Undecided Students Research Articles

The Students’ Interest on the Use of Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy in Learning English Vocabulary

The learning should be supported by an interesting strategy to make students enjoyable and interested in learning, as well as in learning English Vocabulary. The aim of this research is to investigate and describe the students’ perceptions on the use of vocabulary self-collection strategy in Learning English vocabulary. This study was a descriptive model consisting of 37 subject-students. The data were collected with a questionnaire, it was rating scale which distributed after 8 meetings of treatments, and it covered 15 positive and closed statements about the use of vocabulary self-collection strategy in learning vocabulary classroom. The questionnaire was analyzed based on the percentage of each answer. To calculate questionnaire data into percentage, the researcher used the formula where the number of frequency is multiplied to 100% then divided to the number of the total respondents. The result of the students’ perceptions indicated that vocabulary self-collection strategy is interesting strategy used in learning vocabulary classroom. The highest rank of the mean score is 56.6% of agree students, 35.5% of strongly agree students, 6.7% of undecided students, 0.7% of disagree students, and 0.2% of strongly disagree to the statements on the questionnaire.

若松論文「教員養成学部の進路未決定者が有する困難さの特質-類型化と教職志望による差異の分析を通して-」へのコメント(意見)

若松論文「教員養成学部の進路未決定者が有する困難さの特質-類型化と教職志望による差異の分析を通して-」へのコメント(意見)

Need-Supportive Advising for Undecided Students

To explore the relationship between need-supportive advising and students' decision making on academic majors, we conducted a longitudinal study of 145 students based on their reports of basic psychological need satisfaction and their decision-making processes. We hypothesized that need-supportive advising would positively contribute to autonomous and competent decision making. Results suggest that students who receive need-supportive advising at the beginning of the academic year report increased feelings of autonomy and competence about choosing a major toward the end of the year, implying that advising satisfies students' basic psychological needs throughout the year. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Am I in the right place? Academic engagement and study success during the first years at university

Entrance to university does not automatically lead to high academic engagement and success, and there may be individual differences in student engagement. In the present study, university students' (N=668) academic engagement and disengagement profiles, and the differences between them in terms of academic achievement, were investigated. Students from introductory courses were classified by Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) into homogenous groups having similar patterns according to the following variables: study engagement, study-related exhaustion, lack of interest, lack of self-regulation, and uncertainty of one's career choice. Four groups of students were identified: engaged, disengaged, undecided, and alienated. Engaged students received the highest grades, with disengaged and undecided students performing most poorly. In addition, the profiles were related to the behavioral indicators of engagement (i.e., ECTS credits). Even after two years of studying, engaged students were performing better than disengaged students. The study's implications for both research and practice are discussed.

The core conditions in counseling chronically undecided career decision-makers

ABSTRACTAuthors assert the role of the core conditions from Rogers’ work in increasing effectiveness of career counseling with chronically undecided career decision-makers in college/university settings. After reviewing the needs and context of the population, the authors provide case examples emphasizing the roles of empathy, unconditional positive regard, and genuineness in career counseling helping previously stuck clients become unstuck. The core conditions are seen as building psychological contact, motivating the client opening to self-reflection, self-acceptance, and self-realization, including previously inhibited aspects of one’s self discovered as key to career decisions. The authors illustrate an integrated balance of the personal (attending with the core conditions) with the informational (e.g. formal assessments, knowledge of the world of work) helping the counselor deepen her focus on the person within her decision. The authors’ view of the role of the core conditions with chronically undecided college students provides a fresh look at the core conditions across career counseling and other settings in which (a) client connections are inhibited, and (b) there is a need for clients to also process information, such as from assessments, within counseling.

Academic Major Decidedness

The authors investigate how job-related beliefs, professors, and families influence major decidedness for undergraduate business students. When students are decided about their major, they can focus on studies, have clearer direction, and reduce the time and number of classes necessary to complete their degree. By understanding how business students decide their academic major, universities can better direct recruitment, guidance, and retention resources. Using survey data from 410 undergraduates, the authors link job-related beliefs to major decidedness and show when students are optimistic about career potential, job structure, and the people orientedness of the profession associated with their major they will be more decided about their major. The findings also confirm the effects of professors and families on academic major decidedness. The results offered herein represent a call to action suggesting professors should spend time with undecided students, so they can better coach the students as they decide their major. Additionally, business schools should direct resources to educate family members, so they can help students decide their major. Lastly, when examining differences between first-generation and non-first generation students, the authors found professors and family members were more influential to the first-generation population. Hence, first-generation students are more receptive to guidance about their academic major.

The Undecided College Student: An Academic and Career Advising Challenge by Virginia N. Gordon and George E. Steele

Reviewed by: The Undecided College Student: An Academic and Career Advising Challenge by Virginia N. Gordon and George E. Steele Elizabeth M. Higgins The Undecided College Student: An Academic and Career Advising Challenge Virginia N. Gordon and George E. Steele Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 2015, 293 pages, $44.95 (softcover) Undecided students make up a large portion of the college going population. In addition to navigating college-level learning, these individuals have the added responsibility of identifying and deciding upon a major that complements both their personal and professional interests. The complexity of the undecided population warrants skillful and focused attention from institutions and the advisors assisting them. The current higher education priorities on retention and persistence to graduation make understanding each student’s educational and professional goals and their attainment all the more important. The diversity of the undecided population adds to the complexity of this task and, consequently, to the complexity of academic and career advising. The Undecided College Student: An Academic and Career Advising Challenge offers some clarity regarding this diverse population in order for the student affairs practitioner to understand undecided students’ needs and possible ways to assist them in the decision-making process. In addition to paying tribute to the body of knowledge and practices shared in the previous editions, Virginia Gordon and George Steele highlight the purpose of this fourth edition as providing a comprehensive examination of the undecided college student through the lens of the past and most recent research, theories, and best practices designed for the digital natives entering higher education. Chapter 1 guides the reader through almost 90 years of research highlighting early antecedents for student indecision as well as the characteristics, behaviors, and traits of the undecided student. The research focuses on the multiple career indecision types as well as the models, assessments, and instruments used to identify the intricacies within each type. Gordon and Steele specifically examine 19 studies outlining different variables and subtypes of the undecided population while summarizing undecided student characteristics. Although the chart does not cover all the available research, it does provide the reader with a rich and succinct overview. The authors discuss the influences on career decision-making such as expectations of family and society, career barriers, the calling for meaningful work, and the role of gender and culture in the decision-making process. Chapter 2, Theoretical Frameworks Relevant to Undecided Students captures the importance of using theory to inform professional practice. The authors offer a useful theoretical boot camp intended to guide practice. They review the key theories of the developmental construct, while outlining specific career identification and [End Page 900] decision-making theories. The implications for undecided students are interspersed throughout the chapter offering the reader specific advising ramifications and a better understanding of how theory and practice complement one another. Gordon and Steele highlight the importance of understanding the sub-populations within the undecided student group. Chapter 3, Types of Undecided Students dives into each sub-population providing information on needs, concerns, and potential advisor interactions that can assist students. The extensive profile of each sub-population examines its characteristics, highlighting the importance of gaining knowledge and understanding in order to provide appropriate advice and resources to meet the unique needs of the ever-changing undecided student. The importance of gathering specific information to determine each student’s level of indecisiveness, information needs, and reasons for college attendance is stressed for individual advising as well as institutional planning and decision-making. An example of an entrance survey is provided showcasing how such information can be easily obtained. Chapter 4, Administrative Models and Scope of Services begins by providing a program self-assessment instrument used to determine the comprehensiveness and scope of services. This instrument is applicable to all institution types and can be easily modified for specific needs. The introduction of an assessment tool on the first page of the chapter presents the critical nature of both program and advisor assessment and its connection to student learning. The program self-assessment tool allows for readers to gauge program effectiveness as they proceed through the chapter. Gordon and Steele also identify possible delivery systems for undecided advisement and strongly suggest the...

Degree ladder maps: Helping students make earlier, more informed decisions about educational goals

ABSTRACTCommunity college students who arrive on campus knowing exactly what they want to do and how to do it are more likely to succeed. However, many students need help to choose which educational goal to pursue. Typically, colleges refer undecided students to campus advisors and websites, but these resources are underfunded and poorly organized to help disadvantaged students sort through the literally thousands of course, program, certificate, and degree options available. This mixed methods study of a matched pair of community colleges develops degree ladder maps and course checklists—low cost, interactive tools that colleges can create and use to help their students make earlier, more informed choice of education goals.

Book Review: Redesigning America’s community colleges: A clearer path to student success by Bailey, T. R., Jaggars, S. S., & Jenkins, D. (2015)

Bailey, T. R., Jaggars, S. S., & Jenkins, D. (2015). Redesigning America's community colleges: A clearer path student success. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 304 pp. US$35.00 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-674-36828-6.How would we design the open-access community maximize the probability of student completion? Certainly not in the way most community colleges are organized today, according Thomas R. Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars, and Davis Jenkins in Redesigning America s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path Student Success. Drawing on thorough review of research, including many studies from Columbia University's Community College Research Center, they argue that the colleges are highly efficient at providing access courses in self-service or style that increased opportunity for postsecondary after World War II, but that thwarts the ambitions of students today and leaves the colleges ill prepared meet contemporary demands for increased degree completion. And although many wellintended initiatives, notably those undertaken through Achieving the Dream, have attempted increase completion rates, the authors point evidence that these projects have not substantially enhanced outcomes or-more significantly-altered the colleges' underlying organizational structures or cultures.Thus, the book's intent: provide framework for the wholesale redesign of the community college, freeing it from structures and of the college that fix the institution's gaze on enrollment and divert institutional attention from the goal of student development and success over the long term. At the heart of this redesign is revised curriculum, structured as parsimonious and easily understood set of rather than an overwhelming array of course offerings from which students, with minimal help from overworked advisers, must construct route the achievement of their educational goals. These guided pathways, described in Chapter 1, are not merely plans of detailing course requirements for transfer or degree. They are coherent, prescribed curricula developed by teams of faculty members and student affairs professionals. For students with definite career or transfer goals, these pathways consist of a default sequence of courses, each with clear learning outcomes that build across the curriculum into coherent set of skills, which in turn are aligned with requirements for successful transfer or career advancement (p. 22). For undecided students, the pathways are equally prescribed and rigorously thought out, but they are exploratory in nature, exposing students to educational and career options within broad fields or meta-majors (p. 22). Asking students select pathway puts immediately on well-defined curricular sequence without overwhelming with numerous course options.The authors also focus on complementary changes other practices (p. 50) in student guidance, instruction, and remediation (detailed in Chapters 2, 3, and 4, respectively). Here, Bailey and his colleagues show how each of these critical functions has been shaped by the self-service cafeteria framework in ways that impede completion. Student intake services such as orientation, in-person and online advising, and student success courses are well-meaning but disconnected from students' academic programs of study (p. 67), offered in many cases on an optional, self-service basis, and focused primarily on providing information without teaching students selfadvise over time. Instruction is undertaken by faculty members who work in isolation from others and simply transmit knowledge with the occasional support of professional development programs that emphasize instructional techniques rather than the instructor's growth as an educator. And remediation has, in most cases, served as an off ramp from programs (p. 51), at best delaying entry into college-level programs and, in many cases, simply diverting them from those programs entirely (p. …

Librarian as Advisor: Information Search Process of Undecided Students and Novice Researchers

Faculty librarians who advise undecided students have found the experiences of novice researcher and advisee comparable: Both groups seek to solve a problem or answer a question by finding new info...

Career decision-making difficulties of Turkish adolescents

The purposes of this study are (1) to adapt the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) to Turkish high school students and (2) to examine gender differences, grade differences, and differences between “decided” and “undecided” students. The sample consisted of 2509 adolescent students. The results showed that the structure of the Turkish version of the CDDQ was similar to the structure of the original CDDQ. The adolescent girls reported greater difficulties general indecisiveness, and dysfunctional belief difficulties than adolescent boys. Adolescent boys reported greater motivation difficulties than adolescent girls. Undecided students reported having more difficulties than decided students.

Prestige Added to Holland’s Vocational Interest Scales for the Prediction of Medical Students’ Aspired Work Environments

The current study examines the relative impact of vocational interests and prestige on medical students’ aspired work environments. The following areas were included: family doctor, specialist in a private practice, specialist in a hospital, scientific researcher, and dentist. We also added the category “undecided students.” The sample consisted of 788 medical students in their preclinical years. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that the impact of vocational interests and prestige varied as a function of the medical students’ aspired work environments. Students with investigative interests particularly aspired to become scientific researchers (compared to the reference category of family doctor), whereas students interested in prestigious careers aspired to become specialists in a private practice (but not specialists in a hospital). Students with realistic interests particularly aspired to become dentists or specialists in a hospital. This article is concluded by a discussion of the impact of the person–environment fit on students’ career decisions.

Research Studies in Higher Education: Educating Multicultural College Students

Research Studies in Higher Education: Educating Multicultural College Students is a collection of nine studies that examine the experiences of underrepresented students enrolled in colleges and universities across the US. Presenting both quantitative and qualitative findings, this book enhances our understanding of current topics such as equity, access, achievement, and retention, focusing on the experiences of students. For international students and scholars, this book offers an insight into significant hurdles faced by many multicultural and non-traditional students and recommendations presented to improve college retention and academic success. This book examines the effectiveness of programs and policies intended to assist students of color, first generation college students, low-income students, undecided students, and non-traditional students.

From the Co-Editors

From the Co-Editors

Academic Advising Experiences of First-Year Undecided Students: A Qualitative Study

Often the frontline campus representatives who interact with undecided students, academic advisors receive the opportunity to offer academic support and guidance during the academic journey, which especially benefits first-year students trying to navigate this new and challenging endeavor. As a result of their unique position, advisors have the potential to influence both students' academic experience and satisfaction with the institution. This qualitative case study focuses on the advising experiences of first-year students who were undecided in their majors while attending a high-research-activity institution. Through individual interviews, participants articulately revealed how they made meaning of academic advising.

Career interest, self-efficacy, and perception in undecided and nursing undergraduate students: A quantitative study

Career choice variables of career interest, self-efficacy, and perception were chosen based upon Social Cognitive Career Theory concepts for study between nursing and undecided undergraduate student groups. Components of the Career Search Questionnaire and Perceptions of Professional Nursing instruments were combined and adapted to form the Career Choice Survey for use in this research. This web-based survey totaling 40 questions was sent to 577 undergraduate students with a 12% response rate (N=68). Due to the need to increase nursing recruitment and retention, hypotheses were developed that distinguish if any relationship existed between groups. Findings of this quantitative study resulted in statistically significant results on two of the three variable hypotheses (p=.006 for career interest, p=.002 for self-efficacy, p=.395 for perception), aligning with previous research and provide insight into the change in nursing perception. Overall, scores for each subscale were encouraging to current nurses and expected from undecided students. Implications for practice include increases in accurate nursing portrayal in the media and early career counseling to younger populations. Nurse educators can further research in career choice with focus on continuing education for current nurses and recruitment of young nursing hopefuls.

Decided and Undecided Students: Career Self-efficacy, Negative Thinking, and Decision-Making Difficulties

The career concern differences between undecided and decided college students (N = 223) are examined. Undecided college students (n = 83) reported lower career decision-making self-efficacy, higher incidences of negative career thoughts, and more career decision-making difficulties than their decided peers (n = 143). Results reveal that undecided students are as ready to make a career-related decision as their decided counterparts but may lack or be receiving inconsistent career information. Academic advising implications include ways to more effectively serve these populations. Practical suggestions from social-cognitive career theory and the cognitive information-processing approach are provided.

From the Co-Editors

To many, academic advising is practice; to others, academic advising is theory. Some conduct research in academic advising, and who can forget assessment in this higher education climate? Advising involves all of these endeavors and more.Because effective advising begins with consideration of the best possible outcome for the student in mind, we first direct readers to the final article by Keith Powers, Aaron Carlstrom, and Ken Hughey, who provide results of a survey on assessment practices for academic advising of undergraduates. Fortunately, their data show a self-reported increase in assessment practices; unfortunately, assessment of academic advising is still in its infancy and is conducted at a minority of postsecondary institutions. This leads us to emphasize that regardless of the theoretical perspective embraced, the delivery mode for advising used, the student populations advised, the technology adopted, or any other aspects of academic advising practice and services, assessment is absolutely necessary to determine the effectiveness of the advising program (Robbins, 2011; Robbins & Adams, 2013; Robbins & Zarges, 2011).Returning to the consideration of theory, we acknowledge that academic advising as a field and discipline is unique with no overarching theory in the traditional sense (Hagen & Jordan, 2008). Rather, practitioners utilize a plethora of theories from fields such as (but not restricted to) education, counseling, human development, psychology, sociology, hermeneutics, and others. In this issue, Hilleary Himes builds upon the advising literature focused on theory to discuss the continuing need for a concerted consideration and creation of a single interdisciplinary-inspired theory for academic advising. She encourages identification and exploration of overlapping theories in advising practice through which a normative theory will likely emerge.Moving from theory, we turn our attention to articles featuring insights on practice. Catherine Robertson, Rich Lewine, and Alison Sommers present their study on productive persistence versus self-defeating perseveration in male college students. They suggest ways to assist students in pursuing effective behaviors, including termination of perseveration. Emily Bullock-Yowell, Amy McConnell, and Emily Schedin look at the role of self-efficacy and negative thinking in struggles with career decision making and suggest ways advisors can help undecided students to become more knowledgeable about and hence more self-efficacious in undertaking behaviors related to choice of major.Shifting focus more specifically to a program designed to provide support for first-year STEM students, we congratulate Kathy Rodgers, Shelly Blunt, and Linda Trible for their particularly effective effort based on outcome measures. Also, we welcome the contribution from Trudi Gaines who shares results from a survey she conducted with colleagues on students' preferences for and use of technology in academic advising. Both articles address ever-changing topics of importance among both practitioners and scholars.Finally, going full circle back to assessment, we point to the article by Cathleen Smith and Janine Allen who empirically researched whether specific student learning outcomes for academic advising, which are associated with student success, reflect commonalities across many institutions. If such similarities exist, subsequent scholars may ultimately uncover, regardless of the theoretical foundation for advising practice or because of the interdisciplinary theoretical perspective of advising, common outcomes for academic advising that students need to achieve to be successful. Here again the importance of assessment is demonstrated.This issue thus takes readers from a discussion of theory in academic advising to studies related to advising practices to the topic of technology, and it ends with a study on student learning outcomes for advising and a survey of assessment of advising practice. The breadth of topics featured herein demonstrates the continuing growth of academic advising as a field of practice and scholarship. It also points to the continuing need to assess effectiveness of advisor efforts in helping students achieve their goals.

Pre-college Profiles of First Year Students: A Typology

Students can be classified into various types according to their general characteristics and traits. Typologies of students are useful to provide a better understanding of students” behavior to assist an institution in the development of programs to maximize students” experiences and achievements. This study used a typological schema to differentiate 315 freshmen at the time of entry into the American Degree Transfer Program (ADP). Data were collected over three semesters using the Cooperative Institutional Research Freshmen Survey (CIRP), developed by the University of California, on students during their first day of the orientation week. Data reduction was done by exploratory factor analysis and K-means cluster analysis was used to obtain categorical typology of students. We identified seven distinctive and meaningful students” types, namely Leaders, Status Strivers, Scholars, Undecided, Uncommitted, Artists and Social Activists. The Uncommitted and Undecided represented the largest subgroups of freshmen standing at 28% and 25% respectively. Uncommitted students scored negatively on all variables pertaining to career success, self-confidence, social concern, academic matters and artistic abilities. Undecided students reported their choice of the ADP was largely influenced by their parents, school teachers and school counselors. The findings of this study can be leveraged to academic interventions and special guidance to specific at-risk subgroups so as to produce positive outcomes at the exit point. It can also inform institutional marketing to focus on those people who play a significant role in a student”s choice of a university.

Recruiting Science Majors into Secondary Science Teaching: Paid Internships in Informal Science Settings

Despite the importance of recruiting highly qualified individuals into the science teaching profession, little is known about the effectiveness of particular recruitment strategies. Over 3 years, 34 college science majors and undecided students were recruited into paid internships in informal science settings to consider secondary science teaching as a career. Analysis of interns’ subsequent career plans revealed the internships were not effective in recruiting the interns into the secondary science teacher education program, although many interns thought they might consider becoming teachers later in their lives. Reasons for not pursuing teaching included continued indecisiveness, inflexibility of required plans of study, and concerns about teachers’ pay and classroom management.