Vol. 7 No. 4
Year: 2012
Issue: Mar-May
Title: Designing innovative counseling courses: combining technology, theory, and Practice
Author Name: Gina Cicco
Synopsis:
This article will discuss the development of an innovative instructional design for teaching graduate courses in counselor education programs. The teaching strategies that will be highlighted evolved during a collaborative team-teaching project conducted by two counselor educators. These two faculty members worked together to redesign a course in organizational and administrative theory for school counselors-in-training. Their project will be described as well as the resultant conceptual model for integrating technology, theory, and practice through employing differentiated instruction. The proposed instructional design includes consideration of students' learning-style preferences. Countless studies document the many benefits of accommodating students' learning styles in the classroom, as doing so improves students' academic performance, learning outcomes, and overall attitudes (Cicco, 2009; Dunn & Griggs, 2003). Theinstructional design model presented incorporates techniques for engaging students through strategic lesson planning, emphasizing faculty expertise and interests, and providing students with assignment options so they can optimize their learning experiences. The instructional model ideally would combine thoughtful, meaningful technological tools, instruction of theory through various instructional strategies, and opportunities for application and evaluation through practical, experiential learning. Recommendations for enhancing lessons in the classroom by integrating resources from online course management systems will also be addressed. Utilizing faculty collaboration, peer-review methods, and experiential learning has been shown to produce positive learning outcomes in counselor preparation programs (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2005; Orr, Hall, & Hulse-Killacky, 2008).
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