Modernizing Human Services Center with Video Equipment to Enhance Student Learning Experiences. College of Education

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1 Modernizing Human Services Center with Video Equipment to Enhance Student Learning Experiences 1. Project Description College of Education The Human Services Center ( a faculty and student led psychology training clinic in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in the College of Education, provides FSU students with clinical mental health training. This training is required to maintain the accreditation by the American Psychological Association of our Combined Counseling Psychology and School Psychology doctoral training program, by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs for our Master s students in Mental Health Counseling training program, and by the National Association of School Psychologists for our Master s in School Psychology program. This clinical training is also required for students seeking licensure as mental health professionals. This proposed project aims to equip the Human Services Center in the College of Education with essential electronic observational equipment that would enhance the educational process and the quality of services provided to student clients and also to meet requirements to maintain our accreditation with national accreditation bodies. Top training programs in counseling and school psychology and mental health counseling nationally and internationally utilize state of the art video recording equipment to enhance the supervision and development of students. This equipment is essential for our ability to recruit and train Fig. 1 Current Video Equipment Setup top students in our programs. This project seeks to purchase instructional technology in the form of video recording and observation equipment for six therapy rooms to allow for the reliable and high quality recording of students performing therapy and psychological assessment for further analysis and reflection. The current video equipment (Fig. 1) is now outdated and often malfunctioning, performing only intermittently in 3 of the 6 rooms. We propose to install cameras, recording equipment, and appropriate wiring in each of the six rooms with the capability to monitor student counseling sessions from adjacent observation rooms and a central observation room. 2. Impact of Project on Instruction Number of Students Impacted This project provides a mission critical component for the instruction, clinical supervision, and learning of graduate level students in several of our courses. From summer 2012 through fall 2014, enrollment in the courses that primarily use the equipment was 516 graduate students. In addition, these students provided mental health services at no cost to other FSU students and members of the broader community. By using modern video equipment and enabling improved supervision of our graduate students, we will benefit many students on campus who receive counseling and psychological assessment services through the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. This project will also strengthen the bond between Florida State s Human Services Center and the broader community by improving students training through video/audio observation and supervision. 1

2 Courses impacted by this project include: MHS 5801 (Practicum in Counseling and Rehabilitation) and MHS 6803 (Seminar in Ethics, Law and Supervision): enrollment was 84 students in these courses from Summer 2012 through Fall It is estimated that student counselors serve approximately 50 clients from the Tallahassee community per year, of which approximately 15 are FSU students. The practicum course provides our graduate students with their first experiences in counseling and is closely supervised by our faculty. As several students may see clients at the same time, we require a way to observe students counseling sessions occurring in several rooms from a central observation room while also allowing for direct observation from adjacent observation rooms. The supervision course (MHS 6803) provides supervision to the students in the practicum course and supervision experience to our advanced doctoral students. Videotaping the practicum students counseling sessions is an essential component of training in order to provide them with appropriate supervision. Student s videotape each counseling session and then are able to review and reflect on their work with supervisors while watching the video together. The use of this video equipment would allow us to provide outstanding supervision to our doctoral students. MHS 5400 (Introduction to Counseling Theories and Techniques): enrollment in this course was 144 from fall 2012 through fall This course serves as a prerequisite for MHS 5801 (Practicum in Counseling and Rehabilitation) where students learn introductory counseling skills and methods of counseling. As part of their instruction they are required to videotape and critique their counseling work. These students would use this video equipment to record their use of counseling skills and allow them to observe themselves and critique their work. It will also allow the course instructor to review and critique the student s work. MHS 6938 (Special Topics in Counseling Psychology, Substance Abuse Counseling, Family Counseling and Child and Adolescent Development): enrollment in this course across sections was 210 from fall 2012 through fall Students in this course would benefit from use of the video equipment to support their development in delivering counseling services for substance abuse counseling, family counseling, and counseling children and adolescents whereby they could video record their use of counseling skills and techniques. These students would use this equipment to facilitate critiques of role plays and counseling skills development and facilitate the ability of instructors to provide feedback to students. SPS 5191 (Assessment of Intelligence) and SPS5192 (Psychological Assessment and Intervention): enrollment in these courses across sections was 53 and 25, respectively, from fall 2012 through fall Students in these courses would benefit from use of the video equipment to support their development of psychological assessment skills whereby they could video record their administration of psychological assessments. Students would record their administration of assessments, providing them the opportunity to observe themselves and critique their work and allow for the instructor to provide critical feedback to promote development of student s psychological assessment skills. 3. Project Plan Table 1 contains an outline of the major project activities, milestone, timeline, and expected outcomes. 2

3 Table 1. Proposed Project Outline Project activities/milestones Who When (Dates/Period) Outcomes Acquisition of equipment OIIT team March 2015 Equipment purchased Installation of equipment FSU Facilities and ITS April 2015 Equipment installed and tested Testing of equipment by end user Protocol and policy development Development of relevant training materials Utilization of equipment in all courses Evaluation of project effectiveness COE EPLS and COE OIIT April-May, 2015 End user testing to ensure students and instructors use equipment correctly COE EPLS May 2015 Develop protocols and policies for use of equipment COE EPLS and OIIT May 2015 Training materials in multimedia format developed and made available to users COE EPLS May 2015 and onward Instructors and students trained to use equipment in all courses Dr. Martin Swanbrow Becker April 2016 Evaluation conducted, report devised and discussed with relevant stakeholders 4. Connection with Other University Activities This project will facilitate the development of counseling and assessment skills among students in the College of Education. This training will allow them to gain clinical practicum, internships, and graduate assistant positions across campus to support the mental health of FSU students. Our students would be increasingly qualified to serve in the University Counseling Center, Career Center, Student Disability Resource Center, Adult Learning and Evaluation Center, Health Promotions and other locations that support student mental health. In addition, our students would be increasingly qualified to serve in community mental health settings, furthering the connection between FSU and the Tallahassee community and further establishing quality training locations for our students seeking training in providing mental health care. This project aligns with the Florida Board of Governors Strategic Plan ( p. 7) that states: State universities have prioritized the coordination of academic program delivery in order to optimize resources, to expand efficiencies, and to respond to workforce demands for graduates with specific knowledge and skills. This project coordinates the delivery of training for our students that optimizes their ability to observe their development, receive high quality feedback from supervisors and 3

4 develop exceptional counseling skills to make them highly qualified to enter the workforce with knowledge and skills to engage in the work of mental health counseling and intervention. In addition, the Florida Board of Governors Strategic Plan ( 28_Strategic_Plan_ _FINAL.PDF, p. 8) notes that The Facilities Committee is currently focused on how best to address funding for the renovation of existing facilities and the construction of new, highpriority facilities. This facility is of the highest priority for our program as it is essential for us to help develop our student s skills and our accreditation with national organizations relies on it. This project also supports the mission of FSU stated in the FSU Strategic Plan ( p. 7) in that it furthers excellence in teaching, creative endeavors, and service. It further promotes in our students the importance of lifelong learning, personal responsibility and sustained achievement in that it highlights the collaborative nature of supervision, encourages self-reflection, and allows for better supervision of skill development. 5. Cost of Ongoing Support Following the first year of implementation, Dr. Swanbrow Becker will assume the primary responsibilities to train new users and maintain the equipment with the support of the COE Office of Information and Instructional Technologies staff. We do not envision any ongoing costs at this time. Maintenance will be provided by the company we will buy equipment from and by the members of the project team upon completion of the training. 6. Project Team Dr. Martin Swanbrow Becker, Assistant Professor, COE EPLS Faculty member responsible for supervising courses with primary use of the video equipment and coordinating training of users of the equipment. Martin Swanbrow Becker, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Educational Psychology and Learning Systems Human Services Center College of Education mswanbrowbecker@fsu.edu Dr. Deborah Ebener, Associate Professor, COE EPLS Faculty member involved in training of students with primary use of this equipment Dr. Shengli Dong, Assistant Professor, COE EPLS Faculty member involved in training of students with primary use of this equipment Eve Wettstein, Program Coordinator, COE EPLS Responsible for overseeing the workspace where the video equipment will be housed. Dr. Dina Vyortkina, Director, COE Office of Information and Instructional Technologies, OIIT, leader of technology team consulting on this project 4

5 Michael O Donnell, IT Coordinator, COE OIIT Jamey Baxter, IT Support Specialist, COE OITT 7. Budget Explanation/Justification Appendix A contains all details of the budget proposal. We are planning to acquire equipment for recording the counseling sessions, with total cost of $23,426. This cost includes installation by FSU Facilities and a three-year warranty for equipment. Project team conducted a thorough needs assessment and analysis of available equipment, observed how other departments at FSU performed video observation, and met with vendors for demonstrations of several systems. The suggested system (Fig. 2) is the one that best fits for purpose and provides the best value for the money. Fig 2. Proposed Equipment In addition, we request the funding of one Graduate Assistant to facilitate the training of students and faculty in the College of Education, to contribute to drafting and administration of policies and procedures for use of the equipment, to assist faculty with incorporating the use of this technology in their courses, and to address any problems with equipment use over the first year: Graduate Assistant for one year - $18, (includes tuition waiver, health insurance, and stipend for 3 semesters (summer, fall and spring). The overall cost of this project is estimated to be $41,

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