EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN
ONLINE COUNSELING COURSES:
EXAMINING STUDENTS’ SKILL
DEVELOPMENT
EDULEARN14
Barcelona, Spain
July 2014
Gina Cicco, Ed.D., NCC
St. John’s University
U.S.A.

Introduction

Abstract

Online Counseling Skills Instruction

The Related Literature
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Experimental Research Project

Sample, Design, Methodology

Instrumentation and Data Analyses

Limitations, Expected Outcomes, and Implications

Conclusion

Contact Information
AGENDA
Experimental research is the single most powerful method of indicating causal relationships (Erford, 2008; Fraenkel,
Wallen, & Hyun, 2011; Wright, 2014). Studies on the effectiveness of online instruction exemplify a multitude of
research designs and methodologies. The results of such studies reveal the many potential advantages of online
instructional methods in terms of convenience for diverse learners and the possibility of matching teaching style with a
variety of student learning-style preferences (Cicco, 2009; Cicco, 2012; Yang & Chou, 2008). However, in specifically
examining student performance outcomes in fully online counseling skills courses, the research is somewhat scarce
(Cicco, 2011; Trepal, Haberstroh, Duffey, & Evans, 2007). It is necessary to clearly and accurately measure the level
of students’ counseling skill and technique development when taught through fully online instructional modalities. The
research literature points to several preferred strategies for online counseling educators, including the development of
positive supervisory relationships among students and faculty members to better assess students’ mastery of course
objectives (Cicco, 2013). This article will describe an experimental research project, aimed at examining the
development and mastery of counseling skills and techniques in counselors-in-training who are taught through fully
online courses as compared to their counterparts who are taught in fully in-class courses. The advantages of online
instruction and those of traditional instruction are not in question. Instead, the study will highlight the appropriateness
of the online classroom for the frequent modeling, intensive practice, and ongoing triangulated evaluation of
counseling skills and techniques that take place in core counseling skills and techniques courses. These skills are the
cornerstone or foundational threshold concepts that counselors-in-training must master if they are to be effective and
successful counseling practitioners (Ivey, Ivey, & Zalaquett, 2010). Therefore, an experiment that would compare
students’ skill development in these two instructional modalities, online versus in-class, would possibly allow counselor
educators to assert with greater confidence that in fact the level of skill development in each modality is similar or
comparable. It would also enable researchers to point to more strategic and enhanced methods for teaching skills
courses online. This proposed study would include approximately 80 participants, counselors-in-training, who would be
evaluated on their performance in a series of 3 counseling videos to measure their skill acquisition and development.
The videos would provide evidence of skill development at the beginning, middle, and end of a skills course, offered in
both online and in-class modalities, and would be scored by at least 3 counseling evaluators using a researcher-made
counseling rubric, a 20-item instrument with a 6-point scale of skills demonstration (Cicco, 2013). This article will detail
the specifics of the experimental design, methodology, instrumentation, data analyses, and expected outcomes and
research implications.
ABSTRACT

Counseling Skills and Techniques Courses

Conceptual Hierarchical Pyramid

Threshold Concepts

Live, Triangulated Feedback

Interpersonal Skills

Supervision

Self- and Other-Review
ONLINE COUNSELING SKILLS
INSTRUCTION






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Studies by:
Trepal, Haberstroh, Duffey, and Evans (2007)
York (2008)
Cicco (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Haberstroh (2010)
Zacharis (2011)
Evans (2014)
THE RELATED LITERATURE


Sample, Design, and Methodology

80 Counselors-in-Training

Metropolitan University in New York

Mixed-Methods

Online and In-Class Sections of Introductory Counseling Skills and
Techniques Course

Three Videos (Pretest and Posttests)

Eight Evaluators
Instrumentation and Data Analyses

20-Item Counseling Skills Rubric

Six-Point Scale

ANCOVA

Interviews
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH PROJECT

External Validity

Necessary Empirical Research

Information for Decision-Makers

Feedback on Modeling and Role-Playing

Course Enhancement, Improvement, and Assessment
LIMITATIONS, EXPECTED
OUTCOMES, AND IMPLICATIONS

Questions and Comments

Discussion
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Contact Information

ciccog@stjohns.edu

Thank You!!!
CONCLUSION