Students with a disability, who require academic accommodation, need to register with the Access to Students with Disabilities Centre at Athabasca University. Notification of the need for academic accommodation must normally be provided to the program office no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the first day of class. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Disability Centre to request academic accommodation if required and to notify the instructor that such accommodation has been requested. Every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate individual student needs. However, because GCAP courses are paced, all student are required to participate weekly in the online discussion forums. There are also several courses where online exams are required.
Overview
The focus of GCAP 646 is on career counselling processes and resources for facilitating career-life transitions. An emphasis is placed on applying foundations of career development to counselling practice. Students gain knowledge about common issues associated with career-life transitions with selected populations. Models of career counselling and transition are reviewed as the basis for developing knowledge and skills required in program interventions for individuals and groups. Students also acquire knowledge about various types of career development resources and gain critical skills for selecting and using resources to facilitate career-life transitions.
Outline
The course is divided into 13 weekly lessons, structured as follows.
Lesson 1: Introduction to Career Counselling
Lesson 2: Introduction to Career Transitions
Lesson 3: Working Alliance
Lesson 4: Exploring Emotions
Lesson 5: Standardized Assessment
Lesson 6: Qualitative Assessment
Lesson 7: Developing Plans of Action and Implementation
Lesson 8: Selecting Career Resources
Lesson 9: Career Development Resources on the Internet
Lesson 10: Program Planning for Clients in Transition
Lesson 11: Career Counselling For Cross-Cultural Transitions
Lesson 12: Internet Counselling and Social Networking
Lesson 13: Ending Career Counselling and Programs
Evaluation
To receive credit for GCAP 646, students must submit all of the course assignments. The passing grade for the course is B- (70%). The assessment structure for GCAP 646: Processes and Resources for Facilitating Career-Life Transitions is based on the following course activities, with the percentage weighting of each activity as indicated. Your final grade for the course will be a composite mark based on your performance in these course activities.
Activity
Weight
Participation in Online Discussions (Grouped Study) or Reflective Journal (Independent Study)
20%
Assignment 1: Transition Issues and Career Planning
30%
Assignment 2: Critique of Career Counselling Resources
20%
Assignment 3: Workshop Plan
30%
Total
100%
Materials
Gysbers, N., Heppner, M., & Johnston, J. (2009). Career counseling: Contexts, processes, and techniques. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. (Print)
Osborn, D., Dikel, M., Sampson, J., & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2011). The Internet: A tool for career planning (3rd. ed.). Broken Arrow, OK: National Career Development Association. (Print)
Note: Students will be provided with links to the etexts from within their course materials.
Other Materials
All other materials are available to students online
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.