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Running head: Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton
Educational Park

Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton

Educational Park

Insia R Ahsan
Wayne State University
Technical Communications
3 April 2016

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
Park

Wayne State University

42 W Warren Ave,
Detroit, MI, 48202
April 3, 2016
Plymouth-Canton Educational Park
8400 Beck Rd,
Canton, MI, 48187
Dear Erin MacGregor,
This document contains a report that discusses a program focused on developing career goals and
effective planning for college. This report follows an earlier proposal submitted on March 6,
2016 in which I discussed a possible addition of a program to the schools already existing
structure that would make it much easier for students to make effective goals and plans for their
future college careers and vocational identity.
I have proposed a class based of students suggestions and research that would make the above
goal possible.

Class would be taught for a semester in the senior year of the students
Focus on discussion of variety of fields and jobs within those fields
Guest speakers from different occupations
Activities and tasks conducted to give students an idea of what it would be like to hold a
certain kind of jobs
Clearer information passed on to let students know where to go in order to get answers to
their questions.

This proposed program is tailored to students needs which were identified from a survey and
analysis of previously conducted research on how to make the college experience more effective
for students in terms of their career goals.
Thank you for your time in allowing me to research this solution. If you have any further
questions, contact me at ez0372@wayne.edu.
Sincerely,
Insia Ahsan

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Table of Contents
Letter of Transmittal.. 2
Executive Summary... 4
Introduction... 5
Background 6
Research Methods.. 7
Results 8
Source Documents. 10
Proposed Program.. 12
Conclusion. 14
References..... 15
Appendix (survey notes) 16

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Executive Summary
Coming into college is a very huge transition for many students and for many students
just entering they dont have a very good idea of what field they want to pursue. While
eventually they do get all of their problems addressed after being in college for a couple years
students realize what information would have been very helpful in making their college
experience more effective. From the surveys I conducted I was able to identify what information
would have been helpful to know before and what suggestions they have for PCEP to make it
easier for students coming into college have a better plan for themselves to get their degrees in a
subject they are interested in and without losing too much time and money.
Combining research and survey results I found that students want more information on
what types of jobs are available in different fields of study like engineering and different
occupations within health occupations. They also wanted to have more information on what
graduate schools expect from them besides just their undergraduate degree along with financial
advice on taking loans and accepting scholarships. Planning ahead for careers is very important
for most students in their senior year. While PCEP does have a day where counselors meet with
students in mass group meetings to talk about college planning those days are particularly
tailored to the needs and questions for students in the meeting. It would be hard to add many
clases like the web design classes and Health Occupations for all fields so in order to get the
students the information they need while keeping everything within a structure I propose we only
add one new class to PCEP which would incorporate financial advice, description and
exploration of other careers and guest speakers to give students a better idea of what life in that
specific career would be like.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Introduction
The transition from high school to college is a big part of any students life. Some
students come in not having any idea what they want to do in their futures, others will come in
with a good idea of what they would like to pursue. After being at the college or university for
some years there are many things that students wish they had known earlier about different
available fields, the kinds of jobs offered in those fields, and more information on what classes
are best to take for graduate schools. While all of these issues are addressed during the college
experience and people do eventually find their way experimenting and discovering what classes
and other requirements are better for graduate schools, this most often costs time and money. If
the students were provided with this general information before hand they would be able to
create strong career goals and plan ahead more effectively for college. This would help cut back
on the time and money students lose when they are exploring what they want to do.
The objective behind my research in this topic was to pinpoint what information related
to college planning students believe would have been helpful to know earlier on in their college
careers and what details about different fields of study and career options within those fields
would be helpful in forming strong career goals for the students to work towards. Using this
information I will develop a curriculum for a semester long class that would be taught sometime
in the senior year of high school. This class will be designed to help students get a better idea of
what kinds of jobs are out there, what kind of a lifestyle people in those jobs lead, what are
common tasks given to people working in those specific jobs, and what classes are best to take
for graduate school should that career require it.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Background
Currently at Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (PCEP) there are a few career oriented
classes being offered. One of those classes is Health Occupations, throughout that class students
learned about the different jobs they could hold in the health care field and what kind of lifestyle
people in those jobs lead. They also learned how to complete tasks common in the health care
field such as: hand washing, opening a sterile pack, taking vitals, and getting certified in CPR.
Computers and web design classes were also available for students to take. These types of
classes were not available for other fields.
During the junior year counselors hold mass meetings for an hour where they quickly
touch on how to apply to college, some basic general education courses, benefits of taking
summer classes, and potential savings from taking courses at community college. PCEP also has
a career center where students could go and take quizzes on their interests which would give
them the titles of careers their interests lined the up with, but the results do not give much more
than that. The teachers in charge of the career center do guide students to other resources that
would give them more information on the careers. Going to the career center is not mandatory
and anybody wanting to go there has to go there on their own time.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Research Methods
In order to create this report I conducted surveys among students who had previously
attended PCEP and researched in academic journals that focused on vocations and education.
The survey asked questions about what the students plans were upon entering college, if and
how those plans changed, along with what information they wished was more readily available
for their use. The survey also had a question on what suggestions the students had for the school
to help the students with their career planning. Within the journals I looked for articles that
focused on students with undecided majors, other high school career planning programs, as well
as articles that discussed reasons behind students indecision with majors.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Results
From my responses from the survey that I sent out to previous PCEP students, I found
that the majority of the participants in the survey had a vague idea of what field they wanted to
pursue. Participant 1 had locked in on their plan coming in to college deciding to go Wayne State
University to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering. The information they wished they had before
hand was related to AP classes and how looking back now they would have benefitted greatly
from knowing that taking AP classes could potentially save the student a lot of money in college.
Their suggestion was geared towards encouraging students to take AP classes and guide students
to taking personal finance classes to help them understand loans and scholarship options when
they reach college.
Participant 2 was planning to take pre-med courses and had to take a little time to decide
on their major. They wanted to have more information on what medical schools are expecting
and suggested that the school find a way to not only prepare their students for undergraduate
college but also their careers. It took Participant 3 until their sophomore year before they were
able to decide on a bio major even though coming in they knew they wanted to do a bachelors of
science in some field. They wished they could have talked to other students on when they
thought it best to declare majors and the benefits to doing so then. Their suggestion was to have
students research what classes they would need beforehand along with any job or volunteer
experience their careers required.
Participant 4 came into college planning on taking Pre-med classes and took two years
before finally deciding that they did want to be a doctor and continue with their plan. They did
not know about direct programs before and wish that they had more details on that program

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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before. They said that while they were there, there werent many options for exploring careers
but that they also think that the school is getting better on that front.
Participant 5 knew that they wanted to study something in the engineering and it took
them time to decide on what career in the field of engineering they would pursue. They reported
that their high school experience gave them a strong outlook on my strong and weak spots in
different subjects. Before coming to college they would like to have known the different options
on career choices, this student took a web design class that helped them get an outlook on
technology. They suggested brining in speakers from different careers to discuss potential
options students have.
Participant 6 reported planning on a BME degree at Wayne State University, while they
did not have time where they were undecided with their major they did change their major and
are now thinking about medical school. They replied that their high school experience helped
them realize interests in biology, chemistry, and math. They wished that they had more
information on general information of different career options, knowing beforehand that Wayne
States BME program was not accredited, and opportunities about medical school. While this
student did not take a career oriented class they did wish that they had taken the Health
Occupations course to get a better understanding about the health careers. They suggested that
high school students take all opportunities to shadow people in different occupations so that they
wouldnt have to spend money unnecessarily on classes that they would not need for their
degrees.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Source Documents
Hiebert et al (2001) sated that in order to develop an effective and all inclusive
guidance and counseling programs it is important to assess the needs of the students. According
to this study, hearing directly from the students and not just inferring their needs will help ensure
that whatever is being done within the program is actually helping to meet the needs of the
students. Students turn to and are most influenced by school administration, teachers, other
school staff members, and other available adults who are good sources of information when it
comes to career planning (Hiebert et al, 1998, Pyne et al, 2002). From the study conducted in the
article Senior high school career planning: what students want, researchers found that career
planning became more important to students as they got older. The students who said in their
survey that career planning was not very important to them right then did claim that they thought
that it would become very important later on in their lives.
Table 1: Age and Importance of Career

**Kim Witko, Kerry Bernes, Kris Magnusson, Agela Bardick, 2005

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Most students who participated in the research from the What students want study
expressed a desire for more concrete information on courses, post-secondary information, and
careers. Many seniors also reported wanted better counseling in the way of information and
advice also wanted to get more information on getting job experience (Witko, 2005). The results
of the study do not mean that this information is not available to students but that the students
need help in being pointed in the right direction to find the information they are seeking out.
Another article that conducted research on the effect of a career course on
undecided college freshman found that classes focused on careers and guiding students had a
positive impact on them finding a vocational identity (Rayman, 1983). He found that the affect
of the class became stronger as time passed in the class even if it did not happen very steadily.
Rayman also found that there are some common facts that help encourage creating a vocational
identity which are: obtaining occupational information, benefitting from group sessions of
advice, and structuring fro career theories and interest inventories.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Proposed Program
The program I propose the school adopt in order to encourage career goal
development and effective early planning for the college experience is to add one class to be
taught for one semester at some time during the students senior years. For the beginning few
weeks of the course, the teachers would focus on discussing the major fields of study and jobs to
be held within those fields. Each job or career would be allotted three to four days for the tasks.
For each career one day there should be some activity conducted with all the students so they can
get an idea of what kinds of tasks they would be asked to do while working the field. Another
day would be dedicated to calling in a guest speaker to talk about their job and education as well
as give a general idea to what the lifestyle in that particular job is like. A third day would be
focused on talking about colleges that have accredited degrees for those careers in the state as
well as pointing out important pages on their websites that students could explore for more
information.
For the later few weeks of the course the class would focus on any careers the students in
that class feel most interested and do the same thing with the activities, guest speaker, and
talking about schools. Another important thing that should be focused on is for teachers to
provide information on financial options like loans and scholarships. The last few days of the
class should focus on answering any remaining questions the students have in their exploration
of careers. Using this program instead of adding multiple classes for each career only one
program will have to be added. There would be a structure that instructors could follow and also
leave days that students would be able to get their input so that the class is effective and tailored
to their needs and questions.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Students in the survey expressed that it would be a good idea to have career courses in
the school. The currently offered Health Occupations course and Web Design courses only cover
two of the many occupations out there. Career courses would fall under the category of elective
classes. On average it costs about $512 per student to implement elective courses in schools,
class size is a key determinant on how much a school spends on students in a particular class.
Most often elective class sizes are larger than core classes which also means that the teachers
teaching those courses need to be paid more (Roza, 2009). Instead of adding a few classes
dedicated to different careers it would be more cost effective to add one class that gives an
overview on different career tasks, education options, and more information on what kind of
lifestyle different careers offer. This would be an especially good option for those students who
have no idea what they want to do, because with one class they would be able to touch on many
different careers. Those students who do have an idea what career paths they would like to
pursue can get good tips on where to find the answers to any questions they have.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Conclusion
From my surveys I found that there are quite a few pieces of information that
students wish they could have received before coming to college that would have helped them
focus on career goals and plan for college classes more effectively. From research it is proven
that career courses have a positive impact on forming goals and working towards them
efficiently. It is very important though to make sure that students are asked what information
they want and what they want to explore so the class is effective for their needs.
Putting this program into action would allow for students to get an idea of the most
common careers and see the pattern of the class. If the students in that section want to discuss
other careers there is room left in the curriculum that would allow for the students input to be
explored the same way as the careers talked about in the beginning of the class. The curriculum
attends to the responses of the students on their suggestions and what they wished to know as
well as what information research has proven to help students plan ahead effectively for college
and careers.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Refrences
Hiebert, B. (1998). Guidance-related needs of junior high school students. Guidance and
Counselling, 14, 3-9. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
Hiebert, B. (2001). Needs assessment for program planning and program developent: A brief
review. Alberta Counsellor, 26, 11-18. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
Pyne, D. (2002). A description of junior high and senior high school students' perceptions of
career and occupation. Guidance and Counselling, 17, 67-72. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
Rayman, J. (1983). The Effects of Career Course on Undecided College Students. Journal of
Vocational Behavior, 23(3), 346-355. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
Roza, M. (2009). Breaking Down School Budgets. Education Next, 9, 29-33. Retrieved April 7,
2016.
Witko, K., Bernes, K. B., Magnusson, K., & Bardick, A. D. (2005). Senior high school career
planning: What students want. Journal of Educational Enquiry, 6, 34-48. Retrieved April
3, 2016.

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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Appendix
Survey Responses Grouped

What year did you graduate from PCEP?(6 responses)

2013
2013
2013
2013
2014

2013

What was your plan for college at the time you graduated high
school?(6 responses)
Pre-med
Wayne state bachelors of science
PreMed
Go to Wayne State University to pursue a degree in Civil engineering
Engineering

BME at WSU

How did those plans change throughout your college experience if at

all?(6 responses)
Still the same
They did not chanfe
Yes, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a doctor so I was confused for two years.
They did not change
decided on what field of engineering

Changed majors... thinking about medical school.

Were you ever undecided with your major? If so, how long?(6 responses)
No
No
Yes, 1-2 months
I declared bio major my sophomore year
no

No

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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If you were undecided for more than a year, how did that affect your
ambition to continue school and your goals?(4 responses)
N/A
N/A
No
-

N.A.

How well did your high school experience prepare you to make strong
career goals?(6 responses)
Very strongly
Not that well. College has more opportunities to prepare us
Very Well
It prepared me very well
gave me an outlook on my strong and weak spots in different subjects

helped me realize interests in bio/chem/math

What information do you wish you had received or had easier access
to that you think would have helped you to have clearer goals early
on?(6 responses)
More info about what med schools are expecting
Student testimony of when to declare a major and the benefits of doing so
I wish I had known about direct programs.
I wish teachers would have emphasized more how AP classes could save you tons of money and time
when you got to collge
different options on career choices.- what are the possibilities out there.

general info regarding career options, more info on BME program being not accreddited, more
opportunities to get involved with the medical field

Did you take any career oriented classes at any time in high school
that would have helped you have a better idea on what an actual job
in the field would be like? If so, please provide the name of the class
and a general description of what you did in that class.(6 responses)
No

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Program to Promote Career Goal Development and College Planning in Plymouth-Canton Educational
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No
No
none
yes., web design- learned HTML and web designing and gave me an outlook on technology

No. I wish I had taken the health occ class to understand more about the health careers.

Looking back, what are some suggestions you would give to the
school in regards to what they could do to guide students to make
strong career goals before entering college?(6 responses)
Prepare students not only for undergrad but also their careers.
Research what that career means for you in regards to the classes you need to take and what kind of
job/volunteer experience you may need beforehand
PCEP is doing really good preparing students for college, but when I was there, there weren't many
options for exploring careers like there are now. Now they have all the academies that do just that.
Encourage them to take AP classes. Have students takea a personal finance class to help with navigating
through loans and scholarships when they get to college.
maybe do like speakers on different career choices you could make in life

Shadow in high school so you dont spend money unneccessarily on classes they end up not needing for a
degree.
If necessary, take a year off before entering college so you know for sure what you want to do with your
career. Or take gen-eds the first year while shadowing or getting involved with internships during the first
year.