Teaching a Psychopharmacology Course to Counselors: Justification,Structure, and Methods

The use of medication to treat various psychological disorders has expanded greatly over the last decade. Therefore, counselors need more sophisticated knowledge about psychopharmacology to work effectively in school and community settings. This article describes the curriculum, structure, resources, and teaching methods for effective instruction in psychopharmacology for counselors.     

Paideia and the Search for Freedom in the Educational Formation of the Public of Today

In this paper, I explore the ancient Greek concept of paideia to contribute to an ongoing revitalisation of educational theory that positions freedom as central to the educational process. I also analyse the current crisis in public life in Europe as a consequence of neglect or inability to incorporate educational theory in the formation of school systems embracing democratic ways of life. I mainly explore the concept of teaching as a radical idea of allowing anyone be the bearer of culture and society and not just an exclusive group of people. I identify three types of abstractions distancing current orders of democracy from concerning the entire population. I also offer an educational strategy to break with these abstractions to be able to take on ‘a divine life’ in the present.     

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.     

THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTION AND PRACTICE IN CONTENT-INDEPENDENT TEST-TAKING TECHNIQUES UPON THE STANDARDIZED READING TEST SCORES OF SELECTED SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS

Twenty-four relatively test-naive second-grade students received eight 30-minute periods of deliberate instruction and practice in content-independent standardized test-taking techniques over a four-week period. Immediate and delayed effects of treatment were assessed through an analysis of improvement in standardized reading test scores as measured by the difference between experimental and control groups in the Stanford Reading Test. The results showed that students who received instruction and practice in test-taking techniques achieved significantly higher scores on both the immediate posttest administered the week following treatment and the delayed posttest administered four months after treatment. Mean differences were about a quarter of a standard deviation.     

SOME RESULTS RELATING TO TEST EQUATING UNDER RELAXED TEST FORM EQUIVALENCE

Educational measurement specialists in undertaking test equating in applied settings have been plagued by the absence of a logically or mathematically compelling rationale for their test equating efforts. Classical test theory and other test theories based on the assumption of identically distributed true scores are tautological in terms of test equating. The present study examined (by means of a Monte Carlo procedure) the effects of four parameters on the accuracy of test equating under a relaxed definition of test form equivalence. The four parameters studied were sample size, test form length, test form reliability, and the correlation between the true scores of the test forms to be equated. Significant interactions involving sample size and the other parameters indicated that smaller samples of observations yielded disproportionately larger errors in test equating for fixed values of the test form parameters. In terms of main effects, sample size emerged as most important in controlling equating error. Taken together, the results suggest that when test equating is carried out on larger samples of observations, errors of equating will tend to be relatively small even though the test forms are not strictly parallel. For arbitrarily small samples, however, errors of equating will tend to be larger regardless of how equivalent the test forms are.     

Recent Licensure Developments: Implications for Counselor Education

This article describes several current developments in the licensing of helping professionals, and it identifies problems in the definition and preparation of qualified behavioral science practitioners. It also lists implications for certain aspects of counselor education, including educational orientation, advisement practices, curriculum development, and professional leadership. Specific concerns are noted in each of the four areas.