A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 3 COMPUTER-ASSISTED CAREER GUIDANCE SYSTEMS - DISCOVER, SIGI, AND SIGI-PLUS

One hundred and twenty-six volunteer students from an introductory psy chology course at a large public southeastern university were randomly assigned to one of three computer-assisted career guidance (CACG) sys tems - SIGI, SIGI PLUS, and DISCOVER. The respective systems were comp ared in terms of an instrument developed to measure three constructs i n CACG effectiveness: analysis, synthesis, and computer effect. Both t he Occupational Alternative Question (Zener & Schnuelle, 1972; modifie d by Slaney, 1980) and the My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980a) inventories were included to assess the possible modera ting effect of individual differences in the perception of CACG effect iveness. The results revealed that the majority of participants in eac h condition rated the CACG system to which they were assigned positive ly on all three constructs. While we concluded there were no practical differences in effectiveness among the three systems, students with a need for career information rated the lists of career options generat ed by SIGI and DISCOVER more favorably than those with no such need. I mplications for further research on the use of CACG systems are discus sed.