Marsha Fralick and
Barbara Eckenfels
Burger Flipping or Brain Surgery?
The Role of Career Development in a College Success Course
Overview
• Research on benefits of career
development
• Improving retention
• Increased earnings
• Essential components of a career
development program
• Career development at Lone Star
Montgomery
College Success:
A Study of Positive and Negative Attrition
• The successful
student had a
definite goal or
college major.
• Based on this
research, a career
development
component was
added to our
college success
course.
Noteworthy Results
• Implementing CollegeScope
on college campuses has
resulted in a 26% increase
in persistence rates!
• 87% of students had chosen a
major by the end of the course
• 62% of students reported more
confidence in their academic skills
• 88% of students rated the course
as good or very good
Benefits of Career Development
• Folsom and Reardon examined research
on career development from 1920-2003
• Based on 17,600 students
Obvious Benefits
• Helps students choose a major and
career
• Increases knowledge of career
information
• Helps students with decision-making
• Students like taking these courses
Career Development Increases:
•
•
•
•
•
Internal locus of control
Self-knowledge
Cognitive development
Retention
Graduation rates!
Graduation Rates
• 4 Year colleges
On average, only 40% graduate in 6 years
• Community colleges
On average, only 20% graduate in 3 years
Value of a College Education
• A person with a bachelor’s degree earns
almost twice as much as a high school
graduate.
Critical Elements of Career Development
• Career
assessments with
individual
interpretation and
feedback
• Current and
reliable career info
• Written exercises
to engage students
Critical Element: The Assessments
Career Assessments
• Do What You Are
Personality assessment
• MI Advantage
Multiple intelligences assessment
• Integrated into the interactive online
textbook, CollegeScope
• Materials personalized for each student
based on personality type, learning style
and multiple intelligences
Do What You Are
• Valid
• Reliable
• Based on college scenarios that are easy
to read and understand
• Personality types (I-E, S-N, T-F, J-P)
MI Advantage
• Based on Howard Gardner’s theory of
multiple intelligences
• Definition: The human ability to solve
problems or design or compose something
valued in at least one culture
• Helps students think positively about their
talents
• Connects multiple intelligences to careers
Sample Profile
Critical Element:
Current and Reliable Career
Information
Career Information
• Both the personality and multiple
intelligences assessments connect to the
O*Net database of careers
Critical Element:
Written Exercises to Engage Students
Journal Entries
My Portfolio
Students add
careers to their
online portfolio
Personal Feedback
Career Success
 Chapter 1: Understanding Motivation
 Chapter 2: Exploring your Personality and Major
 Chapter 3: Learning Style and Intelligence
 Chapter 4: Exploring Interests and Values
 Chapter 5: Planning Your Career and Education
College Success
 Chapter 6: Managing Time and Money
 Chapter 7: Improving Memory and Reading
 Chapter 8: Taking Notes, Writing and
Speaking
 Chapter 9: Test Taking
Lifelong Success
 Chapter 10: Communication and Relationships
 Chapter 11: Thinking Critically and Creatively
 Chapter 12: Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle
 Chapter 13: Appreciating Diversity
 Chapter 14: Thinking Positively about the Future
Lone Star College - Montgomery
EDUC 1300 ~ Learning Strategies
Barbara Eckenfels, MS
Faculty Counselor/EDUC 1300 Professor
*Are You an Occupational
Ignoramus? Most Students
Are…..and it’s a Risky
Business
*From a 1975 Career Pamphlet at
Florida State University
Burger Flipping or
Brain Surgery?...
Most students have never been
taught career development skills so
they do not know how to choose
careers that meet their personality
preferences, interests, values, and
aptitudes.
EDUC 1300 – Learning Strategies
Lone Star College System QEP initiative: Activities
are embedded within our student success course
1. Set a goal
2. Make a plan
3. Get connected (with faculty,
advisor or counselor)
4. Get involved (Join campus
organizations and volunteer)
Lone Star College System
Education 1300 with Career
Development and Advising
Semester
Completion
Success
Persistence
Fall 2011 System
84%
75%
76%
Fall 2011 Montgomery 77%
80%
72%
Fall 2011 Best Start
Montgomery
88%
81%
85%
Completion
Students completed the course with any grade.
Success
Students earned an A, B, or C grade
Persistence
Students persisted from fall 2010-spring 2011
The Rationale for Including Career
Exploration in a Student Success
Course
Career
Center/Career
Counseling
Students who need support services
the most are the ones least likely to
take advantage of them.
(Friedlander, 1980; Walter & Smith, 1990;
Knapp & Karabenick, 1988)
Career Exploration in your Student
Success Course
• Many students change their major several
times during their college career.
• Students will learn career development skills
that they will use throughout their lifetime!
(Individuals will change careers 5+ times in
their lifetime).
• Students must reach a level of “career
readiness” before they will engage in career
exploration. 17 – 18 years
1st year of
college.
A career-planning program that is
delivered intrusively and proactively to
first-year students:
• Promotes student retention and satisfaction with the
college.
• Increases likelihood students will pursue a career
path that is personally meaningful and self-fulfilling.
• Early, proactive support programs address students
needs in an anticipatory fashion before they require
reactive intervention. (Cuseo, J., 2005)
There was significant increase in the
use of the “Do What You Are”
after the EDUC 1300 classes
were introduced:
•Total completed inventories March 2004
to present- 12754.
•From March 2004 to August 2008 total
used was 2079.
•From Sept. 2008 to present total used
10225!
EDUC 1300 – Learning Strategies
Course: Activities
•Personality Paper- (DWYA)
•QEP Career Exploration Project
•QEP Degree Planning Assignment:
meet with an advisor or counselor
•QEP Path to Success Paper- Noel-Levitz
CSI and MYSA
•“My Future” Assignment
QEP Career Exploration Project
Activity: “Your Career: How Much Do You Know?”
I use as an introduction to the career chapter:
“Can you answer these questions?”





Outlook?
Salary with and without experience?
Knowledge, skills and abilities needed?
The Good, Bad and Ugly about the career?
What will you do in a typical day?
Most students cannot
answer all of these
questions!
• Give class 5 minutes to fill out as much
information as they can on the sheet.
• I tell them everyone should know this
information before they make a career choice.
• They will need to know this information to
complete their QEP Career Research
Project.
Research Your Career
• Students will then be asked to go to the
computers, taking the Activity Sheet with
them.
• I show them how to navigate three career
sites. They must follow along on their
computer.
• Students are told that they will use this
information when they research their
careers.
Favorite Career Sites
Occupational Outlook Handbook
http://www.bls.gov/oco/
America’s Career Infonet
http://www.acinet.org/
The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center
http://www.careercornerstone.org/
Great Sites for Matching
Majors with Careers
• “What Can I Do With This Major?”
http://www.shsu.edu/~ccp_www/majors/default.html
• Rutgers “College Majors and Careers”
http://careerservices.rutgers.edu/CareerHandouts.shtml
“How to Research
Careers and Majors” Handout
• I give them this sheet to help them
navigate the sites at home.
• Helps new instructors learn to navigate
the sites. Sites can be overwhelming with
all the information.
What Students are Saying About the Course
QEP Degree Planning Assignment
• Students meet with an advisor twice during
the semester to talk about academic goals
and obtain a Degree Plan.
• Discuss any barriers they may have and
strategies to overcome them.
• Advisor and/or instructor go over the
Noel-Levitz CSI. Students are given a
“Campus Resources” Handout.
“My Future Project”
• Students Final- Class Presentation
• Can do a video, power point, poster, poem,
artwork, etc.
• Must include:
 Career information- salary, outlook, duties
 How career fits their interests, values, personality
 Ideal day
 What they will wear to work
 Leisure activities
 Type of house they want
 Volunteer activities and more
• Classmates fill out an “evaluation”- What have you
liked most about this student? Give to each student.
Video
My Future Project
Overview CollegeScope Webinar
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Overview of key features
Research on effectiveness (Brief)
Resources for faculty
A quick tour (student and faculty view)
Helping your students log in
Introducing CollegeScope to your students
Improving retention and success
Common login problems and easy solutions
Assessments
Questions?
References
Cuseo, Joseph. (2003), Academic Advisement and Student Retention: Empirical
Connections & System Interventions
Cuseo, J. (2005). “Decided,” “undecided,” and “in transition”: Implications for
advisement, career counseling, and student retention. In R. S. Feldman (Ed.),
Improving the first year of college: Research and practice (pp. 27-50). New York:
Erlbaum.
Friedlander, J. (1980). Are college support programs and services reaching high-risk
students? Journal of College Student Personnel, 21(1), 23-28.
Knapp, J. R., & Karabenick, S. A. (1988). Incidence of formal and informal academic
help-seeking in higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 29(3),
223-227.
Walter, T. L., & Smith, J. (1990, April). Self-assessment and academic support: Do
students know they need help? Paper presented at the annual Freshman Year
Experience Conference, Austin, Texas.