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In this qualitative study, we investigated the academic major and career decision-making processes of honors college students who were declared as “exploratory” students in their freshman year at a large, public, midwestern university. We used semistandardized interviews and document analysis as primary data collection methods to answer four research questions. Results indicated that the 17 participants used aspects of rational choice and alternate models in making decisions. They perceived both advantages and disadvantages of their multipotentiality and developed strategies, such as selecting broad or multiple majors, to offset the disadvantages. Students consulted college academic advisors less than expected when making decisions, and they expressed more concern about happiness than either job availability or earnings than did students in other studies.

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Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are formative assessment tools that require, essentially, knowledge of one's discipline and a clear desire to increase student learning. CATs can assist instructors and students in setting realistic goals for a course and in shifting the focus of instruction from teaching to learning. Although the examples described in this article are from a Spanish grammar and composition course, the techniques presented may be adapted for use in nearly any second language course.

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