Search

This book's aim is to improve the integration of Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) theory, research, and practice, leading to more cost-effective career interventions that help persons to make informed and careful career decisions over a lifetime. The starting point for the book's content was the 2004 Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, and Lenz book, Career Counseling and Services: A Cognitive Information Processing Approach, which itself was a revision of the 1991 Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon book, Career Development and Services: A Cognitive Approach. We had four goals for this edition of our book. Our first goal was to update the theory, research, and practice of CIP theory from 2004 through the end of 2022. Our second goal was to expand the authors to better reflect the diverse community of practice that has emerged for CIP theory over the past eighteen years. Our third goal was to remove cost as a potential barrier to disseminating knowledge about CIP theory by making the book accessible as an open-access publication through the Florida State Open Publishing. Finally, our fourth goal was to disseminate the book via open-source software available in libraries which can be used to make periodic book content updates more feasible.

This book's aim is to improve the integration of Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) theory, research, and practice, leading to more cost-effective career interventions that help persons to make informed and careful career decisions over a lifetime. The starting point for the book's content was the 2004 Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, and Lenz book, Career Counseling and Services: A Cognitive Information Processing Approach, which itself was a revision of the 1991 Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon book, Career Development and Services: A Cognitive Approach. We had four goals for this edition of our book. Our first goal was to update the theory, research, and practice of CIP theory from 2004 through the end of 2022. Our second goal was to expand the authors to better reflect the diverse community of practice that has emerged for CIP theory over the past eighteen years. Our third goal was to remove cost as a potential barrier to disseminating knowledge about CIP theory by making the book accessible as an open-access publication through the Florida State Open Publishing. Finally, our fourth goal was to disseminate the book via open-source software available in libraries which can be used to make periodic book content updates more feasible.

This report summarizes major findings and recommendations of the Illinois Career Development Task Force. The first section provides background information on Task Force formation, membership, meetings, and discussion topics. The second section defines career development, based on the consensus-building process employed by the Task Force, and presents evidence of the success and limitations of past initiatives in Illinois and elsewhere in the United States. This section is followed by an examination of current gaps and calls for a coordinated system of career development in Illinois. The report concludes with recommendations, including a vision statement, guiding principles, proposed implementation strategies, and next steps. A list of the Illinois Career Development Task Force Members is appended. (Contains 40 endnotes.).

The Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) conducted a study that captures current institutional policies and practices from the perspective of admissions officers in Illinois' public and private 4-year colleges and universities. The study explored acceptance and transfer of college credits earned by high school students in dual credit courses by the selected institutions. The institutional history of dual credit, current enrollment trends, and details on institutional policies governing acceptance and denial of dual credit were examined. This brief presents selected findings from this study. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.).

Community college advising and counseling practitioners provide a productive setting for establishing a positive tone for self and academic discovery, while assisting students in finding their place within higher education. This brief compares current advising strategies for under-prepared students or students with low college readiness. One of the earliest, most referenced, and often controversial advising strategies for underprepared students employed by community college student services advisors and counselors is what Burton Clark in 1960 termed "cooling-out." This five-step process involves pre-entrance testing, counseling interviews at the beginning of the semester, mandatory orientation to college courses, improvement notices for students doing unsatisfactory work, and finally probation for those who cannot maintain minimum grades. Clark concluded that this is a process in which a student "does not fail, but rectifies a mistake." The author of this brief locates several parallels between "cooling out" to such modern career advising strategies as Cognitive Information Processing (CIP). CIP fundamentally breaks academic and career decisions down into three categories: gaining knowledge, making decisions, and understanding career thoughts. The author notes that in recent years, many community colleges have tried to both maintain standards of higher education and decrease the stigma associated with remedial education The word "remedial" has often been replaced with "developmental," reflecting the community college's view of these courses--a temporary stage of learning. Studies indicate that reframing remedial classes may cause considerable confusion in students grasping the full implications of their course decisions, and this may suggest that advising strategies with a basis in soft language that hides the true nature of remediation may cause more harm than good to students. Such pitfalls may enable advisors and counselors to reshape their strategies for maximum effectiveness. Particularly important will be clarifying techniques and goals, increasing the transparency of the advising process, and closely tying advising efforts to learning opportunities that continuously serve students throughout their community college experience. (Contains 1 table.).