COMPUTERIZED CAREER GUIDANCE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

CHAPER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

Man in search of comfort ability struggle to meet up with good career and for this to be achieved, it has to be started as early as possible. Form time man is born, he is been studied to know what likely he will be able to do as he grows up. This has to do with his natural behavior and mental exercise display. This continues in family parents and other relaxation acting as counselling unit until the child goes in to school. In school the teacher takes over the counselling, it is   a continuous exercise until one finds his feet, then he can continues from there and equally be in a position to guide and counsel others.

                   According to Harthony (1990) stated that communication system carries a mixture of voice, data and image signals that are used effectively as intelligent rods in communication system acting as switches, multiplexes, demultiplexens protocol converters. Olorunsola and Ekong (2006) emphasized that the importance of computers in the exchange of electronic mail (e-mail) with other users, transfer of public

domain software from another computer into another disk so that anybody can run the programme on the computer and hold conference with a number of other users. This is one of the major applications of computers in communication.  The introduction of office automation and information technology has assisted to strengthen information and service delivery. According to Bhuiyan (2011) major computerization and infrastructure development in the public sector in Bangladesh has been taking place to replace internal manual work processes by ICT-based automation. Similarly, the impact of computer education on the efficiency of civil services Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. The civil servants need to be educated in ICT, so that the use of typewriters, filling of information on papers in cabinets, keeping of documents and letters in files are modernized through automotion.

                 The stages where much work is carried out on counselling is in secondary schools .This is a stage when a child is grown to be able to understand maturely and when the child’s attitude is fully studied in line with academic performance . In all secondary school across  the country , there exist a guidance and counsellor office where people knowledgeable in  the area of psychology are employed in order  to help advise the younger ones  in  school which  way forward to their future career . There people through class visitation, Observing students during recreation and calling on them at intervals for questioning, came to know the students betters and be  able to guide and counsel them in their future career probably in university or in any  other area of endeavor.

The job of counselling in secondary school is not an easy job to be taking into consideration the number students involved with respect to the number of staff involved. It is always very difficult to handle all the students and to remember everything about the students.  This Counseling exercise needs a sophisticated   system for the operation of counselling alliterates some of the problem associated with exercise.

Personal behaviour and area of interest, they keep very close marks with the students to make sure that no stone is left unturned. This aspect of ones life is taken very seriously in schools because that is mainly the reason people go to school for the academics tests and examination only. The battle of career choice is handed over to individual when he/she attain a stage of being able to duct for himself what he/she really wants and how best possible to get such height. The person can steer the wheels directly to his destination or deviate in the other way due to carelessness or youthful exuberance; but the end justifies the means. Also, sometime due to laxity and incapability on the side of the career guidance and counsellor in schools, most of the students are led astray. This is mainly due to human approach towards the implementation the exercise which can be based at anytime. In his own recommendation, Hook advised the computerization of the career guidance department for effectives and reliable react on the department activities

Holyfield (1997) argues that a good career in life, makes a lot of meaningful process in life. He made this assertion that what without comfort and where is comfort without a good career; In his own views, it takes a long and rough way to arrive and clinch a good career but when  one  finally gets to it, life comes to be what nature  made  it be, life  remains unstable like a wondering man in the career is achieved through carefulness and hard work, desire of sentiments and other side effects which can thwart the smooth direction of ones futures. Holly field (1997)   made it clear and that life is associated with a good career  and  that  such a career is  what can give full meaning of life a priceless gift of nature.

 Statistics shows that people who find good career are enjoying high standard of living and while the people who find good career are enjoying, the unlucky ones cry  of frustration and negatives social factors that limits life.

1.1     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The number of students   involved in schools counselling are   very enormous and few staff in counselling can not handle the job effectively.

It is always very easy to forget information about students and to reach all the students, contributes and problems.

Another major problem of the counselling is information storage. The made of storage of information observed from the students in different forms is not reliable and this makes the counselling to apply guess work in trying to direct students in their future career work.

This is a very big delay in taking decision on students concerning their future career. This is also because referencing to students information for decision making take s a very long time.

1.2     AIM S /OBJECTIVES

The primary aim of this projects work is to provide lasting solution to the problem affecting counselling exercise in secondary schools.

The following objectives below are the study

-To make the criteria and process involved in the exercise of counselling very easy and flexible 

 -  To carefully take care of the burden, the staff faces in trying to do the work of counselling manually.

-To provide adequate enabling environment for counselling on student to give them better career perspective

-To maintain adequate observed information on students for future reference and quick decision taking.

1.3     PURPOSE OF STUDY

The purpose of this project work is to probe into the developing a counselling software for schools with a view of creating awareness of the use computer in counselling with due consideration of this new technology advancement.

1.4  SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study is of numerous important to the guidance and counsellor department and the society in general. It will help the counsellor to always direct the students in their best career area with happiness because it will be result oriented.

It will help to eliminate the word frustration among the people which is very common in the society.

1.5  SCOPE/ DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

 The study covers the design and implementation of computerized career choice counselling system in secondary schools.

1.6    CONSTRAINTS / LIMITATION

On the course of this project work, time and finance posed a major obstacle to the researcher. This is because the study conceded with the examination period and semester was too short

1.7     DEFINITION OF TERMS

COUNSELLING:  To give advise to another

SOCIETY : this is an organized group of people living together and having things together

AUTHOMATIC : Work in  faster rate without much human direction

PROMPT:  To motivate an action

RECREATION : Time that are not invested in working , time used for relaxing

ALLEVIATE : To reduce or less something

 SOPHISTICATED : Showing great  experience

SYSTEM:  A group of thing or parts working together to achieve a purpose

PSYCHOLOGY: The study of mind and it’s function

DATA:   this is a raw and unprocessed facts used in deciding or discussing something

RECORD:   to write down event so that it can be remember d

COMPUTER :  This is an electronic device that accept raw facts as data and processes it to give useful information.

INFORMATION:   this is a fact that  has been processed.

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE

2.1     Vocational Development And Career Counseling

According to Fauth (2008), there are several types of theories of vocational choice and development. These types include trait and factor theories, social cognitive theories, and developmental theories. Two examples of trait and factor theories, also known as person–environment fit, are Holland's Theory and Theory of Work Adjustment. Holland hypothesized six vocational personality/interest types and six work environment types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. When a person's vocational interests match his or her work environment types, this is considered congruence. Congruence has been found to predict occupation and college major, Betz (2008). The Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA), as developed by Dawis and Lofquist, hypothesizes that the correspondence between a worker's needs and the reinforcer systems predicts job satisfaction, and that the correspondence between a worker's skills and a job's skill requirements predicts job satisfactoriness. Job satisfaction and satisfactoriness together should determine how long one remains at a job. When there is a discrepancy between a worker's needs or skills and the job's needs or skills, then change needs to occur either in the worker or the job environment.

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) has been proposed by Lent, Brown and Hackett. The theory takes Albert Bandura's work on self-efficacy and expands it to interest development, choice making, and performance. Person variables in SCCT include self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations and personal goals. The model also includes demographics, ability, values, and environment. Efficacy and outcome expectations are theorized to interrelate and influence interest development, which in turn influences choice of goals, and then actions. Environmental supports and barriers also affect goals and actions. Actions lead to performance and choice stability over time, Betz (2008).

Career development theories propose vocational models that include changes throughout the lifespan. Super's model proposes a lifelong five-stage career development process. The stages are growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. Throughout life, people have many roles that may differ in terms of importance and meaning. Super also theorized that career development is an implementation of self-concept. Gottfredson also proposed a cognitive career decision-making process that develops through the lifespan. The initial stage of career development is hypothesized to be the development of self-image in childhood, as the range of possible roles narrows using criteria such as sex-type, social class, and prestige. During and after adolescence, people take abstract concepts into consideration, such as interests.

Career counseling may include provision of occupational information, modeling skills, written exercises, and exploration of career goals and plans, Rahardja (2008). Career counseling can also involve the use of personality or career interest assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is based on Carl Jung's theory of psychological type, or the Strong Interest Inventory, which makes use of Holland's theory. Assessments of skills, abilities, and values are also commonly assessed in career counseling.

2.2     Training and supervision

Counseling psychologists are trained in graduate programs. Almost all programs grant a PhD, but a few grant a PsyD or EdD. Most doctoral programs take 5–6 years to complete. Graduate work in counseling psychology includes coursework in general psychology and statistics, counseling practice, and research, Mayne (2008). Students must complete an original dissertation at the end of their graduate training. Students must also complete a one-year full-time internship at an accredited site before earning their doctorate. In order to be licensed to practice, counseling psychologists must gain clinical experience under supervision, and pass a standardized exam.

Counseling psychology includes the study and practice of counselor training and counselor supervision. As researchers, counseling psychologists may investigate what makes training and supervision effective. As practitioners, counseling psychologists may supervise and train a variety of clinicians. Counselor training tends to occur in formal classes and training programs. Part of counselor training may involve counseling clients under the supervision of a licensed clinician. Supervision can also occur between licensed clinicians, as a way to improve clinicians' quality of work and competence with various types of counseling clients.

As the field of counseling psychology formed in the mid-20th century, initial training models included Human Relations Training by Carkuff, Interpersonal Process Recall by Kagan, and Microcounseling Skills by Ivey. Modern training models include Egan's Skilled Helper model, and Hill's three stage (exploration, insight, and action) model. A recent analysis of studies on counselor training found that modeling, instruction, and feedback are common to most training models, and seem to have medium to large effects on trainees, Hill (2006).

Like the models of how clients and therapists interact, there are also models of the interactions between therapists and their supervisors. Bordin proposed a model of supervision working alliance similar to his model of therapeutic working alliance. The Integrated Development Model considers the level of a supervisee's motivation/anxiety, autonomy, and self and other awareness. The Systems Approach to Supervision views the relationship between supervisor and supervisee as most important, in addition to characteristics of the supervisee's personal characteristics, counseling clients, training setting, as well as the tasks and functions of supervision. The Critical Events in Supervision model focuses on important moments that occur between the supervisor and supervisee, Ladany (2008).

Problems can arise in supervision and training. First, supervisors are liable for malpractice of their supervisee. Also, questions have arisen as far as a supervisor's need for formal training to be a competent supervisor, Westefeld (2009). Recent research suggests that conflicting, multiple relationships can occur between supervisors and supervisees, such as that of evaluator, instructor, and clinical supervisor, Westefeld (2009). The occurrence of racial micro-aggressions against Black supervisees suggests potential problems with racial bias in supervision, Constantine (2007). In general, conflicts between a counselor and his or her supervisor can arise when supervisors demonstrate disrespect, lack of support, and blaming (Ladany & Inman, 2008).

2.3     Counseling psychology

Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses research and applied work in several broad domains: counseling process and outcome; supervision and training; career development and counseling; and prevention and health. Some unifying themes among counseling psychologists include a focus on assets and strengths, person–environment interactions, educational and career development, brief interactions, and a focus on intact personalities, Gelso (2001). In the United States, the premier scholarly journals of the profession are the Journal of Counseling Psychology and The Counseling Psychologist.

In Europe, the scholarly journals of the profession include the European Journal of Counselling Psychology (under the auspices of the European Association of Counselling Psychology) and the Counselling Psychology Review (under the auspices of the British Psychological Society). Counselling Psychology Quarterly is an international interdisciplinary publication of Routledge (part of the Taylor & Francis Group).

In the U.S., counseling psychology programs are accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), while counseling programs are accredited through the Counsel for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). In all 50 states, counselors can be licensed at the masters degree level, once meeting the state and national criteria. To become licensed as a counseling psychologist, one must meet the criteria for licensure as a psychologist (4-7 year doctoral degree post-bachelors, 1 year full-time internship, including 3,000 hours of supervised experience and exams). Both doctoral level counseling psychologists and doctoral level counselors can perform both applied work, as well as research and teaching.

Counseling psychology, like many modern psychology specialities, started as a result of World War II. During the war, the U.S. military had a strong need for vocational placement and training. In the 1940s and 1950s the Veterans Administration created a specialty called "counseling psychology," and Division 17 (now known as the Society for Counseling Psychology) of the APA was formed, Heppner (2008). This fostered interest in counselor training, and the creation of the first few counseling psychology PhD programs. The first counseling psychology PhD programs were at the University of Minnesota; Ohio State University, University of Maryland, College Park; University of Missouri; Teachers College, Columbia University; and University of Texas at Austin.

The relationship between a counselor and client is the feelings and attitudes that a client and therapist have towards one another, and the manner in which those feelings and attitudes are expressed, Greenson (1967). The relationship may be thought of in three parts: transference/countertransference, working alliance, and the real- or personal-relationship, Greenson (1967).

Another theory about the function of the counseling relationship is known as the secure-base hypothesis, which is related to attachment theory. This hypothesis proposes that the counselor acts as a secure-base from which clients can explore and then check in with. Secure attachment to one's counselor and secure attachment in general have been found to be related to client exploration. Insecure attachment styles have been found to be related to less session depth than securely attached clients, Romano (2008).

2.4     Career Counseling

Counseling and career coaching are similar in nature to traditional counseling. However, the focus is generally on issues such as career exploration, career change, personal career development and other career related issues. Typically when people come for career counseling they know exactly what they want to get out of the process, but are unsure about how it may work. In the UK, career counseling would usually be referred to as careers advice or guidance.

Career counseling is the process of helping the candidates to select a course of study that may help them to get into job or make them employable. A career counselor helps candidates to get into a career that is suited to their aptitude, personality, interest and skills. So it is the process of making an effective correlation between the internal psychology of a candidate with the external factors of employability and courses.

Career counselors work with people from various walks of life, such as adolescents seeking to explore career options, or experienced professionals contemplating a career change. Career counselors typically have a background in vocational psychology or industrial/organizational psychology.

The approach of career counseling varies, but will generally include the completion of one or more assessments. These assessments typically include cognitive ability tests, and personality assessments. The two most commonly used assessments are the Strong Interest Inventory and the MBTI.

One of the major challenges associated with career counseling is encouraging participants to engage with it. For example in the UK 70% of people under 14 say they have had no careers advice while 45% of people over 14 have had no or very poor/limited advice, Parcover (1998).

In a related issue some client groups tend to reject the interventions made by professional career counselors preferring to rely on the advice of peers or superiors within their own profession. Jackson et al. found that 44% of doctors in training felt that senior members of their own profession were best placed to give careers advice, Galassi (1992). Furthermore it is recognised that the giving of career advice is something that is widely spread through a range of formal and informal roles. In addition to career counselors it is also common for teachers, managers, trainers and Human Resources (HR) specialists to give formal support in career choices. Similarly it is also common for people to seek informal support from friends and family around their career choices and to bypass career professionals altogether. Today increasingly people rely on career web portals to seek advice on resume writing and handling interviews; as also to research on various professions and companies. It has even become possible to take vocational assessments online.

Frank Parson's Choosing a Vocation (1909) was perhaps the first major work which is concerned with careers guidance.

There are lots of career guidance and counseling centres all over the world. They give services of guidance and counselling on higher studies, possibilities, chances and nature of courses and institutes.

An objective form of career counseling is through an aptitude test, or a career test. Career testing is now usually done online and provides insightful and objective information about which jobs may be suitable for the test taker based on combination of their interests, values and skills. Career tests usually provide a list of recommended jobs that match the test takers attributes with those of people with similar personalities who enjoy/are successful at their jobs.

2.5     Factors affecting admission

Whether to admit an applicant to a course is entirely the decision of each individual university. They will base their decision on a variety of factors, but primarily the grades predicted or already received in school leaver examinations. As more and more applicants are attaining higher and higher grades in the A level examinations, most universities also use secondary admissions criteria. These may include results at GCSE or Standard grade examinations (or equivalent), the references provided on the application and the information provided on the personal statement. The personal statement can often be the deciding factor between two similar candidates so a small industry has sprung up offering false personal statements for a fee. UCAS uses "similarity detection" software to detect personal statements that have been written by third parties or copied from other sources, and universities can reject applications for this reason.

The personal statements generally describe why the applicant wants to study the subject they have applied for, what makes them suitable to study that subject, what makes them suitable to study at degree level generally, any relevant work experience they have gained, their extracurricular activities and any other relevant factors. This is the only way admissions tutors can normally get an impression of what a candidate is really like and assess the applicant's commitment to the subject.

In addition to the information provided on the UCAS form, some universities ask candidates to attend an interview. Oxford and Cambridge almost always interview applicants, unless, based on the UCAS form and/or admissions tests, they do not believe the applicant has any chance of admission. Other universities may choose to interview, though only in some subjects and on a much smaller scale, having already filtered out the majority of candidates. The interview gives the admissions tutors another chance to assess the candidate's suitability for the course.

Universities are increasingly being put under pressure from central Government to admit people from a wider range of social backgrounds. Social background can only be assessed by the type of school attended, as no information about income or background is otherwise required on the UCAS form.

Another important determinant of whether an offer is to be made is the amount of competition for admission to that course. The more competitive the course, the less likely an offer will be made and, therefore, the stronger the application must be. Applicants for medicine are often expected to have undertaken extensive work experience in a relevant field in order to show their commitment to the course. For the most competitive courses, less than 10% of applications may result in admission, whereas at the less competitive universities, practically all applicants may receive an offer of admission.

Ultimately, however, no matter how many extra-curricular activities and work experience have been undertaken, if the admissions tutor does not believe, based on the submitted exam results, the candidate is academically capable of completing the course, he or she will not be admitted.

A well qualified candidate applying under UCAS for five competitive courses to each of which only 10% of well qualified candidates could be accepted would have only a 40% chance of receiving at least one offer of acceptance. Alternatively, if five less competitive courses each having a 33% acceptance rate are chosen, the chance of receiving at least one offer is more than 85%. This implies that a strategy for improving the chance of receiving at least one offer, to perhaps 70%, is indicated even to well qualified candidates.

2.6     Data and Information System

The concepts of data and information are very important in understanding issues that go with development and implementation of a computer-based information system. The term ‘data’ and ‘information’ are used interchangeably in everyday conversation as meaning the same thing. To many managers and information specialists, however, these terms have distinct meanings. According to O’Leary & O’Leary (1996:22), data simply consists of raw, unprocessed facts while information is data that have been processed by the computer.  A dictionary definition of data by Hordeski (1986:89) gives the following:

Data: A graphic or textual representation of facts, concepts, numbers, letters, symbols, or instructions suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing. …  Data is the basic element of information that is used to described objects, ideas, conditions, or situations.

Lucey (1991:109), defines data and information as follows:

Data are facts, events, transactions, and so on, which have been recorded. They are the raw materials from which information is produced. Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be useful to the recipient.

Data are facts obtained by observation, counting, measuring, weighing, etc., which are then recorded. Frequently, they are called raw or basic data and are often records of day-to-day transactions of the organisation. For example, the date, amount, and other details of an invoice or cheque, payroll details of pay, the number of students living in a particular hostel and so on.

The concept of information in an organisation sense is more complex and difficult than the frequent use of this common word would suggest. The literature emphasised that information is data that have been processed, transmitted to the recipient, interpreted and understood by the recipient. Here it should be noted that the user, not just the sender is involved in the transformation of data into information.  There is a process of thought and understanding involved and it follows that a given message can have different meanings to different people. Based on this, one can conclude that the data which has been analysed, summarised, or processed in some other fashion to produce a message or report which is conveniently deemed ‘management information’ only becomes information if it is understood by the recipient. Therefore, it is the user who determines whether a report contains information or just processed data.

Information Technology has been an integral part of academic system since almost four decades. Since the arrival of Internet technology, school system has taken a new shape and style with a blend of convenience and satisfaction. Learning from a student’s bedroom, office or anywhere in the World has made its way into university system with the advent of Internet technology. Information technology has always helped the university system to educate students in better way. To explain few examples, student online clearance is a method where the student obtains his/her clearance letter without carrying files around. This is only possible with the help of information technology. This feature is safe, fast and has no hazels. Filling out the documents and comparing options and waiting for approval is a time consuming process. Through the Internet, this process is made much easier and some times the approval is made within minutes. This explains an efficient way of obtaining clearance and saves time and money for students.