TPC Journal-Vol 9- Issue 2-Full-Issue

The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 2 113 Method We used a causal comparative design (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) to study student engagement in flipped and non-flipped counseling courses at a medium-sized public university in the mid-Atlantic region. In a causal comparative study, researchers compare groups by a cause, or independent variable, that has already occurred (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). In this study, the cause was a flipped or non-flipped teaching approach in counseling theories courses. Procedures The university where we conducted this study has a small master’s counseling program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and holds one class section for every course taught each semester. In order to compare a similar counseling course taught in both a flipped and non-flipped approach, we compared a flipped Theories for Counseling Children and Adolescents course (“experimental group”) to a non-flipped Counseling Theories course (“control group”) at the same university. Both courses include parallel emphases on counseling theories, as shown in Table 1. To obtain a sample large enough for inferential statistical analysis, we collected data in two subsequent years from students in two flipped Theories for Counseling Children and Adolescents courses and two non-flipped Counseling Theories courses. All courses met weekly across a 15-week fall semester. Table 1 Course Topics in Flipped and Non-Flipped Courses Studied Flipped Theories for Counseling Children and Adolescents Non-flipped Counseling Theories Psychoanalytic Counseling Psychoanalytic Counseling Person-Centered Counseling Person-Centered Counseling Gestalt Therapy Gestalt Therapy Adlerian Counseling Adlerian Counseling Reality Therapy Reality Therapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Behavior Therapy Behavior Therapy Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Postmodern Approaches Strengths-Based Counseling Existential Counseling Motivational Interviewing Feminist Therapy Play Therapy Family Systems Therapy We did not randomly assign study participants to course sections, but instead recruited participants already in existing groups based on the university’s prescribed counseling program of study. Students in the Counseling Theories courses were in their first year and students in Theories for Counseling Children and Adolescents courses were in their second year. No participants were taking both courses at the same time. The flipped Theories for Counseling Children and Adolescents course was the only flipped course in the counseling program at the time of the study.