Who should study instructional technology? Vocational personality approach
Article in British Journal of Educational Technology · January 2013
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01293.x
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Who should study instructional technology? Vocational personality approach
_129354..65Serkan Perkmen and Sami Sahin
Serkan Perkmen is an assistant professor of education and statistics at Balikesir University’s Necatibey Faculty of Education in Turkey. His research interests include technology integration in education and the role of personality and values on career choice. Sami Sahin is an assistant professor of Computer Education and Instructional Technol- ogy in the Graduate School of Education at Gazi University. His main research interests are case-based computer education, technology integration in teacher education and professional development. Address for correspondence:
Yrd.Doc.Dr. Serkan Perkmen, Balikesir Universitesi Necatibey Egitim Fakultesi, Balikesir, Turkey. Email:
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between vocational personality and departmental satisfaction of instructional technology students. Hol- land’s theory of personalities in work environments served as the theoretical framework.
The participants were 103 undergraduate students enrolled in the department of Com- puter Education and Instructional Technology in Turkey. Findings revealed a significant relationship between vocational personality and departmental satisfaction. Based on the results of the current study, it seems that Holland’s theory offers a useful framework for addressing the question of who should study instructional technology or work as an instructional technologist.
Introduction
Holland’s theory of personalities in work environments, which has provided vocational guidance since its introduction in 1959, has been the most widely researched and validated career theory in counseling psychology (Spokane, Luchetta & Richwine, 2002). According to Holland (1997), there are six personality types: realistic (R), investigative (I), artistic (A), social (S), enterprising (E) and conventional (C). People have unique combinations of these six types, although most people can be described by a single most prominent type with other types providing moderating influ- ences on their behavior and preferences. In other words, individuals “are more likely to be a combination of several types, with one type that is dominant and other types that are secondary”
(Swanson & Fouad, 1999, p. 44). People with realistic personality traits tend to prefer working with machines, tools, plants or animals. Investigative individuals have good scientific, analytical and research skills and like working in environments that require such skills. People with artistic personality traits have high creativity and imagination and prefer to work in unstructured and flexible environments that allow self-expression. Social people are, in general, altruistic people whose life goals are to make a contribution to human welfare. Enterprising people tend to enjoy leading, managing and persuading other people. Those with conventional personality traits are orderly, systematic, precise, accurate, and careful; like to work with data and numbers; and prefer to work in structured organizations with well-ordered chains of command. In addition to voca- tional personality types, Holland introduced six types of work environments, namely realistic (R), investigative (I), artistic (A), social (S), enterprising (E) and conventional (C). The characteristics of Holland’s personality and environmental types are shown in Table 1.
© 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2012 BERA. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford
Holland’s (1959) theory is built upon two basic propositions. The first proposition is that career choice is an expression of personality. In other words, people tend to make a vocational choice consistent with their personality. For instance, a talkative, energetic and ambitious person, in general, would prefer to become a lawyer rather than a computer programmer. The second proposition is that people’s vocational satisfaction and success depend on thecongruencebetween their personality and work environment in which they work. High congruence is likely to result in high vocational satisfaction. For example, there is high congruence if a person has investigative personality traits and works in a scientific laboratory (which is an investigative work environ- ment) as a researcher. Thus, this person would probably be satisfied with his/her job and dem- onstrate high vocational success as a result of the high congruence between his/her personality and work environment. As another example, there is low congruence if an employee likes flexible work environments (artistic personality type) but works in structured organizations with well- ordered chains of command (conventional work environment). As a result, this employee would probably have low satisfaction, motivation and productivity as a result of the low congruence between his/her personality and work environment.
Holland (1959) proposed a hexagonal structure to examine work environments (Figure 1).
Similar work environments are shown close to each other on the hexagon, whereas those that are distantly related are farther apart on the hexagon. For example, the two neighboring corners to the Realistic corner are Investigative and Conventional, whereas the farthest corner is Social. In other words, the two work environments most similar to realistic work environments are inves- tigative and conventional. The social work environment is the most dissimilar work environment to the realistic work environment. This suggests that realistic individuals can attain the highest vocational success in realistic work environments, followed by conventional or investigative
Practitioner Notes
What is already known about this topic
• It seems that theories of career choice have received no attention in the field of instructional technology.
• Studies which focused on personality in the field of instructional technology generally examined the relationship between personality and the level of technology use or motivation.
• Holland’s theory has been tested and validated extensively in other fields.
What this paper adds
• The current study seems to be the first study which examined the utility of a career theory in the field of instructional technology.
• The current study offers a useful perspective for addressing the question of who should study instructional technology.
• The current study helps us understand why some students have low satisfaction in studying in the department of instructional technology.
Implications for practice and/or policy
• Holland’s theory can be used as a vocational guide to those who wish to study in the area of instructional technology or choose an instructional technology-related career.
• The Vocational Interest Scale helps academic advisors measure vocational personality of their students.
• The academic advisors should consider personality when guiding their students.
work environments as possible secondary environments for vocational success and job satisfac- tion. The work environments that are most unsuitable for realistic individuals are social work environments.
According to this theory, professions, in general, possess characteristics of three work environ- ments and are identified with a three-letter work environment code (Gottfredson & Holland, 1996). For example, the code of music education is A-S-I (artistic-social-investigative). This suggests (1) music education reflects the characteristics of artistic, social and investigative work
Table 1: Characteristics of Holland’s personality and environmental types (Swanson & Fouad, 1999, p. 45)
Type Self-concept and values Potential competencies
Typical work activities and environments Realistic Emotionally stable,
reliable, thrifty, persistent, shy, modest, uncomfortable talking about self, traditional values
Mechanical ability and ingenuity, problem solving with tools, machines
Job with tangible results
Psychomotor skills
Operating heavy equipment
Physical strength
Using tools, fixing, building, repairing
Investigative Independent, self- motivated, reserved, introspective,
analytical, curios, task oriented, original, creative,
nonconforming
Scientific ability, analytical skills, mathematical skills
Ambiguous or abstract tasks Writing skills, perseverance
Solving problems through thinking
Working independently Scientific or laboratory settings Collecting and organizing data Artistic Independent,
nonconforming, self-expressive, intuitive, sensitive, emotional, impulsive, drawn to aesthetic qualities
Creativity, imagination, verbal-linguistic, musical ability, artistic ability
Creating artwork or performing Working independently Unstructured, flexible
environments that allow self-expression
Social Humanistic, idealistic, ethical, concerned for welfare of others, tactful, cooperative, generous, kind, friendly, cheerful, understanding, insightful.
Social and interpersonal skills
Teaching, explaining, guiding Verbal ability
Solving problems, leading discussions
Teaching skills Educational, social service and mental health organizations.
Ability to empathize with and understand others
Enterprising Status conscious, ambitious,
competitive, sociable, energetic, popular, aggressive, adventuresome
Verbal skills related to speaking, persuading, selling
Selling, purchasing, leading
Leadership skills, resilience, high energy, optimism, social and interpersonal skills
Managing people and projects Giving speeches and
presentations
Financial, government and political organizations Conventional Conscientious,
persevering, practical, conservative, orderly, systematic, precise, accurate, careful, controlled
Efficiency, organization, management of systems and data, mathematical skills, attention to detail, perfectionism, operation of office machines
Organizing office procedures Keeping records and filing
systems
Writing reports, making charts Structured organizations with
well-ordered chains of command
environments; (2) music education is an ideal work environment for people with artistic, social and investigative personality traits; and (3) this environment does not fit individuals with realistic, conventional and enterprising personality traits. The three-letter code for some professions is listed in Appendix A.
Teachout (2001) examined the vocational personality types of 84 preservice teachers in the USA and found that they were, for the most part, artistic. To a lesser degree, they were social and investigative. These findings supported Holland’s (1959) proposition that career choice is an expression of personality. Several other research studies conducted in the USA supported the predictive utility of this theory (Spokane, Lucheta & Richwine, 2002). However, a number of research studies conducted in other countries did not fully support its predictions (eg, Du Toit & de Bruin, 2002; Tang, 2009).
In spite of this theory’s popularity (Spokaneet al, 2002), we failed to identify any study that examined it and tested its predictions in the context of instructional technology. The current study was conducted to fill this gap. From the theoretical perspective, the profession of instruc- tional technology has the characteristics of realistic, social and conventional work environments.
Thus, individuals with realistic, social and conventional personality types are more likely than those with other personality types to be highly satisfied with working in that area. In other words, people who are practical and mechanical (realistic type); systematic, precise and careful (conven- tional type); and have good social and intrapersonal skills (social type) tend to attain high voca- tional success as an instructional technologist and feel much more satisfied with their careers. On the other hand, this profession does not seem to be ideal for people with artistic, enterprising or investigative personality traits.
The main purpose of this study was to test the predictive utility of Holland’s (1959) theory with instructional technology students. Graduates of instructional technology programs are generally employed as instructional technologists (they are called computer teachers) in public schools in Turkey. Some other career paths for these students include working as a computer programmer, multimedia/web designer or faculty member. More specifically, we examined the vocational per- sonality profiles of Turkish undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) and made an effort to shed light on the relation- ship between vocational personality and departmental satisfaction.
Figure 1: Holland hexagonal structure (Holland, 1997)
Six research questions are addressed to help meet the purpose.
1. Does Holland’s theory offer a useful framework for understanding CEIT students’ satisfaction?
2. What are the vocational personality types of Turkish students enrolled in the Department of CEIT?
3. Is there a significant difference between male and female students in terms of their vocational personality and satisfaction?
4. Is there a significant difference between juniors (third-year undergraduate students) and seniors (fourth-year undergraduate students) in terms of their satisfaction?
5. Which careers (academic career, computer teacher, etc.) do CEIT students want to pursue most after graduation?
6. Which dimensions of vocational personality make an independent contribution to predicting perceived personality fit and departmental satisfaction?
Method Participants
The participants included 103 undergraduate students (60 male, 43 female) enrolled in the Department of CEIT in Turkey. Fifty-four participants were juniors, and 49 were seniors. The participants were asked to complete a survey during a regular class session in the final week of the semester. Participation was voluntary. The researchers explained the purpose of the study to the participants. Those who were willing to participate read a consent form and filled out the survey.
Research instrument
The Vocational Interest Scale (VIS; Perkmen, Cevik & Alkan, 2010) used in the current study was created by one of the authors of this study in light of Holland’s theory andSelf-Directed Search (Holland, 1994). The instrument has 30 items with 5 items for each personality type. Some of the items were “using mechanical tools” (realistic), “trying to understand a scientific theory” (inves- tigative), “working with gifted authors, musicians or sculptors” (artistic), “helping others in difficulty” (social), “leading a group” (enterprising), “checking paperwork or products for errors”
(conventional). The participants were asked to indicate their response on a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (I am not interested in it at all) to 5 (I am interested in it very much). Scores on each type ranged from 0 to 25 with higher scores indicating higher reflection of personality in the respective type.
Three additional questions were included at the end of the instrument to help meet the purpose of the study. The first additional item was included to examine the students’ perceived personality fit with the Department of CEIT. The stem for the item was “I believe that computer education and instructional technology. . . .” The participants indicated their response on a scale ranging from 1 (does not fit my personality at all) to 4 (fits my personality very well). Higher scores indicated better perceived personality fit.
The second additional item was included to examine the participants’ satisfaction with studying in the Department of CEIT. The question was “How well are you satisfied with studying com- puter education and instructional technology?” The participants indicated their response on a scale ranging from 1 (not or little satisfied) to 4 (very satisfied). Higher scores indicated higher satisfaction.
The third item was included to examine the participants’ preferred career after graduation. The stem (or scenario) was: “Assume that you graduated from this department. There are six possible careers for you to enter: (1) Computer Teacher, (2) Computer Programmer, (3) Multimedia/Web Designer, (4) Computer Repairman, (5) Computer Salesman and (6) Academic Career. Each
career is located in the same region and offers you the same salary and social security.” The participants were asked to indicate which career they prefer most among these six possible careers.
Data analysis
Several analyses were conducted in the current study. First, reliability and validity of the VIS was examined. Descriptive statistics were calculated to examine the participants’ vocational person- ality types. Frequency analysis was calculated to examine their responses to the additional items regarding perceived personality fit, departmental satisfaction and preferred career. We conducted at-test to compare male and female students in terms of their vocational personality and satis- faction. We also conducted ANOVA test to compare vocational personality of preservice teachers who would like to enter a different career. In addition, we used the repeated measures of ANOVA test to compare each participant’s vocational personality scores in each dimension. We used this test because personality type scores for the same individual are dependent. The repeated mea- sures design is also known as a within-subject design. In this design, participants may present scores for several related, comparable measures. In our study, related comparable measures were each participant’s personality type scores.
To test the utility of Holland’s theory, we conducted correlation and regression analysis. Pearson correlation analysis was done to examine the interrelationships among vocational personality types that might affect participants’ perceived personality fit with the department and depart- mental satisfaction. Higher correlations indicated stronger relationships. Stepwise regression analysis was conducted to examine the relative contributions of vocational personality types to predicting perceived personality fit and departmental satisfaction. This analysis enabled us to find how much of the variance in satisfaction can be accounted for the variable of vocational person- ality and to learn which personality types are useful in predicting personality fit and departmen- tal satisfaction.
Results
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the overall VIS was found to be 0.87. The subscale coefficient values were 0.80 for Realistic, 0.78 for Investigative, 0.87 for Artistic, 0.77 for Social, 0.81 for Enterprising and 0.71 for Conventional. These findings indicated a fairly high internal consis- tency for the overall scale and its associated subscales. The principal component analysis with varimax rotation resulted in six factor solution, which accounted for 59% of the variation among the scale items. All of the scale items loaded in their respective factor. These findings supported the construct validity of the VIS.
The means and standard deviations (SDs) for the participants’ scores for each type of personality are shown in Table 2. The three highest mean scores were in the social (M=20.45,SD=3.41), conventional (M=15.88,SD=4.39) and artistic (M=15.03,SD=6.00) personality types. The
Table 2: Participants’ overall mean (M) and standard deviations (SDs) in each personality type
Personality type M SD
Realistic 14.51 6.03
Investigative 14.74 5.06
Artistic 15.03 6.00
Social 20.45 3.41
Enterprising 13.95 5.47
Conventional 15.88 4.39
lowest mean score, on the other hand, was for the enterprising (M=13.95,SD=5.47) person- ality type. The high SD for the artistic personality type was also noteworthy. This finding suggests that there is high variability among the participants’ artistic personality type scores.
The results of repeated measures of ANOVA,F(5, 102)=29.68,p<0.01, revealed significant differences among the personality type scores. The social type score was found to be statistically higher than the other personality type scores. In addition, the conventional type score was found to be statistically higher than were the enterprising, realistic and investigative type scores. No significant differences were found among the realistic, artistic, enterprising and investigative personality type scores.
Pearson correlation analysis revealed that perceived personality fit is positively and significantly correlated with realistic (r=0.30,p<0.01) and conventional (r=0.28,p<0.01) personality types (See Table 3). These results suggest that preservice teachers scoring high for the realistic and conventional personality types are more likely to believe that Department of CEIT fits their personality.
It was also found that departmental satisfaction was negatively correlated with the artistic per- sonality type (r= -0.31,p<0.01) but positively correlated with the conventional type (r=0.26, p<0.01) and enterprising type (r=0.20,p<0.05) (Table 4). These results suggest that preser- vice teachers with high scores for the artistic personality type but low scores for the conventional and enterprising types are more likely to be dissatisfied with studying in the Department of CEIT.
In addition, we found a moderately high correlation between perceived personality fit and depart- mental satisfaction (r=0.64, p<0.01). This result suggests that those who believe that the Department of CEIT fits their personality well tend to be more satisfied with studying in this department than are those who believe that the department does not fit their personality well.
We also examined the participants’ personality fit, departmental satisfaction and personality type scores by gender and grade level. No significant difference was found between male and female students in terms of their personality fit and departmental satisfaction. However, in terms of personality type scores, male students’ realistic scores (M=15.62,SD=5.63) were found to be higher than the female realistic type scores (M=12.98,SD=6.31). On the other hand, female students’ artistic type scores (M=17.44, SD=4.75) were found to be higher than the male artistic type scores (M=13.30,SD=6.24). In terms of grade level, the perceived personality fit score of juniors (M=3.11,SD=0.81) was found to be higher than that of seniors (M=2.65,
Table 3: Participants’ personality mean scores by perceived fit
Personality type
Perceived personality fit
Pearsonr No fit at all
(n=5)
Little fit (n=27)
Moderate fit (n=45)
Very good fit (n=26)
M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD)
Realistic 10.80(4.76) 12.04(6.26) 15.24(5.79) 16.54(5.44) 0.30**
Investigative 15.20(5.71) 15.07(4.95) 13.71(5.15) 16.08(4.81) 0.05 Artistic 17.40(6.54) 15.93(5.36) 14.82(6.12) 14.00(6.42) -0.15 Social 17.20(3.49) 20.41(3.58) 20.67(2.77) 20.73(4.03) 0.14 Enterprising 10.00(6.63) 14.11(5.19) 13.84(5.27) 14.73(5.87) 0.12 Conventional 10.20(7.08) 15.44(4.54) 15.98(3.65) 17.27(4.12) 0.28**
**p<0.01.
M, mean; SD, standard deviation.
SD=0.81). This result suggests that juniors tend to believe that their personality fits the Depart- ment of CEIT more. No significant difference was found between these two groups in terms of their departmental satisfaction.
Participants’ personality scores by their preferred career are shown in Table 5. A total of 42 (40.8%) chose computer teacher, 23 (22.3%) chose multimedia/web designer, 16 chose (15.5%) academic career, 13 (12.6%) chose computer programmer, 6 (5.8%) chose computer repairman and 3 (2.9%) chose computer salesman. Because a very small number of participants preferred computer repairman and salesman, they were not included in the table. The results of the ANOVA analysis revealed that those who preferred to be a computer teacher had statistically lower realistic type scores (M=11.60,SD=6.21) than did those who chose other careers. No other significant differences were found among the groups by preferred career.
We examined the correlations between personality types (Figure 2). Based on Holland’s predic- tion (Holland, 1959), we hypothesized that the correlations between neighboring corners would be higher than the correlations between corners farther apart from each other. In other words, we expected that as the distance between personality types increased on the hexagon, the correla- tions would become smaller. For instance, the corners neighboring the Social corner are Enter- prising and Artistic. The Realistic corner is the most distant corner from the Social corner. Thus,
Table 4: Participants’ personality mean scores by satisfaction
Personality type
Satisfaction
Pearsonr Very little satisfied
(n=5)
Little satisfied (n=26)
Moderately satisfied (n=52)
Very satisfied (n=20)
M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD)
Realistic 12.00(3.46) 13.19(6.87) 14.90(5.82) 15.85(5.80) 0.18 Investigative 16.40(3.36) 14.92(5.29) 14.00(4.82) 16.00(5.64) 0.00 Artistic 17.20(5.67) 18.27(5.18) 14.04(5.42) 12.85(6.99) -0.31**
Social 21.60(1.81) 19.35(3.80) 20.62(3.26) 21.15(3.37) 0.11 Enterprising 7.60(5.03) 13.65(6.16) 14.38(4.14) 14.80(6.88) 0.20*
Conventional 14.00(5.56) 14.85(5.06) 15.71(3.87) 18.15(3,87) 0.26**
*p<0.05; **p<0.01.
M, mean; SD, standard deviation.
Table 5: Participants’ personality scores by preferred career
Personality type
Preferred career Computer teacher
(n=42)
Computer programmer (n=13)
Multimedia/web designer (n=23)
Academic career (n=16)
M(SD) M(SD) M(SD) M(SD)
Realistic 11.60(6.21) 18.15(4.86) 16.04(4.53) 16.06(6.28) Investigative 13.62(5.24) 15.92(3.20) 13.39(4.74) 17.62(4.24) Artistic 14.38(5.68) 12.54(5.02) 16.26(5.80) 17.00(6.60) Social 21.19(2.62) 20.54(2.40) 19.74(3.15) 20.81(4.51) Enterprising 13.33(5.30) 14.08(6.03) 13.13(5.38) 16.81(5.69) Conventional 16.02(4.82) 16.31(2.92) 15.04(4.14) 16.69(5.02) M, mean; SD, standard deviation.
we expected that the social type scores would be more highly correlated with the enterprising and artistic type scores than with the realistic type scores. As shown in the figure, this prediction was supported. In addition, artistic type scores were found to have the lowest correlation with the conventional type scores (r=0.14,p<0.05), which also supports the theoretical prediction.
However, not all predictions were supported. For instance, although the Enterprising corner is the corner most distant from the Investigative corner, investigative type scores were more highly correlated with the enterprising type scores (r=0.36,p<0.01) than with the artistic type scores (r=0.20,p<0.05).
Because most of the personality types were interrelated, stepwise regression analysis was con- ducted to examine the relative contribution of personality types to the prediction of perceived personality fit and departmental satisfaction. The perceived personality fit served as the depen- dent variable in the first equation. The results revealed that realistic, conventional and artistic types made an independent contribution to the prediction of perceived personality fit. These three types, collectively, accounted for 16% of variation in perceived personality fit. The realistic type accounted for 9% of the variation (b =0.24,p<0.01), the conventional type accounted for an additional 3% of the variation (b =0.22,p<0.01) above and beyond the effects of the realistic type, and the artistic type accounted for an additional 4% of the variation above and beyond the effects of the realistic and conventional types (b = -0.20,p<0.01).
Departmental satisfaction served as the dependent variable in the second equation. The results revealed that only the artistic and conventional personality types made a unique contribution to the prediction of departmental satisfaction. These two personality types collectively accounted for 19% of the variation in satisfaction. The artistic type accounted for 10% of variation (b = -0.35, p<0.01), and the conventional type accounted for an additional 9% of the variation (b =0.31, p<0.01) above and beyond the effects of the artistic personality type.
Discussion
The current study was guided by Holland’s (1959) theory of personalities in work environments, which proposes that vocational satisfaction depends mainly on congruence between personality and work environment. The findings, in general, supported the predictive utility of this theory and provided empirical evidence that vocational personality plays an important role in satisfaction.
Artistic Realistic
Enterprising
Investigative
.35**
.36**
.52**
.20*
.33**
.36**
.11 .14*
.42**
.08
.29**
.07 .20
.34**
.36**
Social Conventional
Figure 2: Correlations among personality types.*p<.05**p<.01
After graduation, many students in the Department of CEIT in Turkey choose to become an instructional technologist (they are generally called computer teachers) in public schools. As an instructional technologist, they assume two main roles: teaching students basic computer skills and fixing computer problems in labs. Teaching has a social work environment. People with social personality traits tend to enter a career in teaching and feel satisfied with working as a teacher. In the current study, the students generally were social types, which support the theoretical predic- tion. Because they were interested in social type activities most, it seems that their decision to study in the Department of CEIT was a good one. Contrary to the theoretical prediction, we did not identify a significant correlation between social personality type and departmental satisfac- tion. This result might be explained by the fact that the students’ social personality type scores were very high and there was little variability among their scores.
Since the instructional technologists in Turkish public schools are also responsible for fixing computer problems in labs, it is important to possess realistic type personality traits in this profession. We found a positive correlation between the realistic personality type and perceived personality fit. Moreover, this personality type emerged as the most significant predictor of per- ceived personality fit. This result suggests that those who are interested in activities that require fixing and using mechanical tools tend to believe that CEIT fits their personality well. According to Holland’s (1959) theory, the realistic type professions are, in general, male-dominated profes- sions (Gottfredson, 2002). Thus, men possess more realistic type personality traits than do women. Consistent with this, the male students in the current study were more interested in realistic type activities than were the female students. Thus, it is important that female students think carefully when deciding whether CEIT fits their personality given that it is a realistic type work environment as well as social type environment.
The artistic personality type was found to be negatively related to departmental satisfaction. This result suggests that people interested in artistic activities most tended to be dissatisfied with studying in the Department of CEIT. It seems that CEIT is not an ideal department to study in Turkey for those who possess artistic personality traits. Actually, possessing artistic traits is important in this profession to a certain degree. There are many programs in the USA which offer a graduate degree in instructional design. Instructional design requires creativity, imagination and artistic abilities. Thus, it makes sense for students with artistic personality traits to study instructional design and work as an instructional designer.
Consistent with Holland’s (1959) theory, the students in the current study were also conven- tional types. This personality type was found to be related to perceived personality fit and depart- mental satisfaction. It seems that instructional technology is an ideal career for those with conventional type personality traits. In other words, conventional type people should enter a career in instructional technology or study in this department.
The difference between junior and senior students in terms of their perceived personality fit is noteworthy. The senior students’ perceived personality fit was lower than that of the junior students. In Turkey, senior students go into public schools in their last year to do their internship.
As a result of their experience in the workplace, they have more opportunities to decide if their personality fits the profession of instructional technology. We believe that these experiences in the workplace explain the difference between these two groups.
The results of this study were consistent with Cevik’s (2011) study, which also revealed positive correlations among personality, perceived personality fit and departmental satisfaction. It seems that personality is an important construct that deserves closer attention. We failed to identify any study in the field of instructional technology that has used a vocational theory to examine satisfaction. Holland’s (1959) theory is the most popular and validated theory in counseling
psychology that gives people vocational guidance and directs them to an appropriate career that fits their personality.
It should be emphasized that the current study was conducted in one institution in Turkey. In addition, the satisfaction of students was measured with one item. Thus, it would be difficult to generalize our findings to other settings and draw strong conclusions regarding the role of voca- tional personality on satisfaction. Despite these two main limitations, we believe that the current study has several implications.
First, we believe that academic advisors in instructional technology programs may use Holland’s theory to guide their students. The advisors can administer the vocational interests scale to their students once they start studying in the instructional technology program. This helps the advi- sors to examine their students’ personality type and help them decide which elective courses they can take in the future. For example, it makes sense for advisors to advise students with realistic personality traits to take advanced courses on computer hardware and networking. It would be helpful for students with artistic personality traits to take courses on multimedia and visual design. Taking courses on advanced teaching methods would be beneficial to those with social personality traits.
The current study has another implication for those who will make a career choice and might have difficulty deciding if instructional technology is an ideal career for their future. Parsons (1909), considered the pioneer of vocational guidance, indicated:
In the wise choice of a vocation, there are three broad factors: (1) a clear understanding of yourself, your aptitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources, limitations, and knowledge of their causes; (2) a knowledge of the requirements, conditions of success, advantages and disad- vantages, compensation, opportunities, and prospects in different lines of work; (3) true reason- ing on the relationships of these two groups of facts. (p. 5)
From this perspective, it is important for students to learn their personality type before they make a department or career choice. It is also important for them to have knowledge of the require- ments for success in the career they wish to enter. The VIS is a valid instrument that people who consider studying instructional technology or entering a career in this field can take to learn their personality type. If they possess social, realistic and conventional personality traits, the profession of instructional technology seems to be an ideal career for them. On the other hand, if they possess other personality types (eg, enterprising, artistic), other professions (eg, lawyer, sculptor) fit their personality better than instructional technology.
It should be emphasized that work environments are identified by the number of people working in that environment and analysis of data regarding the responsibilities and job duties of those people (Spokaneet al, 2002). The three-letter environment code for many professions was iden- tified about 15 years ago. The personality characteristics of instructional technologists in the workplace and their job duties may have changed over time. Thus, it would be helpful to examine the predictive utility of Holland’s theory with instructional technologists in the workplace. Future researchers may examine the personality characteristics and job duties of instructional technolo- gists and identify the three-letter environment code for this profession. Through future research, it is hoped that the question of who should study instructional technology and work as an instructional technologist can be addressed more clearly.
It should also be emphasized that aspects of vocational personality tapped by Holland’s theory in the current study accounted for 19% variation in instructional technology students’ satisfaction.
That means, 81% of variation was not accounted for by this theory. Future researchers may use other personality theories and models such as Myers–Briggs Theory and Big Five Model of Per- sonality to examine the relationship between personality and satisfaction. Perhaps, the other
theories will offer a more helpful approach to understanding the instructional technology stu- dents’ satisfaction.
In conclusion, based on the results of current study, it seems that Holland’s theory provides a useful framework for understanding instructional technology students’ satisfaction. Thus, we believe that this theory can be used as a vocational guide to those who wish to study in the area of instructional technology or choose an instructional technology-related career. We also believe that this theory can offer a helpful framework for understanding why some students are not satisfied with studying in the department of instructional technology and have low motivation in some courses.
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Appendix A
Three-letter environment code for some professions
Profession Environment code Profession Environment code
Farmers R-E-C Professional Photographers A-R-E
Civil Engineers R-I-C Counseling Psychologists S-I-A
Cooks, Restaurant R-E-A Graduate Teaching Assistants S-C-I
Barbers R-S-E Elementary School Teachers S-A-I
Statisticians I-C-R Police Patrol Officers S-R-E
Electrical Engineers I-R-C Sales Managers E-C-S
Economists I-E-C Lawyers E-C-S
Mathematics Teachers I-C-S Travel Agents E-C-S
Singers A-E-S Education Administrators E-C-S
Editors A-E-S Tax Preparers C-E-S
Creative Writers A-I-E Accountants C-E-I
Sculptors A-R-S Postal Service Clerks C-R-E
Source:http://www.careerplanner.com/JobDescSearchTool.cfm
© 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2012 BERA.
