EDP 666 -- Psychology of Career Choice
Syllabus -- Spring 2003

Dr. Wm. E. Stilwell
Department of Educational and
Counseling Psychology
College of Education
University of Kentucky
859-257-3395
westil3@pop.UKY.EDU

Nature of the Course
I. Description A. This course is designed as an intermediate program focusing on the applications of counseling psychology to careers.
B. The course uses the scientist-practitioner model for counseling psychologists and for other helping professionals performing substantive work in influencing behaviors of students, teachers, parents and employers with practical skills and theoretical knowledge essential for applying psychology to careers. II. Participants

A. The course is intended for individuals who satisfy the following criteria:
  1. Educational and/or experiential background which gives evidence of an ability to profit from the instructional experiences;
  2. Employment in roles which have responsibility for substantively working with students, teachers, parents, and employers.
B. The course is not open to auditors, unless all assignments are submitted with their peers.

III. Purpose and Objectives

A. The purpose of this initial course on psychology of career choice is to improve knowledge and skills in applying psychology to career planning, management and evaluation. Multiple LISTSERVs are available on career-related themes.
B. The learning objectives are directed to:
  • increasing the students' knowledge about the interaction of psychological theory development and counseling;
  • increasing student awareness of ethical, diversity and professional issues in counseling psychology;
  • developing the student's interest in reading the counseling psychology literature; and,
  • promoting the student's critical thinking skills.
    • C. The objectives are both general and specific. In the general sense, the objectives are directed to increasing the participants' knowledge and skill about the interaction of human development and learning with career choice. The specific objectives are unique to the individual learner, and must be negotiated early in the course.

    V. Expectations

    A. Participation in the class discussions will be greatly valued. Attendance is important. Each missed day will result in a half-point deduction from your final point total.
    B. Subscribe to Course LISTSERV by the close of business on the first day of class.
    C. Prepare your webpage on schedule.
    D. Submit brief papers to the EDP666 discussion list, as attachments on the scheduled day
    E. Submit career assessment by close of business on the due date
    F. Present your scholarly paper in a power point presentation in no less than 12 minutes
    G. Submit electronically one 15-page scholarly paper on career counseling on your presentation date.
    H. Submit a hardcopy- and a web-resume before the final examination day.

    VI. Suggested Scholarly Paper Topics

    You may select one topic related to the course. If you feel you need additional help in writing your paper, please contact The Writing Center.
    Multicultural career assessment course-work at the bench mark universities
    Licensure for career counselors in five states.
    Ethical issues related to career counseling
    Pros and cons of professional licensing
    Master's level practitioners
    Employee assistant plans at the bench mark universities
    Applications of career development theories to minority clients
    The case for skill in counseling minorities (e.g., ethnicity, age, sexual orientation)
    Private practice for career counselors
    Employment trends in comparative states

    VII. Outline

    A. The course will cover the following general areas: theory development, general systems theory, career psychology theories, strategies for involving resources, performing needs assessments, specifying career psychology goals, adopting, adapting or creating appropriate materials, implementing a career psychology deliver system, evaluating program outcomes, helping clients maintain their acquired skills, and maintaining a career psychology reference system, changing workplace, and working with diverse populations.

    B. The course will use a basic text:

    Zunker, V. G. (2002).CAREER COUNSELING: Applied Concepts of Life Planning (6th). Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
    Zunker, V. G. & Osborn, D. S. (2002). USING ASSESSMENT RESULTS FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

    You will be encouraged to read a variety of journals such as CAREER DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, JOURNAL OF COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY, JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY and THE COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST.

    VIII. Evaluation

    A. Points will be derived from these three main sources:

    Participation    
      Class work 3
      PROJECT WEB 3
    Brief Papers   4
    Major Paper    
      APA Format 1
      Quality Assurance 1
      Pronouns 1
      Content 3
      Powerpoint Presentation 1
      5 URLs 1
      5 Old citations 1
    Resume   1

    B. Course grades will be assigned as follows:

    A 20-18
    B 17-15
    C 14-12

    IX. Office Hours

    Please make an appointment, preferably on-line, prior to meeting with me. Do not make an appointment for an emergency; come in. X. Cheating and Plagarism The minimum punishment for either of these offenses is an "E" in the course.

    XI. Disability

    If you are a student with a disability, please obtain appropriate certification through the Disability Resource Center. Greater understanding of student and faculty responsibilities can be found at the Engaging Differences site.

    XII. Schedule

    Turn off cell phones and pagers in class.
      Topic Lecture Notes Assignment
    1/16 Orientation to Course   PROJECT WEB
    1/21 Human in context; model for change General Systems Model

    Check for $17

    (Word95)
    1/23 Complete Strong and MBTI   No Class
    1/28 Career objectives Goals and Objectives Assignment 1
    1/30 Private Practice Dr. Jackie Rogers, CRC  
    2/04 Career objectives Goals and Objectives Assignment 1 due
    PROJECT WEB: Stage ONE Due
    2/06 Resume Preparation   Diane Kohler
    Stuckert Career Center
    Rose and Euclid
    Examine CCPTP site
    2/11 Ethics and careers   Assignment 2
    APA Code of Ethics Notes
    2/13 Ethics and careers   Assignment 2 due
    2/18 General Systems Theory   Assignment 3
    2/20 General Systems Theory   Assignment 3 due
    2/25 History of Theories History of Career Development Z 1
    2/27 History of Theories History of Career Development New Theories
    		 Z 2, 3
    3/04 Five Career Counseling Models Five Model Attributes Z 4
    PROJECT WEB: Stage TWO Due
    Outline Due
    3/06 Career Counseling Adults Younger and Older Adults Z 18, 19
    3/11 Counseling and Work Assessment Uses Z&O 1 and 2
    3/13 Psychology and Work Counseling Adults Z 20, 21
    3/18 SPRING VACATION   No Class
    3/20 SPRING VACATION   No Class
    3/25 DOT and OOH and
    Assssment in Career Counseling    		 Assement in Careers Z 7 and 8, Assignment 4 due
    3/27 Interest and Achievement Assessment Interpretations Z&O 5 and 6
    4/01 Ability, Personality and Value Self-assessment Z&O 4, 7 and 8
    4/03 Computer Assisted Counseling Career Information Delivery Systems Z 9, Z&O 11
    4/08 Career Interviewing   Z 14
    4/10 Career Interviewing Interviewing  
    4/15 Minority Development Cultural awareness Z 10, Assignment 5 due
    4/17 Women Career Development Counseling women Z 11
    4/22 AERA Presentation No Class; Meet w/ Career Planning
    Job Search
    4/24 AERA   No Class; Meet w/ Career Planning
    Job Search
    4/29 Men Career Development
    Career Counseling for G/L/B     		Counseling males
    Counseling g/l/b    		 Z 12 +13+15
    5/01 Paper presentations   Alice Erickson, Sasha Lambert, Joe Yazvac, Anna Duncan
    5/09 FINAL EXAMINATION 10:30   Erica Geers, Jonathan Leggett, Russell Hall, and Laura Moore

    "+" means URL on topic is due. Submit the URL with the following subject: "URL and the chapter title".

    Paper Outline

    In order to help you prepare your paper for this course, the following outline is suggested. In making this suggestion I am not saying that you will be evaluated on how closely you follow the outline. I am pointing out that you can effectively cover almost any topic with the following structure:

    Problem. In this section you will want to characterize the problem. You might handle part of the definition of the problem by raising some rhetorical questions which you will subsequently try to answer in the course of the full paper (about 1 1/2 pages);

    Define terms. In this section you do not have to use "define terms" as a heading, but the section allows you to establish the territory which you will cover in the paper. This statement of terms also defines the limits of your paper (about 1 page);

    Review the literature. In this section let me suggest that you provide an overview of the literature to be reviewed, a discussion of each subsection within the literature, and a summary of the points raised in your review of the literature (about 10 pages);

    Raise five research questions. Now that you have become an "expert" in your problem area, you are ready to raise some questions which heretofore have not been answered (about 1 page); and,

    Summary. In this section which is very small and probably less than a half of a page, you will summarize what you have done in the previous 13-14 pages.

    Please do not feel bound by this model. Try one which is comfortable to you. At least five of your references must be URLs, five more must be older than 20 years, and five must be less than five years old. You may have more references. . In using your references, please do use the heading and referencing systems described within the American Psychological Association's publication manual.

    All submitted papers must be accompanied by a Quality Assurance Contract. Electronic submissions included.

    (Updated August 27, 2003 7:57 )