Counseling-Related Legislation: A Seminar

The complexity of counseling-related legislation has dictated the need for counselor-training programs to develop an organized and systematic approach to this topic. One method to accomplish this goal is through the use of a topical seminar. A graduate-level seminar is described in terms of goals, objectives, structure, and requirements. Significant incident-experience reports were used to learn about the legislative-experiencing levels of the students. From 110 reports received from students, 34 were directed to the awareness level, 39 to the knowledge level, 15 to the skills level, and 22 to the action level. Instructors' observations, student feedback, and recommendations are also provided.     

A Brief Feasibility Report on a Videotaped Test Measuring Carkhuff's Dimensions

An eight-item instrument was constructed to measure the skills represented by four of Carkhuff's dimensions (scales) of facilitative interpersonal functioning. These items consisted of stimulus statements on a color videocassette, introduced by a narrator and performed by actors. Subjects responded by writing what their verbal and nonverbal responses would be in the situation presented. Reliability coefficients (.77 and .80), concurrent validity (.75) and construct validity via factor analysis are presented. Results demonstrate the feasibility of this approach to measuring Carkhuff's dimensions. Suggestions for further research are included.     

Counselor Anxiety During a Counseling Interview

Physiological and subjective measures of counselor anxiety were compared to determine if counselors experienced greater anxiety during a counseling interview than during a conversation, Twenty experienced rehabilitation counselors in a graduate-level practicum course volunteered to participate in a 10-minute conversation and counseling session. Anxiety was assessed by self-report skin conductance and heart-rate measures. Results indicated that there were no significant treatment, period, or interaction effects for heart-rate data; however, there was a significant period effect for conductance data. There were no significant differences for participants' self-report evaluations of the two situations. Baseline autonomic data were highly related to autonomic data during the anticipation and stimulus periods, and preexperimental self-report data were moderately related to postexperimental self-report data. Conclusions were that counselors experience comparable anxiety during counseling and conversing, that expectation accounts for most of the counselors' anxiety, and that baseline physiological and self-report data may prove useful in identifying counselors who would experience anxiety during an interview.     

All the King's Horses and All the King's Men: justifying higher education

ABSTRACT This article addresses the question‘What is the justification of higher education in modern society?’ It takes issue with writers such as Alasdair Macintyre and Allan Bloom, who argue that the fragmentation of value characteristic of modernity has undermined the possibility of providing a coherent justification of higher education. Against MacIntyre and Bloom, I argue that we should understand education as a means of developing reflective consciousness in students, and that that will require fragmentation and the immanent conflict of traditions rather than a background of agreed values.     

THE NATURE OF OBJECTIVITY WITH THE RASCH MODEL

Although it has been claimed that the Rasch model leads to a higher degree of objectivity in measurement than has been previously possible, this model has had little impact on test development. Population-invariant item and ability calibrations, together with the statistical equivalency of any two item subsets, are supposedly possible if the item pool has been calibrated by the Rasch model. Initial research has been encouraging, but the implications of underlying assumptions and operational computations in the Rasch model for trait theory have not been clear from previous work. The current paper presents an analysis of the conditions under which the claims of objectivity will be substantiated, with special emphasis on the nature of equivalent forms. It is concluded that the real advantages of the Rasch model will not be apparent until the technology of trait measurement becomes more sophisticated.     

Contributions and Limitations in the Use of Computers in Counselor Training

This article examines the role of computer technology in counselor preparation. Three aspects of counselor training—acquisition of facts and theory, development of specific skills, and personal and professional development—are discussed in terms of the potential contributions and limitations of computers in training efforts.