The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of supervisor feedback in contributing to skills acquired through microcounseling. A secondary purpose was to examine the effects of other counselor training experience on the acquisition of counseling skills.Sixty-four M.A.- level graduate students of the Ball State University European program in Counseling volunteered for the study. Subjects enrolled in an introductory counseling course during the spring quarter, 1977, were solicited by a form letter and in person the first night of class. Microtraining took place over a three week period of regularly scheduled classes at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany.The writer trained four U.S. counseling students as supervisors, who then worked with two types of experimental groups. Except for supervisor feedback, each group received identical treatment. Counselor trainees viewed modeling tapes, read directions about specific skills to be learned, and performed videotaped practice interviews which were critiqued immediately afterwards. One experimental group received positive reinforcement from a supervisor upon attainment of each target behavior; the second experimental group received no supervisor feedback, but the tape was stopped after each counselor response for peer comments; the no-treatment control group spent an equivalent amount of time in class. The treatment consisted of three two-hour training periods during which the following three behavioral skills were taught: (a) open questions, (b) paraphrasing, and (c) responding to feelings and emotions.The effectiveness ratings of three specific skills plus an overall counseling skills rating served as dependent variables. Eight doctoral students were trained to judge the effectiveness of counseling skills (r =.82) using the IveyGluckstern Rating Scale (1974). A pre-study determined that judges rated audio and video tapes similarly; therefore, three, three minute audiotaped segments were excerpted from half-hour post-test interviews.The study format was based on a post-test-only control group design. The statistical treatment of the data included a 2 x 3 two-way analysis of variance and a Scheff' post hoc analysis to determine where the significant differences were. The level required for significance was the .05 level of confidence.Results of the data analysis were somewhat contrary to expectations. Counselor trainees given microcounseling with no supervisor feedback were significantly more effective than the supervisor feedback group. Open questions and paraphrasing were learned as well by trainees with no experience as by those with other counseling course experience. The skill of responding to feelings and emotions was acquired most efficiently by those with other counseling course experience and concurrent practice, and not at all by inexperienced counselors. An assessment of the overall effectiveness of skills showed that experienced students given microtraining with no supervisor feedback learned the basic skills most efficiently.An examination of these findings lead to several interesting conclusions. The results confirmed that a microcounseling format with no supervisor feedback was an effective vehicle for teaching basic counseling skills to small groups of counselor trainees. For students who had extensive counseling course experience, supervisor feedback was actually detrimental to skills acquisition. However, students with limited counseling course experience did benefit from feedback given by a supervisor. Evaluation also showed that additional practice was vital to learning more complex microcounseling skills.The implications of these conclusions are relevant to counselor education. Because students appeared to learn more efficiently during microtraining without supervisor feedback, maximum student participation should be encouraged and didactic presentation minimized. For optimum training benefit, the microcounseling timetable should be critically examined; simple skills can be introduced early in a training program, while microtraining of more complex skills should follow student acquisition of other counseling course experience.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176679 |
| Date | January 1977 |
| Creators | Hayman, Marilyn Jean, 1937- |
| Contributors | Krause, Frank H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xi, 182 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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