Thesis: Decision Making and Students
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study Decision-making entails making choices, solving problems, and selecting the best alternatives (Bongat, 2011). Decision-making is distinctly a human activity. The process of decision making is one of the most complex mechanisms of human thinking, as various factors and courses of action intervene in it, with different results. Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute. A decision is a choice made between alternative courses of action in a situation of uncertainty (Business Dictionary, 2011). Each individual must realize that it is going to be necessary to make a decision. For every incoming college students, deciding what best course to take can be a difficult decision. There are some students who arrive on campus and know exactly their course to take and career ambitions, but the majority of the students don’t know what course to take, or have a career goal but don’t know which course will get them there. And in fact, due to the large number of courses available to students, most of them find themselves switching courses during college. Some first year students know exactly what they want to major in and what career they want to pursue after graduation. At the other extreme, some freshmen enter college without having made any decision about either a major or a career. Between the two extremes are most students, who have tentative or at best provisional ideas about possible majors and subsequent careers. Decision for choosing one major above another are sometimes made for superficial yet practical, short term reasons, such as which courses are less difficult and which departments have professors who give better grades (Fogg et. al., 2004). As stated in the dissertation of Azodo (2009), students all over the world are usually faced with the task of career decision making. Choosing a career is one of the most important life decisions because of its obvious impact on a future life
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study Decision-making entails making choices, solving problems, and selecting the best alternatives (Bongat, 2011). Decision-making is distinctly a human activity. The process of decision making is one of the most complex mechanisms of human thinking, as various factors and courses of action intervene in it, with different results. Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute. A decision is a choice made between alternative courses of action in a situation of uncertainty (Business Dictionary, 2011). Each individual must realize that it is going to be necessary to make a decision. For every incoming college students, deciding what best course to take can be a difficult decision. There are some students who arrive on campus and know exactly their course to take and career ambitions, but the majority of the students don’t know what course to take, or have a career goal but don’t know which course will get them there. And in fact, due to the large number of courses available to students, most of them find themselves switching courses during college. Some first year students know exactly what they want to major in and what career they want to pursue after graduation. At the other extreme, some freshmen enter college without having made any decision about either a major or a career. Between the two extremes are most students, who have tentative or at best provisional ideas about possible majors and subsequent careers. Decision for choosing one major above another are sometimes made for superficial yet practical, short term reasons, such as which courses are less difficult and which departments have professors who give better grades (Fogg et. al., 2004). As stated in the dissertation of Azodo (2009), students all over the world are usually faced with the task of career decision making. Choosing a career is one of the most important life decisions because of its obvious impact on a future life
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