THE EFFECTS OF TWO COURSES, ASSESSMENT AND ADVISEMENT AND CAREER EXPLORATION ON ACADEMIC ORIENTATION, ACADEMIC MOTIVATION, AND LOCUS OF CONTROL IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of two courses, Assessment and Advisement for Student Development and Career Exploration, on the academic orientation, academic motivation, and perceived locus of control on community college students. The study explored the correlation between internal locus of control and intrinsic motivation and between academic orientation and intrinsic motivation. Finally, the study tested the difference in academic orientation scores for those students who had and those who had not selected a college major but all of whom had completed the course Assessment and Advisement for Student Development. These two individualized, self-paced courses are taught for credit at Mesa Community College. The experimental hypotheses were focused around the following research problems. The first question was "Does completion of an individualized study guide in Assessment and Advisement for Student Development affect students' academic orientation, perceived locus of control, or their academic motivation?" The second research question asked, "Does completion of an individualized study guide in career exploration affect students' academic orientation, perceived locus of control, or their academic motivation?" The third question was "Does completion of the course Assessment and Advisement for Student Development have more effect on academic orientation, perceived locus of control, or academic motivation than completion of the course Career Exploration?" The fourth research question was "What relationships exist between the Academic Orientation scale of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and the Intrinsic Motivation Scale of the Merritt College Motivation Inventory?" The fifth research question asked, "What relationships exist between the Intrinsic Motivation scale of the Merritt Collge Motivation Inventory and the Rotter Locus of Control Scale?" The sixth research question asked, "Is there a difference in academic orientation scores measured by the Strong-Campbell Interest inventory for students who have and have not selected a college major and have completed the course Assessment and Advisement for Student Development?" The research designs used included a pretest posttest control group design for questions one, two, and three. A posttest only control group design was used for question six. A correlational study was done with questions four and five using pretest scores. The experimental condition was made up of eighty-four new student volunteers randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group. One group participated in the course Assessment and Advisement for Student Development, the second group participated in the course Career Exploration, and group three was the control group. The instruments used to measure the dependent variables were: The Merritt College Motivation Inventory, the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, and the Rotter Locus of Control Scale. The results of a t test for non-independent means revealed that Assessment and Advisement for Student Development did not significantly affect academic orientation scores but did increase intrinsic motivation and internal locus of control and decreased goal deficiency. Results of a t test for non-independent means revealed that Career Exploration significantly increased academic orientation, intrinsic motivation, self-enhancement, and internal locus of control. A t test for dependent means indicated that there was not a statistically significant difference in the effects of the two treatment groups. A Pearson Product-moment Correlation Coefficient was computed and an r test of significance was used to determine that there was a significant linear relationship between intrinsic motivation and academic orientation and between intrinsic motivation and internal locus of control