Psychology

Globalization in todays society has been accompanied by vast economical, social and technological changes. As such, these entities have in turn impacted significantly on the countrys workforce. The labor market continues to demand the possession of greater skills and capabilities. The only solution to this predicament had been to revamp higher education institutions and ensuring increased output. However, a greater challenge implies enabling a majority of high school students to not only enroll in colleges but to also complete their studies amicably. Although there have been tremendous improvements of college enrolment rates, retention rates continue to be alarming.

Apart from retention rates academic performances in colleges also face grave obstacles in the name of social issues. It is vital that strategies are instigated in order to improve both retention rates and academic performances. Consequently, more students will join the workforce fully prepared to tackle all forms of challenges. Both academic and non academic factors are crucial to resolving the issues of dismal retention rates and poor academic performances. It is in this light that counseling has become a great tool for impacting change in colleges.

This paper will display an article critique of the effect counseling has on academic performance and retention in colleges. Research conducted in this field has so far indicated that counseling has been a positive influence on students lives. While there have been instances when counseling may not be the only determinant of retention rates and academic performance, it has however been significant. This critique will also provide summaries and the evaluation of the different parts of the article.

Lee et al (2009), starts by describing the research study in an abstract. This abstract explains the intent of the study and the achieved outcomes. The research aims at examining the relationship between college counseling and academic performance and retention. It continues to state the outcome of the research by indicating that there is a significant link between counseling and retention. The abstract further implies the lack of an existing relationship between counseling and academic performance. Moreover, better academic performances were observed in students engaging in both individual and group counseling. This abstract is short and limited in detailing the overall content of the article. Despite providing an image of what the article contains, the abstract lacks in terms of depth.

The introduction provides an analysis of problematic factors which have prompted research on the effects of social issues on college students. Adjustment difficulties have emerged in colleges and thus increasing the necessity for effective intervention measures. The levels of distressed students continue to rise in comparison with previous years as reflected in studies. Adjustment difficulties are said to affect freshmen and transfer students. These adjustment difficulties include concentration problems, suicidal thoughts and depression among others. Furthermore freshmen are more prone to feelings of loneliness in comparison with other students.

The transition process from high school to college brings about numerous challenges with most students becoming distressed over a variety of issues. On the other hand, transfer students also suffer similar adjustment difficulties often leading to psychological distress. These adjustment problems are also responsible for poor academic performances and dropout effects.  Colleges have established counseling services for students to help them resolve their adjustment problems. These services have improved students wellbeing but results defer in their effect of academic performance. However general counseling has shown significant impact on retention rates.

The article clearly outlines the purpose of the research as the examining of the relationships between college counseling and academic performance and student retention. The authors have distinctly explained that the study is meant to extend the research which has been previously done on the same subject. In a very comprehensive manner, the article has adequately reviewed literature on the topic of counseling and its influence on student retention and academic performance. The use of numerous past research evidence has helped in formulating the structure of the article. From this research the problem of adjustment difficulties amongst college students has been well explained. Also, the literature is presented in an objective perspective with the authors stating the deficiencies of previous research. The purpose of the study is practical in its aim and the establishment of various analyses further authenticates the study. The introduction falls short when it fails to provide definitions for several pertinent terms like retention, counseling and attrition.

The variables of the study included counseling experience which was evaluated in both a counseling group and a non counseling group. Precollege academic performance is assessed through GPA, verbal SAT score and math scores. Service types which were included in the study are individual, group counseling and psychiatric services. Through an intake service was used to assign students their counseling groups according to the individual students needs. After this assignment there emerged three groups. The other variable was the total amount of services service sessions. College academic performance was measured through semester GPA and credit discrepancy. The last variable used was student retention measured through the assessment of enrollment in the next semester after the on start of the study. The article has explained how the variables were acquired which provides further insight for the study.

Participants of the study have been described as college freshmen and transfer students. In addition, the study participants were limited to newly registered students within a particular time. The demographic characteristics of the student participants have also been detailed and they include age, gender and ethnic backgrounds. These characteristics were distributed amongst the participants unevenly. Data was obtained from the universitys registrar and the counseling center. Data collection methodology is biased in respect to the lack of participants actual involvement. All the data collected was derived from past records which may lessen the studys credibility. The use of direct methods for data collection like questionnaires may have helped in giving more information about the various variables. Furthermore, ethical issues may arise when the researchers are given access to students records without their knowledge. Moreover participation was not on a voluntary basis and this could instigate future legal repercussions.

Results were derived from the creation of correlations between the variables means and standard deviations. The effects of counseling on college students academic performances were observed to be very low. On the other hand, the significance of the relationship between counseling, precollege academic performance and cumulative GPA was considered moderate. However with controlled precollege performance the relationship was inexistent. The data collected was clearly reflected in the tables and they presented statistical results of the study. Also, the analysis of results is accompanied by the supporting data which has been well explained. It is evident from the results that the study achieved the objectives the authors had aimed for. They established the relationship between counseling services, retention and academic performance.

In the discussion, the article provides an overview of the results derived from the study. The studys initial assumptions are supported with a significant relation being present between counseling services and retention rates. The results also support the authors claims that precollege academic performance is a better determinant of the students current performance than counseling experiences. This has been complimented by other previous studies which have made similar conclusions. However, in respect to student retention, counseling experiences were noted to be significant in student retention rates both controlled and uncontrolled academic performances indicators. The article has its strengths on its capacity to indicate previous research results which were in tandem with this study.

The authors suggest the use of counseling services as instruments of promoting student retention in colleges as opposed to improvement of academic performance. This conclusion seems logical but its practicality may be limited to only the campus where this study group was taken from. This limitation has been indicated in the article and future studies propelled to perform extensive research. Moreover, there is a need for further research to use more variables in terms of other factors which may influence retention rates and academic performances. This article has been significant in developing a framework for college revamping where students are enabled to excel. It has prompted an in depth analysis on the significance of counseling services on college education. As the article indicates there is need for more research and this objective approach has strengthened the study and the article in general.