Choices, Identities, Paths: Understanding College Students’ Academic Decisions
32 Pages Posted: 2 May 2018
Date Written: April 10, 2018
Abstract
Curricular exploration is a fateful and internationally peculiar component of undergraduate academic life in the United States, yet the mechanisms through which college students consider and select courses have received only modest social-scientific attention. Insights from organizational theory, decision research, and social psychology can inform further inquiry. Drawing on preliminary empirical research involving a web-based course exploration and planning tool in use at a private U.S. research university, we develop a conceptual framework for studying college students’ academic choices as an important instance of decision making under conditions of uncertainty.
Keywords: college students, choices, identities, paths, academic decisions
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