Characteristics of Computer-Assisted Guidance

The role of the computer in careers guidance

“…Again, Walz (1984) noted that 'many who have experienced computer-assisted counseling feel that it was an extremely 'personal' experience because the interaction with the computer was so focused on them' (p. 136). This can be exploited in a phoney way, and I wholly agree with the condemnation by Katz and Shatkin (1983) of systems which repeatedly address clients by name and personalise each message ('Hello, John, glad to see you'). As Katz and his colleague say, with characteristic wit and wisdom: 'a machine pretending to be a person seems no more tolerable than a person pretending to be a machine' (p. 24).…”

“…During the late 1960s and 1970s, a large number of systems were developed, of which SIGI and DISCOVER are probably the most prominent learning systems, while the Canadian CHOICES system is regarded as one of the most prominent information-processing systems (Jacobson and Grabowski, 1981/82; for a particularly penetrating analysis of the American systems, see Katz and Shatkin, 1983). As a broad generalisation, it seems that information-retrieval and information-processing systems have been the most popular approach among guidance services located in employment services, while learning systems have been more popular in education-based services.…”

“…Others relate in more detailed ways to the underlying model of career decision-making which is being used: these include the domains that are to be covered, the hierarchy and sequence to be established between them, and the dimensions to be covered within these domains. Further issues include such matters as the relative emphasis to be placed on psychometric test ratings, on counsellor ratings, and on client self-ratings, and the decision rules to be used in determining which opportunities meet clients' characteristics and preferences (for a valuable discussion of these and other related issues, see Katz and Shatkin, 1983). A basic question underlying many of these matters is the extent to which the system imposes a strong normative model of career decision-making, and the extent to which it responds to the idiosyncratic thought-processes, concepts and constructs of the individual decision-maker (see Wooler, 1985;Wooler and Wisudha, 1985).…”

A Differential Feature-Cost Analysis of Seventeen Computer-Assisted Career Guidance Systems

“…Bloch and Kinnison (1989), Harris-Bowlsbey (1983a;1983b;, Heppner and Johnston (1985), Gati and Fassa (1997), Katz andShatkin (1983), andMcKinlay (1984) suggested features which were used to develop system content criteria. The criteria for user friendliness were taken from the evaluation standard developed by Sampson and James (1984) as well as features described by Heppner and Johnston (1985) and Bloch and Kinnison (1989).…”

A reaction to an analysis of nine computer-assisted career guidance systems

“…The conceptual framework used for organizing the information is sound and well-developed. It was based using criteria and evaluation standards developed by recognized and knowledgeable experts including Katz and Skatkin (1983), HarrisBowlsbey (1983a;1983b), Maze (1985), and Super (1973). The analysis of the nine systems was based on four classes of relevant variables including information for decision-making, user friendliness/human factors, support materials and service variables, and system specific and constant cost variables.…”