Psychology majors develop a number of academic skills during their studies that are valuable in future careers and other domains. However, assessment of experiences related to skill development can be quite difficult and resource intense. In 3 studies we present results using a skills-experience inventories to assess academic skill exposure. In the first study, graduating senior psychology majors scored significantly higher than freshmen in 7 skill experience areas. The second study showed significant differences in exposure to 5 skill areas among graduating seniors in 4 academic areas. The third study documented the skill experiences that students would encounter in specific coursework. A skills-experience inventory may be an efficient tool for documenting the skill experiences students encounter when majoring in psychology.
The literature indicates a strong need for outcomes assessment of academic skill areas in undergraduate education. This is thought to be a difficult undertaking, requiring much time and effort in the construction of testing materials and data collection. Some have cautioned that quantitative measures are not possible, however qualitative assessment would be time-consuming and would not facilitate comparisons between students or longitudinally over the course of their education. Unless additional funding was provided to support these endeavors, the diversion of faculty time would be a problematic issue. As the quality of the educational program is the primary concern, efforts which distract faculty from the duties of course work may be counterproductive.
Students are also expected to benefit from this assessment. Through completion of the inventory, students may become aware of skill areas they did not previously recognize as assets. Students could see their relative strengths and weaknesses in skill areas related to their career goals. This may spur students to enhance their abilities in areas valued by potential employers or graduate programs. In addition, students may be able to more effectively market themselves to employers when they have an understanding of competencies that can be generalized to work related tasks.
The goal of these studies was to develop effective and efficient assessment tools measuring the skill experiences, without taxing the resources of the department. Psychology departments have used attitude and satisfaction surveys to supplement grades and standardized testing (Murray, 1999). Although student satisfaction is important, it does not clearly indicate gains in academic areas. A preliminary study used students' self-reported estimates of abilities on specific skill related tasks. Although this may have provided students with information on their relative strengths and weaknesses in the different skill areas, individual differences in self-efficacy produced response tendencies that were too great to make between-subjects comparisons meaningful. A sizable portion of seniors consistently rated themselves low, while many freshmen gave themselves high ratings for skills they may not even have exercised, such as the use of data analysis software. It was this result that led us to construct the experience based skills inventory.
The challenge was to develop an efficient quantitative measure of skill experiences that could distinguish between individuals of varying skill levels. The cluster of skills developed through psychology programs are thought to be distinctive but elusive (Hayes, 1996). This study sought to examine the gains in academic skill areas though the course of an undergraduate psychology program. A cross-sectional comparison was made between graduating seniors majoring in psychology, and freshmen psychology majors in fall semester Introductory Psychology classes.
Skill experience inventory used in Study 1
One of the most common questions college students are asked is "what is your major?" One's choice of study is expected to relate to the profession pursued after graduation. The course content in one's major field should correspond with the knowledge, skills and abilities required in one's desired occupation. Thus, one of the most obvious contextual difference in the academic experience is the major field studied. Research on the differential effects of various academic tracks is scarce. Comparatively little attention has been devoted to determining whether differential course work leads to differential learning. Studies which have been conducted typically use the general Graduate Record Exam (Ratcliff and Associates, 1988).
Once significant differences between freshmen and senior psychology majors had supported the validity of the skill-experience inventory, the next logical step was to make a comparison of the skill acquisition of students in different majors fields. Some have argued that the psychological skills and specific items of knowledge are not what makes psychology distinctive, but rather the range of knowledge and skills developed (Hayes, 1996). Psychology combines communication skills, interpersonal skills, critical thinking skills, information gathering skills, research skills and data analysis skills. Topics such as ethical issues are discussed, and students are able to obtain practical experiences through internships and lab courses.
It was hypothesized that the psychology major is particularly effective in developing a broad range of skills in comparison to other majors. Humanities majors may be strong in areas related to communication, but will most likely lack research skills. Students in the natural sciences are expected to be strong research skills, but may be weaker in areas such as interpersonal and information gathering and communication skills. It may also be useful to compare majors from other social sciences to psychology majors, to determine if these programs have a similar range of skill experiences.