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THE SEVEN
Drew Appleby
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
This paper was presented during the 2000 Mid-America Institute for Teachers of Psychology in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Table of Contents
» The Seven "Wonders" Of The Academic Advising World
» Strategies to help students answer the question "Who am I now?"
» Who do I want to become in the future?
Psychology majors "wonder" about many things and, in some cases (especially freshmen), they should wonder about some things of which they are not even aware. It is an academic adviser's job to help them become more aware of these "wonderful" things and to begin to discover more about them. Successful academic advisers are able and willing to provide advice that will enable their advisees to develop a realistic picture of WHO they are at the present time, WHO they would like to become in the future, WHO can help them become this person, HOW they must change to become that person, WHAT they must do to produce these changes, WHY they must accomplish these things, and WHEN must these things be accomplished. The following outline identifies these seven broad questions (which are impossible to answer in a simple manner) and a set of sub-questions that make each of them easier to answer. The remainder of this handout contains samples of materials I have collected or created during a quarter century of academic advising that have enabled me to help my students to begin to explore the answers to these questions. It is my pleasure to share them with you, and I hope that you will use them to help your students as they wonder about their past, present, and future.
1. Who am I now?
a. Why do I want to become a psychology major?
b. What are my strengths and weaknesses?
c. What is my current stage of academic development?
2. Who do I want to become?
a. What do psychologists do?
b. What kind of job can I get with a bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree in psychology?
c. Where do Marian College psychology alumni work?
3. Who can help me become the person I want to be?
a. What is an academic advisor, and what does an academic advisor do?
b. What is a mentor, and how should I choose one?
c. What can I learn from Marian College psychology alumni?
4. How must I change to become the person I want to be?
a. What do companies look for in the psychology majors they interview for jobs?
b. What are the characteristics of students who are accepted into graduate school?
c. What are the characteristics of successful graduate students?
5. What must I do to produce these changes?
a. What classes am I required to take, and why must I take them?
b. What electives should I take to strengthen my major?
c. Are internships a good idea?
6. Why must I change in these ways?
a. What can a psychology major do?
b. How will my undergraduate education help me on the job?
c. How can I get at least three reputable people to write strong letters of recommendation for me?
7. When must I accomplish these changes?
a. How can I plan my classes for the next four years?
b. What can I do to increase the probability that I will obtain a good job?
c. What can I do to increase the probability that I can be accepted by a good graduate school?
Strategies to Help Students Answer the Question "Who am I Now?"
1. Why do you want to become a psychology major?
a. I want to help people.
b. I want to make a lot of money.
c. I had a great psychology course in high school.
d. My high school counselor told me I would be a great psychologist.
e. All my friends tell me their problems.
f. I have had psychological problems myself.
g. I like research.
2. What are your academic strengths and weaknesses?
a. Incoming credentials (e.g., SAT/ACT scores and high school GPA) allow me to suggest
1) a course load (12-16 hours)
2) the type of courses to take (remedial <--> honors)
3) a crash course in study skills
b. Math, writing, and reading assessment scores allow me to determine if my advisee needs:
1) to take a math course to prepare for Statistics.
2) to be placed in our remedial writing course.
3) to be placed in our remedial Reading and College Vocabulary class.
3. What is your level of collegiate development?
a. William Perry's theory of college students' cognitive development allows me to help my advisees get a feel for the manner in which they view themselves and their education (e.g., Who is responsible for your education? Who is to blame if you get a bad grade? Why it is undesirable to take classes to "get them out of the way.").
b. Arthur Chickering's seven developmental tasks of college students allows me to help my advisees to get a feel for what they have already accomplished and what they still have to accomplish during their college education. Most importantly, it helps me to explain to students how their collegiate experience is enabling them to develop an identity, which Chickering says occurs as you develop autonomy, maturity, competence, confidence, purpose, and integrity.
Who do I Want to Become in the Future?
1. Some advisees know exactly who they want to become, have the ability, and I encourage them.
2. Some have the ability, but don't know what they want to become, and I help them to explore their possibilities by helping them to discover and comprehend the many different areas of specialization in psychology (e.g., school psychology, clinical psychology, organizational psychology, etc.).
3. Some know what they want to become, but don't have the ability, and I gently explain that there are many other ways in which they can help people (e.g., social work, campus ministry, early childhood education, etc.)
4. Some are completely clueless, so I ask them to close their eyes, imagine they are college graduates working in their perfect job, and then answer the following questions:
a. Where are you working?
b. With what kind of people are you working?
c. Why do those people come to see you?
d. What do they want you to do for them?
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