Interests as a Component of Adult Course Preferences: Four Australian Case Studies

The purpose of this paper is to examine the subliminal role of interest in preferences for 50 courses available at a community college. This is an idiographic study of educational decisions. It employed a sample of situations and a representative design. Four adults participated in an educational-vocational assessment and in the process of providing vocational guidance their course selection was examined using a logistic regression. The intra-rater consistency of choices ranged from 88%-100% for repeated course profiles. Choices varied from 2-11 courses. Results supported a minor role for vocational interest in these course choices. The overall R-squared values were around.281-.764. It was concluded that (a) adult choices did not rely exclusively upon interests; (b) adults used complex decision-making policies; and (c) the policies adopted were idiosyncratic.