TPC-Journal-V2-Issue2

The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 2 146 are included, with the negatively worded items reverse scored so that higher scores would indicate a higher estimate of one’s counseling self-efficacy. Overall, the COSE provides scores for a single higher order factor and five second order factors which were identified through an initial exploratory factor analysis. However, in a review of the literature, Larson et al. (1992) recommended that researchers use the single higher order factor score rather than the second order factor scores when assessing overall counseling self-efficacy. Based on their suggestion, only the full scale COSE score was used in this study. An initial report by Larson et al. noted an internal consistency of .93 for the COSE and a three-week test-retest reliability of .87. A reliability analysis conducted to examine the internal consistency of the COSE instrument for the current study yielded an alpha coefficient of .94, suggesting that the COSE was a reliable instrument for the given sample. Procedures Following institutional review board approval, electronic invitations to participate in this study were sent to a random sample of graduate students enrolled in counselor training programs nationwide using the contact information made available by ACA member services. Included in the study invitation were a brief overview of the study and a description of what individuals would be asked to do if they chose to participate. To make access to the survey more convenient, an embedded hyperlink was included in the electronic invitation. All individuals accessing the study site were asked initially to read an informed consent document and indicate their agreement to participate before proceeding. To protect participant anonymity, the survey did not ask for any personally identifying information. Participants were encouraged to answer as honestly as possible. The majority of participants were able to complete the survey in less than 20 minutes. Data Analysis An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was computed using SPSS 16.0 to compare mean differences in CSE scores by instructional method (online vs. traditional FTF instruction) while controlling for students’ previous counseling experience. Previous counseling experience was thought to be related to the dependent variable (DV) because researchers (see Larson et al., 1992) have noted a strong positive relationship between CSE and counseling experience in prior studies. Current student data also indicates that a significant number of students enrolled in online programs are working professionals (Ivey, 2011), thus the likelihood exists that many of the participants in this study may currently be working in the counseling field or have done so previously. Therefore, following Warner’s (2008) recommendation that variables strongly correlated with the DV be included as covariates in any statistical model because they produce a smaller error term and a larger F ratio for assessing the main effect of the treatment variable, a measure of previous counseling experience (defined as any contact with clients in a professional mental health-related role) was added to the analysis. Finally, a multiple regression analysis was computed to determine the best linear combination of variables among gender, age and degree level (master’s or advanced) for predicting COSE scores. Results Before running the ANCOVA, a preliminary analysis was conducted to test the homogeneity of slopes assumption by examining the interaction between the treatment variable (instructional method) and the covariate (previous counseling experience). Results indicated that the interaction was not statistically significant, F (1, 369) = .498, p = .48, and the assumption had been met. Having satisfied the homogeneity of slopes assumption, an ANCOVA was performed to determine whether a difference in counseling self-efficacy existed between students who had completed FTF instruction and online instruction courses after controlling for the variance accounted for by previous counseling experience. The results indicate that there was a significant difference in COSE scores, F (1, 370) = 4.61, p = .03, η 2 = .02. A comparison of the adjusted group means, as displayed in Table 1, reveals that students who enroll in online counselor education courses self-report significantly stronger CSE beliefs. According to Cohen (1988), η 2 effect sizes can be interpreted as being either small (.01), medium (.06), or large (.17). Using these benchmarks, the computed effect size of .02 would be categorized as small in terms of the variance accounted for in COSE scores by instructional method.