Using computer and video technologies to develop interpersonal skills

Abstract

Two studies investigated ways in which computer and video technology can support expert human coaches in order to reduce instructor time and potentially increase access to powerful learning environments. The content goal was to train undergraduate students to facilitate others' interpersonal problem solving. In Experiment 1 the standard classroom treatment used instructor lecture and guided discussion, instructor modeling of skills, and role play, with the instructor present the full time. The combined instructor/ computer/video treatment substituted computer instruction for lecture and video for instructor modeling. The dependent variable was performance in a role play. Both treatments required 9 hr of subject time, but the combined treatment reduced instructor time from 9 to 4.5 hr. The combined treatment yielded comparable subject outcomes: F(1, 25) = 1.21, p = NS. In Experiment 2, the classroom treatment remained essentially the same. In the optimized treatment subjects scored videotaped examples and applied the scoring technique in teams to their own videotaped role-play performance. Total subject time in both treatments was 6 hr. Instructor time was 6 hr in the classroom treatment and 2 hr in the combined treatment. The optimized treatment yielded significantly better performance: F(1, 23) = 20.27, p < .001. Independent rating of the role plays by three counseling students (who were blind to the experimental treatments and to the subjects assigned to each treatment) indicated a similar result, with t(24) = 2.67, p < .05. We conclude that computer- and video-supported methods have the potential to decrease instructor time and increase learner performance, even for complex interpersonal problem solving skills.