Admissions Policies for Graduate Programs in Counselor Education

A survey was conducted of a random sample of 100 counselor education programs with regard to their policies and procedures for admission of graduate students. The 68 usable responses also provided data on the number of students admitted to each degree program as well as size of faculty in 1965 and 1970. The results indicate a heavy emphasis on predictors of academic success as initial screening criteria, with a wide variety of other criteria considered. Most programs reported the use of different levels of administration in making admissions decisions, with the majority utilizing a departmental committee as one level.     

The Staffing Conference: An Approach to Student Evaluation

In an attempt to confront the problem of student evaluation, the staffing conference was developed as a quality control mechanism to monitor the student's progress through the program. This article describes the structure and process of the staffing conference and discusses some of the resulting benefits that have accrued to staff, students, and the counseling program as a whole.     

The foundations and assumptions of technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments

Direct instruction approaches, as well as the design processes that support them, have been criticized for failing to reflect contemporary research and theory in teaching, learning, and technology. Learning systems are needed that encourage divergent reasoning, problem solving, and critical thinking. Student-centered learning environments have been touted as a means to support such processes. With the emergence of technology, many barriers to implementing innovative alternatives may be overcome. The purposes of this paper are to review and critically analyze research and theory related to technology-enhanced student-centered learning environments and to identify their foundations and assumptions.     

Using Action Research to Enhance Teaching and Learning at the University of Technology,Jamaica

As part of its quality assurance systems, the University of Technology, Jamaica initiated a project aimed at exploring how action research could be used as a vehicle for enhancing the quality of the teaching/learning process. Following a series of orientation sessions and the development of a handbook for project teams, five action research projects were undertaken in the second semester of the academic year 2001-2002. The projects focused on using a student-centred approach in traditionally teacher-centred courses. At the end of the project cycle, results indicated that students became more independent learners and instructors had learned much about student-centred classroom strategies.     

Comparative Perceptions of Practicum Counselor Behavior

Nineteen counseling interviews were rated by the respective clients, counselors, and supervisors on the Counselor Rating Form; these ratings of perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were compared in a repeated measures analysis of variance. Results indicated that all three sources of perceptions were similar, although counselors rated their own behavior as significantly less expert than their clients. The article discusses the results in terms of their relevance to counselor supervision and training.     

Comparative Effects of Teaching Basic Counseling Competencies Through Brief Microskills Practice Versus Mental Practice

Students enrolled in an introductory counselor education course who lacked training and experience as interviewers were randomly assigned to one of two short-term attending and responding skills training groups or a wait-control (WC) group. Brief microskills practice (MS) and mental practice (MP) training methods were used in the two treatment groups. All students conducted posttraining simulated counseling interviews, and their videotapes provided data for analysis of the quality of their interview competence and their proficiency with attending and responding skills. MANOVA and follow-up analyses of data from independent ratings of the videotapes indicated that MS was superior to MP and WC on attending skills, MP led to superior performance on responding skills, and neither MP nor MS led to significant differences in perceived competence on qualitative dimensions.     

The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire as a Predictor of Counselor Effectiveness

This study examined the usefulness of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire in differentiating characteristics of counselors who were rated effective and ineffective. Eight of the factors achieved significance in distinguishing between these groups. Only two factors were found to differentiate male and female counselors (p < .10).