The field trial of a new computer-assisted career guidance system in South Africa

Abstract

This paper describes the field test of a newly developed computerized career counselling system in South Africa. A randomly selected sample of black high school students (n=80) evaluated the system after completing the program at the University of the Western Cape. Evaluation data were collected through interviews and the Program Evaluation Questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of a number of subscales measuring 1) user satisfaction with the experience, 2) the extent to which the system helped them acquire self and occupational knowledge and identified potential career alternatives, 3) whether they found interaction with the computer rewarding, and 4) the ease with which the system can be used. The Program Evaluation Questionnaire was found to be a reliable instrument (coefficients ranging from 0.54 to 0.84) and indicated that subjects evaluated the system positively in terms of these subscales. The interviews also indicated that subjects would recommend use of the program to others, that they would prefer the computer rather than the counsellor and that they felt that the program had an impact on their career plans.