USING COMPUTER AND VIDEO TECHNOLOGIES TO DEVELOP INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Two studies investigated ways in which computer and video technology c an support expert human coaches in order to reduce instructor time and potentially increase access to powerful learning environments. The co ntent goal was to drain undergraduate students to facilitate others' i nterpersonal problem solving. In Experiment 1 the standard classroom t reatment used instructor lecture and guided discussion, instructor mod eling of skills, and role play, with the instructor present the full t ime. The combined instructor/ computer/video treatment substituted com puter instruction for lecture and video for instructor modeling. The d ependent variable was performance in a role play. Both treatments requ ired 9 hr of subject time, but the combined treatment reduced instruct or time from 9 to 4.5 hr. The combined treatment yielded comparable su bject outcomes: F(1, 25) = 1.21, p = NS. In Experiment 2, the classroo m 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 clas sroom treatment and 2 hr in the combined treatment. The optimized trea tment 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 as signed to each treatment) indicated a similar result, with t(24) = 2.6 7, p <.05. We conclude that computer- and video-supported methods have the potential to decrease instructor time and increase learner perfor mance, even for complex interpersonal problem solving skills.