A Three-Step Model for More Effective Presentations

The need is discussed and a model presented to aid in effective presentations. Three stages involve presenting, personalizing, and enabling participant interaction with the material.     

The counselor and individualized instruction

This article describes some ways counselors can use their skills to help teachers individualize instruction. The author describes the four basic components of most programs of individualized instruction, suggesting tasks counselors could perform relating to each component. The author concludes that the interested counselor is able to contribute greatly toward the improvement of instruction and in so doing become substantially involved in helping pupils to meet their needs.     

Dimensions of counselor functioning

In 1957 the editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology rejected an article on group counseling because, by definition, “Counseling is a process in which two persons….” Since then the functions of a counselor have broadened to include working with groups in many ways. Some will maintain that we have expanded far beyond our domain into that of the organizational psychologist. The authors of this article assume that the counselor's functions should include a wide range of interventions and have organized them within a “Cube.” This model provided the structure for this Special Issue. The three dimensions of the Cube are: (a) the target of the intervention, (b) the purpose of the intervention, and(c) the method of intervention. We think this model has great heuristic potential as a tool for both research and practice.     

an ecological perspective and model for campus design

Blocker's article described the implications of an ecological perspective in the elementary school setting. Banning and his colleagues at WICHE have been interested in institutional change in higher education. While this article does not describe a “program” per se, it does describe in some detail a methodology for change. After discarding traditional student personnel perspectives (unenlightened, adjustment, and developmental), Banning and Kaiser push out the frontier with their concept of “ecosystems.” An ecosystem is one in which there is a true transaction between mutually dependent partners, with the assumption that either may change so that mutual benefit may result. A model for bringing about such change is presented, and a methodology for using the model is described.     

Training professionals for evaluative research

Most counselors will agree that the profession is in trouble. Many will recognize that the reason we are in trouble is that we have not taken program accountability seriously. This is partially because graduate training for research extinguishes the desire to “find out” rather than nurturing our curiosity. Oetting and Hawkes focus on evaluation as opposed to research, showing that the skills and processes are not the same and that therefore the training should not be the same. Evaluation skills are necessary in all cells of the Cube; in fact, unless they are operative, counseling may quickly become nondimensional.