomes more considerable if applied to the thousands of students
and courses potentially affected across the country.
There were numerous factors and
events capable of affecting the outcome variables of interest in this study and
it was impossible to account for all of these. For example, it was beyond the
scope of this study to control for student involvement in the education process
or student connections with staff or faculty. In a reasonable attempt to reduce
this threat to internal validity, the study observed five years of course
participants. The inclusion of five years of students mitigated the potential
of substantially inaccurate conclusions being drawn from observance of a few
atypical years.
A
second threat to internal validity was that observed differences between the
two groups could have been due to differences in the students comprising the
participant and nonparticipant groups (Cook & Campbell, 1979). Controlled
factors were intended to produce reasonable similarity between the groups and
thereby strengthen internal validity. These included high school GPA, SAT
score, gender, race, class level, and year of matriculation. Although this
design left other potential rival explanations uncontrolled, these selected
control criteria were similar to those used by prior researchers (e.g., Johnson
& Smouse, 1993) and represented a reasonably accessible attempt to strengthen
internal validity.
The
design of this study did not appear to result in substantial threats to
external validity. Study samples were not so pure or unique so as to result in
a sample of students substantially different from college students in general.
In addition, the course content and methods were similar to career courses that
were noted in the literature and offered at other institutions.
Several other cautions and
limitations of the study should be noted. First, it was not feasible within the
scope of this study to control for two major influences on retention, such as
involvement in educational related activities (Astin, 1984) and “connectedness”
with the institution through quality relationships with staff and faculty
(Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991, 1977). Rather, the study proceeded with the
expectation that general overall similarities with regard to these two
variables existed between course participants and non-participants.
Also, the vast majority of students
enrolled in this career course are referred by academic advisors or other
faculty or staff. This raised the concern of possible selection bias as a
result of a personality variable, such as reduced inner locus-of-control
(Rotter, 1966) that may be prevalent among students who completed this career
course and could potentially offer some explanation for differences in
outcomes. Additionally, with an ex post
facto research design, it is not possible to use a control group, and a
matched comparison group of non-course participants was used instead to
mitigate the confounding influence of extraneous variables and thereby maintain
a degree of methodological rigor.
Other limitations include the fact
that it was not possible to measure the number of course withdrawals executed
by students following completion of the career course as the ideal way to
assess the effect of the course on this outcome variable. Rather, the total
number of course withdrawals executed over the entire college career was the
available measure that was used. Additionally, the use of a single career
course and institution is less generalizable than a study design that includes
several career courses offered at several institutions.
In spite of these limitations, the
design of this study should support generalization with a reasonable degree of
confidence to other career development class sections offered at the
institutional site of this study. Also, this study design enables one to
speculate about generalization of these outcomes to similar courses offered at other
institutions.
Implications for Practice
and Future Research
In view of increasing administrative
costs in higher education, combined with increasing enrollment demands in many
parts of the country, efficiency in the pursuit and award of degrees is of
central concern to administrators of colleges, universities, and state systems
of higher education. An intervention improving the efficiency with which
students complete their degrees is of particular value to those who develop and
implement higher education policy. These results lend some support to the
argument that this career course may be an effective intervention that results
in more efficient and cost-effective degree completion processes. Also, college
students who complete these courses may benefit by beginning their
post-collegiate careers sooner, which usually includes higher financial income
along with earlier work experience leading to faster career advancement. Hence,
career courses may be worthy of wider exposure, increased funding support, and
expanded offerings. This research adds to the literature on the broad effects
of career courses (Folsom & Reardon, 2001).
This study should be replicated in
order to confirm and extend the results. Although career course participants in
the current study graduated at rates significantly exceeding those of the
general population of students at the institution, the current study did not
sufficiently establish a positive course impact on retention. Future studies
should examine the effects of career courses on the number of major changes
executed by course participants compared with non-course participants. This can
be another good indicator of the efficiency and focus with which students are
pursuing their academic goals.
A qualitative study of career course
participants involving personal interviews and/or focus groups would be a
useful addition to the literature. This could involve in-depth analysis of a
much smaller sample of course participants. A methodology of this nature would
provide the opportunity to obtain specific information from students as to how
the career course may have benefited them and what has happened in their lives
since completing the course. It might provide insights regarding specific
course components related to outcomes, and examine the transfer effects of
learning. Insightful and valuable feedback could potentially be gained that
could lead to refinement of course design resulting in even greater benefits to
course participants.
Follow-up research of students
following graduation is a largely unexplored outcome that should be addressed
in future studies of career courses. Specific points of inquiry relative to
career knowledge and focus could include time taken to obtain job placement
following graduation, relatedness of job placement to college major, job
satisfaction following graduation, extent of job mobility following graduation,
and rate of career advancement following graduation.
Finally, unraveling the apparent
gender-specific effect of the course is another topic that is ripe for further
research. The course outcome of improved career focus appears to affect males
and females differently concerning time taken to graduate, execution of course
withdrawals, and cumulative GPA. Future research should seek to validate these
differences and determine why they occur.
It
is unlikely that studies of longer-term effects of career courses will occur
under present arrangements due to the time and expense involved in such
research. Much of the prior research on this topic has been associated with
doctoral student dissertations. One funding option for supporting future
research in this area would involve career course textbook publishers. They
have a financial interest in learning more about the impact of their products
because they are copyright holders of the texts. Some test publishers already
do this in support of their product development. Another option for funding
research related to longer-term effects of career courses could be involvement
of universities, government agencies, and foundations.
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