A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING LEARNING MARITAL AND FAMILY-THERAPY/

A computer technology known as Group Support Systems (GSS) was pilot t ested in a doctoral marital and family therapy (MFT) course to explore its usefulness in teaching/learning marital and family therapy. GSS a llowed participants to combine face-to-face interaction with dialogue structured by GSS on personal computers. Through linked computers, eac h participant contributed to group discussions both simultaneously and anonymously. GSS was used to discuss a videotape, to conduct two role plays, and to write this paper. GSS was found to improve brainstormin g, enhance collaboration, reduce hierarchical status among participant s, increase self-reflection, create a trusting environment, and promot e group-supported active learning. Recommendations for further MFT tea ching, research, and application of GSS are presented.