A Senior Exit Survey and its Implications for Advising and Related Services

This study examined the relation among extracurricular involvement in psychology-related activities, satisfaction, and academic achievement in graduating psychology majors. We surveyed 71 seniors (53 women and 18 men, M ag e = 24.84 years) about their involvement in psychology-related activities (e.g., Psi Chi, serving as a research assistant), satisfaction with experiences as a psychology major, and grade point average (GPA). Involvement was related to satisfaction and GPA, but satisfaction was not related to GPA. Different types of involvement were associated with various aspects of satisfaction with the psychology major. Recommendations for advising students to "get involved" are discussed.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

To Get Involved or Not: The Relation among Extracurricular Involvement, Satisfaction, and Academic Achievement

Strapp

Farr

2009

“…Departments have attempted many systematic strategies to provide quality advising. These include orientation courses (Rajecki & Lauer, 2007), peer advising courses (Seegmiller, 2003), individual faculty advising or peer advising (Nelson & Johnson, 1997), involving alumni (Lawson, 2018), technology-based services (e.g., websites, online programs; Appleby, 2011; Golding, Lippert, & Malik, 2018), specific orientation to the major courses (Landrum, Shoemaker, & Davis, 2003), and stand-alone courses in professional development for psychology majors (Ciarocco, 2018). Psychology professors have also authored books on the major and career options (e.g., Landrum & Davis, 2013; Morgan & Korschgen, 2014).…”

Section: Effective Psychology Advising: Assets and Obstaclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faculty and Career Advising

Vespia

Freis

Arrowood

2017

Psychology prioritizes students’ professional or career development by including it as one of the five undergraduate learning goals. Faculty advisors are critical to that development but likely feel less prepared for the role. Departments face challenges assessing associated student learning outcomes. We introduce an instrument programs can use to evaluate outcomes and advisors can use to measure students’ advising needs, perceptions, and preferences. We share results from an undergraduate sample ( N = 91) to illustrate potential data and uses. For example, these students viewed faculty as knowledgeable career advisors and expressed confidence in their major selection but simultaneously reported feeling unprepared for postgraduation life and thought the major was not highly marketable. We offer specific recommendations for using such data to promote professional development.

“…Several surveys have revealed that recent psychology alumni generally do not believe their degrees have prepared them well for careers (Borden & Rajecki, 2000;Finney, Snell, & Sebby, 1989;Grocer & Kohout, 1997;Nelson & Johnson, 1997). Later, I developed the presentation approach to enable students to learn from each others' research, to alleviate substantial grading time due to class size, and to mitigate concerns about plagiarism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Questions regarding the usefulness of a psychology baccalaureate degree have existed for decades, but the recent emphasis on assessment has brought these concerns to the forefront. Several surveys have revealed that recent psychology alumni generally do not believe their degrees have prepared them well for careers (Borden & Rajecki, 2000;Finney, Snell, & Sebby, 1989;Grocer & Kohout, 1997;Nelson & Johnson, 1997). These surveys highlighted the need to better integrate the development of career relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) into a traditional liberal arts education in psychology.…”

Section: Winona State Universitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Faculty Forum

2003

This article provides commentary on a recent survey (Levy & Peters, 2002) of students' views of the characteristics of the "best" college courses. Levy and Peters's study and conclusions were limited to only certain aspects of faculty, course, and student characteristics that students recognize are relevant when evaluating their academic experiences. Their results may be interpreted to promote a student-as-consumer model of higher education. I present results of a qualitative study to explicate the breadth of issues that should be considered when studying the impact of higher education on undergraduate students.The ongoing debate over the validity and utility of students' evaluations of teaching (reflects, to some degree, a struggle between the consumer or customer model of education and the view that students need and deserve to be challenged to succeed in college. A recent article in Teaching of Psychology (Levy & Peters, 2002) provided a new twist in this debate. Levy and Peters constructed and used a 24-item instrument to measure the characteristics students believed described the "best" college courses. They found that students endorsed courses that had a comfortable atmosphere, interesting content, and reviews before exams. Students preferred professors who had a sense of humor, were excited about the material, were entertaining, had a caring attitude, employed a variety of teaching techniques, communicated well, were not arrogant, were fair and approachable, and made students feel smart. Additionally, students preferred courses in which they received the grade they deserved and received a good grade. Levy and Peters reported that students did not prefer easy courses, did not prefer to give class presentations, and gave low ratings for courses that did not have in-class activities. Furthermore, students rated professors poorly when the instructor solely lectured and when professors asked students questions during class.Although the results presented by Levy and Peters offer some insights into certain aspects of student attitudes toward their instructors and courses, their methodology and interpretations are limited and problematic. First, the questionnaire and items failed to assess certain issues that may affect students' views of higher education, namely the quality of course information; the degree to which professors challenge students to demonstrate their understanding of, and their ability to make use of, such information; and the manner in