The Effect of career group guidance to high school students to choose the professional area in accordance with their interests and abilities

This study was carried out in order to elucidate whether group guidance designed to help freshmen at general highschools to discover their interests and abilities as well as to inform them about professional areas and the required abilities and interests associated with lessons in the prospective areas had any effect on the students' choice of a professional area in accordance with their interests and abilities. This investigation is an experimental research work based on preliminary and final tests with a control group. This study was carried out with freshmen at the highschool during their first and second term of the educational year 1999-2000 at the Prof Dr Şevket Raşit Hatipoğlu highschool. The 253 participants were between 14 and 15 years old. The following tests were applied: a test to measure academic personality (i.e. their abilities and interests), and a test to evaluate professional areas in accordance with perceived abilities and interests. The test results of 240 participants showed that the relation between the abilities and interests measured with the academic personality test and the professional area which the participants regarded as adequate with respect to their perceived abilities and interests yielded no meaningful results. Of these participants 2 random groups were established, an experimental group comprising 25 persons (14 male, 11 female) and an equally strong control group (13 male, 12 female). However, since six students from the experimental group ceased to take part in the group guidance, the experimental group was reduced to 19 persons (11 male, 8 female). The control group was reduced to 24 persons (13 male, 11 female) because one person dropped out of school. The students in the experimental group received over the period often weeks 90 minutes of group guidance once a week. After completion of this period, the members of the experimental and the control group were again subjected to the test measuring their academic personality and the test to evaluate professional areas inIV accordance with perceived abilities and interests. The results were evaluated. In order to determine the difference between the results of the evaluation of professional areas in accordance with perceived abilities and interests as stated by the students after group guidance, the results of the preliminary and the final test for the different groups, a double directed variance analysis was carried out. In order to determine the appropriateness of the choices of the students in the experimental and the control group, X evaluation was carried out. However, if the value expected for 2x2 tables is smaller than 5, Yate's correction formula is applied. The X2-value was corrected with Yate's correction formula. As the result of the applied group guidance programme, an increase in the between the preliminary and the final tests of the experimental group could be observed. It was observed that the students of the experimental group had undergone a development with respect to their ability to determine their interests and abilities. The result was found to be significant to the degree of p = 0,037. However, the value X2, which was obtained after correction with Yate's correction formula, yielded with p < 0,05 no significant result. The findings were interpreted and discussed, and proposals were put forward.