A comparison of an academic and nonacademic-based advising program for nontraditional and traditional college freshmen
Abstract
A comparative study investigated the effectiveness of two advising approaches with two groups of college freshmen, both those for whom success was predicted and those considered at-risk based on high school records and SAT scores. The academic and social integration process of traditional Caucasian American and minority (Hispanic, Asian, Afro-American) students was studied to determine how students' integration into the college community related to academic and nonacademic variables. One group of similarly matched students received a nonacademic based advising approach. The second comparative group received academic based advising. The advising mode for students in the nonacademic based advising group involved the utilization of counseling skills and techniques focusing on college adjustment issues such as self-confidence, making friends, parental and sibling relationships, stress, and self-esteem. The counseling procedures used in this approach included focusing on the student's problems from her/his cultural perspective and adjusting helping techniques to the life experience of these students. Advising for students in the academic based advising groups incorporated traditional counseling/advising methods which focused on academic issues such as program choice and course selection. The advising/counseling procedures used in this approach incorporated discussion of academic opportunities, personal interests, abilities, and career goals. The ANOVA results indicated that the two independent variables, advising modality and predisposition toward success, were significantly correlated with the first semester mean grade point averages and self-concept and realistic self-appraisal mean standard T scores. Students in the nonacademic based advising group achieved significantly higher scores on these three dependent variables. The nonacademic based advising modality appears to relate to academic success and persistence in college. Students, regardless of cultural background and predisposition toward achievement, who received nonacademic based advising achieved significantly higher first semester mean grade point averages than students receiving traditional academic advising. Although differences in second semester enrollment status was statistically nonsignificant, 100% of the participants in the nonacademic based advising group enrolled for the second semester. The nonacademic based advising approach seems to have responded effectively to the needs of success and at-risk students during the separation and transition stages of intellectual and social adjustment to the college experience.
Subject Area
Academic guidance counseling|Educational psychology|Higher education
Recommended Citation
McManus, Mary Alma, "A comparison of an academic and nonacademic-based advising program for nontraditional and traditional college freshmen" (1992). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9226424.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9226424
