An Investigation Into the Effects of Computerization on Academic Advising

• Main Author: Smith, Mark W.
• Published: NSUWorks 1991
• Subjects: Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/845

A small mid-western, two-year, vocational technical college was experiencing academic advising difficulties. They felt their advising methods could use improvement. A preliminary investigation was conducted which indicated a need for improved advising techniques. It was recommended that a computer assisted advising component be added to the advising process to help. How the system called Advising by Computer Expert System (ACES) worked and the effects of this system on advising were tested. The development of an instrument to measure student satisfaction with advising, and the overall effects of the system with relation to student satisfaction and other intervening variables including sex, age, grade point average, cultural background, class standing, number of times the student met with their advisor, and length of time per advisor meeting were also tested. The study was done using two groups. Each had previously been advised in the traditional question/answer manual method of advising for registration. One group (experimental) used ACES in the advising process, while the other group (control) followed the traditional/manual process. A satisfaction with advising questionnaire, called the Academic Advising Satisfaction Questionnaire, was developed and validated for this study and used to measure student satisfaction levels. Upon completion of registration, the survey gauging student satisfaction with advising was administered since student satisfaction with advising is considered a valid form of evaluation of academic advising. The results showed a significant difference in levels of satisfaction between the experimental and control group. However, the means of the two groups showed a higher level of satisfaction among the control group than among the experimental group. This unexpected result is further discussed. Other results of the research were presented as well as recommendations for further study and improvement.