ERIC Number: EJ1076252
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-May
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-0251
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Impact of a Constructivist Career Course on Academic Performance and Graduation Outcomes
Grier-Reed, Tabitha; Chahla, Rose
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, v17 n1 p105-118 May 2015
Career planning courses are one of the most effective ways to improve career development, and the benefits to career decision-making are well documented. The research base regarding whether career courses contribute to academic outcomes is less well-developed. Although recent findings suggest that career courses may improve retention in the first- and second-year of college, it is not clear that these gains extend to graduation. Hence, we explored years to graduation, credit completion, and cumulative grade point average for 103 university students enrolled in a constructivist career course and 107 students in a comparison group. We also included race or ethnicity as an independent variable. Using composite ACT score and high school rank as covariates, we found no effect for the career course on cumulative grade point average, years to graduation, or credit completion. Additionally, there was no effect for race or ethnicity. Implications for the need to develop more upper division career courses are discussed.
Descriptors: Academic Persistence, Career Development, Career Education, Constructivism (Learning), Undergraduate Students, Undergraduate Study, Longitudinal Studies, Career Choice, College Credits, Time to Degree, Grade Point Average, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Comparative Analysis, Racial Differences, Predictor Variables, College Entrance Examinations, Self Efficacy, Correlation, Academic Achievement, Outcomes of Education, Statistical Distributions, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: ACT Assessment
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A