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career decision-making self-efficacy are associated with increased interest and perform-
ance in career decision-making tasks and behaviors, whereas low career decision-making
self- efficacy is associated with decreased interest and performance in career decision-
making tasks and behaviors (Creed, Patton, & Watson, 2002). Reese and Miller (2006)
found that students who completed a career development course reported higher levels
of career decision-making self-efficacy, specifically in areas related to obtaining occu-
pational information, setting career goals, and career planning. Students who com-
pleted a career development course also reported fewer perceived career decision
difficulties.
Good arguments can be made about placing a course on careers in psychology at either
the beginning of the academic work in the major or as a capstone course. Placing such a
course at the start of academic work in the major may enhance students’ academic experi-
ence by explicitly introducing foundational academic skills and discipline-specific skills.
A careers course placed early in the undergraduate program can direct students to resources
within the university that they can draw on to facilitate their academic success. Students
are encouraged at an early stage in their academic career to clarify their educational and
vocational goals and develop a framework to guide their progress toward achieving these
goals. The University of West Florida adopted the introductory approach to a careers
course whereas Valdosta State University adopted a senior capstone approach. Both courses
address issues related to thinking critically about a career in psychology.
Thinking Critically About Careers in Psychology
in an Introductory Course
The Careers in Psychology course offered at the University of West Florida is a 1-semester-
hour online course. The course consists of a series of modules, each built around specific
student learning outcomes. Students earn course grades on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
(S/U) basis. Students must achieve mastery in each module to earn a grade of Satisfactory.
Some course modules serve an advising function whereas other modules introduce foun-
dational academic skills that students will use and develop in subsequent course work
(a complete list of student learning outcomes appears in Table 19.1).
Although the Careers in Psychology course has a number of learning outcomes that are
not related to critical thinking, the focus here is on those aspects of the course that directly
relate to critical thinking. These aspects include the following modular learning
outcomes:
●
Identification of the course requirements for completing a degree with a major inpsychology
● Information literacy skills (using library databases to identify useful sources; distin-
guishing between types of arguments made in media sources and scholarly sources;
good authorship practices, including paraphrasing skills to prevent problems with
plagiarism; introduction to the basic elements of editorial style of the American
Psychological Association)