Evaluation of Career Exploration project in College Success course through students’ change in attitudes and knowledge A case study = Đánh giá dự án Khám phá ng

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE NGUYỄN THỊ CHI EVALUATION OF CAREER EXPLORATION PROJECT IN COLLEGE SUCCESS COURSE THROUGH STUDENTS’ CHANGE IN ATTITUDES AND KNOWLEDGE: A CASE STUDY (Đánh giá dự án Khám phá nghề nghiệp chương trình Thành cơng học đường qua thay đổi thái độ kiến thức sinh viên: Nghiên cứu cá thể) M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE NGUYỄN THỊ CHI EVALUATION OF CAREER EXPLORATION PROJECT IN COLLEGE SUCCESS COURSE THROUGH STUDENTS’ CHANGE IN ATTITUDES AND KNOWLEDGE: A CASE STUDY (Đánh giá dự án Khám phá nghề nghiệp chương trình Thành cơng học đường qua thay đổi thái độ kiến thức sinh viên: Nghiên cứu cá thể) M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Dinh Hai Yen, M.A Hanoi - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE‟S STATEMENT …………………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………iii ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………iv TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………….v LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES ………………………………………… viii PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… I Statement of the problem and rationale for the evaluation… ……… II Scope of the study ………………………………… ……………….4 III Aims of the revaluation and research questions …………………….5 IV Significance of the study………………………………………………6 V Methods of the study ………………………………………………….6 PART B: DEVELOPMENT ……………………………………………… CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………….8 1.1 Career exploration and related terms … ……………………………8 1.2 Importance of career exploration …………………………… … 10 1.3 Research on career exploration …………………… …………… 11 1.3.1 Correlation studies ……………………………………………11 1.3.2 Evaluation …………………………………………………….15 1.3.2.1 Significance and framework of career program evaluation …………………………………………………… 15 1.3.2.2 Types of career exploration and findings of specific evaluation …………………………………………………… 19 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………….……… 32 2.1 The context………… …………………………………………… 32 2.2 Participants …………………………………… …………………33 2.3 Data collection methods and procedures… ……………………… 36 2.3.1 Questionnaire ………………………………………………….36 2.3.2 Test ………………………………………………………… 37 2.3.3 Interview ………………………………………………………38 2.4 Data analysis ……………………………………………………… 39 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ……………… 41 3.1 Single-case analysis and discussion ……………………………… 41 3.1.1 Case (A) ………………… …………………………….41 3.1.1.1 Background of the case …………………… .41 3.1.1.2 Changes in attitudes ………………………… 44 3.1.1.3 Changes in knowledge …………………………… 48 3.1.2 Case (L) ……………… ………………………………… 51 3.2.1.1 Background of the case ……………………………….51 3.2.1.2 Changes in attitudes ………………………………… 54 3.2.1.3 Changes in knowledge ……………………………… 59 3.1.3 Case (H) …………………………………………………… 61 3.3.1.1 Background of the case ……………………………… 61 3.3.1.2 Changes in attitudes ………………………………… 64 3.3.1.3 Changes in knowledge ……………………………… 69 3.2 Cross-case analysis and discussion …………………………… …71 PART C: CONCLUSION ……… …………………………………… 78 Summary of the study …………… …………….……………………78 Contributions of the evaluation ……………….…………………… 79 Limitations of the study ………………………………………………80 Suggestions for further study…………………………………………80 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………… 81 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………I Appendix 1A: Questionnaire for choosing cases (English version)……….I Appendix 1B: Questionnaire for choosing cases (Vietnamese version)… II Appendix 2A: Pre-Questionnaire (English version) …… ………………III Appendix 2B: Pre-Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) ……………… VII Appendix 3A: Post-Questionnaire (English version) ……………………XII Appendix 3B: Post-Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) … ………… XVII Appendix 4A: Pre-Interview scheme (English & Vietnamese version) XXII Appendix 4B: Post-Interview (English & Vietnamese version) …… XXIII Appendix 5A: Pre-Test (English version) …… …………………… XXVI Appendix 5B: Pre-Test (Vietnamese version) ……………………… XXVI Appendix 6A: Post-Test (English version) …… ………………… XXVIII Appendix 6B: Post-Test (Vietnamese version) ………………………XXIX LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES Figure 1: The general scope of educational evaluation …………………….16 Figure 2: Process of career decision-making ……………………………….20 Table 1: Framework of holistic program evaluation ……………………….16 Table 2: Results of reason survey ………………………………………… 35 Table 3: A‟s changes in attitudes ………………………………………… 44 Table 4: Development of A‟s attitudes from her perception ……………… 47 Table 5: A‟s changes in knowledge………………………… ………… 49 Table 6: Development of A‟s knowledge from her perception …………… 51 Table 7: L‟s changes in attitudes ……………………………………………54 Table 8: Development of L‟s attitudes from her perception ……………… 59 Table 9: L‟s changes in knowledge …………………………………………59 Table 10: H‟s changes in attitudes ………………………………………….65 Table 11: Summary of changes of three cases …………………………… 72 PART A: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Evaluation is a tool which helps systematically identify the „merit‟ or „worth‟ of a program so as to reduce „uncertainty in decision‟ and „facilitate positive change‟ for advantages (Mertens, 1999, as cited in Mertens, 2005, p.48) In other words, program evaluation is really critical; however, according to several scholars (Poel, 2009; Royse, Thyer, and Padgett, 2010) it has rarely been undertaken The reasons for avoiding it have not been officially revealed by researchers, but they may include the concern that conducting evaluations take time and attention away from the course content The situation may be the same with University of International Languages and Studies (ULIS), where a large number of courses are internally designed by its staff, but just a few evaluations of their programs and projects have been undertaken As such, it is considerably beneficial to take evaluative research into consideration for the case of ULIS „College Success: Taking Charge of Your Personal and Academic Growth‟ is a new compulsory course specifically designed for first-year students at ULIS So far the course has run for three years During the course, students are expected to participate in a variety of practical tasks that promote a number of necessary academic and soft skills (Study skills, 2009; Phung et al., 2011) The content of the course was revised once in 2010 when the taskforce recognized that the fundamental objectives of version 2009 were to provide students with opportunities to practise some vital skills such as notetaking, citing, and presentation skills while most of the tasks were like reading exercises Specifically, students were required to read some texts and then answer some questions as a follow-up activity, which does not reflect the principle of learning by doing stated in the course description More importantly, the original course just focused on the academic skills which are integrated in other courses For example, the Reading course does involve practising note-taking skills; the Writing course does involve practice on referencing and avoiding plagiarism The „tasks‟ designed for the original version of College Success are somehow the same as the exercises in the two courses mentioned above Version 2010 is similar to version 2009 in that it is for first-year students to develop a number of essential skills so that they can better understand themselves and their environment, but it bears remarkable differences The first difference lies in the objectives Besides training in academic skills; the new version creates opportunities for students‟ personal growth and provides them with career orientation The second difference lies in the task process Students are not required to the exercises but take action in making some specific products such as posters, talk shows, and jobrelated reports The practice of the needed academic skills is integrated into the process of making these products For instance, the note-taking skills are integrated into the task of creating a poster of a role model In so doing, students can practise and/ or revise one of the academic skills – note-taking (select what information to be displayed on their poster) At the same time, they have an opportunity to share their own stories about what they truly love and value in their life Whereby, they can be aware of various values in human life and the needs of putting efforts into studying and working for great achievements Actually, it is impossible for students to acquire and master all the skills expected in this course; students need time to absorb and put them in practice for further improvement Thus, the fundamental aim of the course is to raise students‟ awareness of some necessary skills that they need for both academic purposes and personal growth As such, the new version is hoped to work better with the given aim Until 2011, the original 10 course title, Study Skills, has been changed into „College Success: Taking Charge of Your Personal and Academic Growth,‟ which better reflects the nature of the new version of the course Within the framework of the course, there are two projects which take place at the same time during the second half of the course – Career exploration and Dream jobs Students are divided into groups and asked to choose one of the two projects for their process While Dream jobs creates an opportunity for students to better understand the job they have wished to in the future by expressing their dream to the others, Career exploration is a tool to enrich students‟ knowledge of the various career options available to them and suitable to their major Further, the projects both help students be self-aware of their personality traits, work-related strengths and weaknesses, have a sense of cooperative work, and practise a number of academic skills, including information searching, processing, presentation, and teamwork (Phung, et al., 2011a) It is assumed that the students who choose Dream jobs are clear about the career path they want to follow in the future, whereas there is a fact that many students, when applying for ULIS, still are not sure about their expected jobs These students just study as scheduled and not seem to know where to start with their career In this regard, Career exploration is a true opportunity for them to kick off their start; therefore, the evaluator would like to investigate into its impacts on the students who choose this project Moreover, Career exploration was implemented for the first time in 2010 and has informally received conflicting oral comments from students Some claimed that the project was interesting, but others complained that they were burdened with the task and had to spend such a good deal of time for a mark As one of the project designers as well as a teacher involving in its process, 11 the evaluator is encouraged to conduct a formal in-depth evaluation of the project Scope of the study According to Scriven (1991), the evaluation is implemented on the basis of „relevant standards of merit, worth, or value‟ (p.47, as cited in Mertens, 2005) In other words, the evaluation process normally involves the comparison between the outcomes with the intended objectives Royse et al (2010) share the same opinion when they categorize evaluation as one type of research that helps define whether the needs are met or the participants‟ goals are attained In the case of Career exploration project, students‟ achievement is compared to the planned goals in respect of attitudes, knowledge, and skills The first two goals are those expected to be acquired by students during their involvement without any lectures, while the third involves the teaching and practice in class By the nature of the project, its primary aim is to promote students‟ changes in attitudes and knowledge in relation to their possible career path As such, this study is just to evaluate students‟ changes in attitudes and knowledge while the evaluation of skills attainment and/ or enhancement is excluded As regards attitudes, students are expected to develop: self-awareness of personality traits, work-related strengths and weaknesses, activeness and criticality in utilizing sources, and cooperative sense in teamwork In terms of knowledge, students are expected to have a grasp of the important features of relevant jobs and their possible career paths (Phung et al 2011, p.23) Any other emerging attitude and knowledge discovered during the course of the study will also be included As a matter of fact, it is difficult for students to become different in their behaviors right after the project, so achievement or „change‟ in this study refers to the students‟ awareness of the expected attitudes and 12 ... to career exploration, possibly leading to better design of counseling plans and/ or career courses 1.3.2 Evaluation 1.3.2.1 Significance and framework of career program evaluation Evaluation of. .. skills, knowledge, strategies, attitudes, etc in doing some tasks to a standard Tasks in language teaching require learners to pay primary attention to the meaning and make use of their linguistic... importance of career exploration There is no wonder that career exploration is of particular importance in eliminating initial confusion about what a person should prepare in terms of academic and