TPC-Journal-V2-Issue2

The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 2 147 Table 1 Mean Comparisons for COSE Scores Between the Face-to-Face and Online Courses Unadjusted Adjusted N M SD M SD Face-to-Face Courses 207 169.13 20.30 169.00 1.34 Online Courses 166 173.67 18.54 173.90 1.49 Results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that the combination of gender, age, and degree level significantly predicted counseling self-efficacy, F (3, 369) = 16.36, p < .001. The R 2 for this model was .12 and the adjusted R 2 was .11 (see Table 2). This indicates that 12% of the variance in COSE scores was explained by the model. According to Cohen, this would be considered a medium effect. Table 2 Multiple Regression Analysis Summary for Gender, Age, and Degree Level Predicting Counseling Self-Efficacy Scores B SE B β p Gender -1.82 2.57 -.04 .48 Age .23 .09 .12 .01 Degree level 15.60 2.39 .32 .01 Note. N = 373. Adjusted R 2 = .11; F (3, 369) = 16.36; p < .01. Discussion The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine whether differences in counseling self-efficacy exist between students enrolled in FTF and online core counseling skill courses after controlling for the effect of previous counseling experience. It was hypothesized that students enrolled in the online courses would self-report lower levels of counseling self-efficacy. To test this hypothesis, students enrolled in both types of courses were administered the Counseling Self Estimate Inventory (COSE) and their results compared. The results of an analysis of covariance suggest that students who enrolled in online core counseling skill courses as part of their training program reported stronger counseling self-efficacy beliefs than the students who were trained in traditional FTF courses when prior counseling experience was controlled, thus disproving our research hypothesis. There are a number of explanations that can be posited for this unexpected result. For one, the results may be a function of the manner in which the data was collected. By design, the COSE is a self-report measure. As such, students are asked to give their perceptions of their abilities as a counselor. According to Kruger & Dunning (1999), there is a natural tendency for individuals to overrate their abilities in the absence of any specific skill demonstration on which to accurately judge their own level of competence. As Lepkowski, Packman, Smaby, and Maddux (2009) note, the unrealistic sense of confidence some individuals have may cause them to attempt counseling tasks for which they are not fully trained nor prepared. One of the biggest criticisms of online instruction in training counselors is that it does not afford students adequate opportunity to develop their basic counseling skills. Typically, online students have fewer structured opportunities