The Counseling faculty employ various methods of instruction including lectures, 课堂讨论, 角色扮演, 问题式学习, 教学视频, 客座讲师, formative and summative assessments, 翻转课堂.
All MA in Counseling students will participate in a 5-day residency in late August on bwin体育大学’s main campus in Beaver Falls, 宾西法尼亚. We encourage students to complete their residency as they enter the program, but students can postpone their residency until the start of their 2nd 一年. Our residency experience is designed to help students establish a meaningful relationship with faculty and other students. We have discovered that our students are best positioned for academic success when they are joined together into a community of learners for a special time of exploration, 增长, and collaboration under Christ.
During this week, students will complete a 3-credit course in professional issues and ethics. 作为这门课的一部分, students will receive an orientation to our MA in Counseling program as well as an orientation to online learning at bwin体育大学. Students will also have opportunities to create their plan of study with their faculty advisor, explore their vocational calling within the counseling profession, and build program camaraderie through social gatherings. We have learned that students will take these collegial relationships forged during residency with them into the profession long after completing our graduate program.
住宿, transportation and meals are not provided by bwin体育大学, but students are given an opportunity to connect with each other ahead of time through email chain prior in order to coordinate transportation and other travel logistics if needed. Lunch is available for purchase in the Alexander Dining Hall on the bwin体育大学 campus during the week. Students will be given information for lodging with any applicable discounts associated with the bwin体育大学.
Our online program is structured differently than our on-ground curriculum. Instead of completing courses over a traditional, 尽早跨度, online courses run on an 8-week schedule. 结果是, 全职 students will complete 2-online courses at the same time for the first 8 weeks of the term (Fall A) and then begin 2 new courses for the back half of the same semester (Fall B). Whether on ground or online, 全职 students will complete 4 courses per semester.
Given that 14 weeks of content are compressed into an 8-week schedule for online classes, the required level of time investment per week per course is considerably higher. In order to be successful, students must carve out a sufficient time each week given the accelerated pace. Prospective students often wonder, “How can I learn to be a professional counselor online?” We have deliberately structured our online program with this concern in mind. 在每门课程中, well thought out methodologies are utilized to help students not only obtain mastery over the course material but also to develop Master’s level counseling skills and interventions. Some of the most common methods of instruction in our online learning environment include audio-embedded PowerPoint presentations, 视频评论, 角色扮演, 学生演讲, 临床的示威游行, 客人面板, 反映期刊, 冥想练习, 和考试. While much of our online courses are asynchronous, each class has some synchronous elements through videoconferencing technology so that students can engage in professional presentations, practice specific counseling skills, witness panel discussions, and receive live instruction and feedback from faculty and other students. Our classes utilize discussion forums to help students engage one another and to internalize course content on a weekly basis.
In the second 一年 of the program, online students will be supported in identifying a local clinical site to complete their practicum and internship experiences. In the practicum and internship experiences, students provide master’s level counseling services to clients within their communities under the direction of a site and faculty supervisor. During practicum and internship, students will receive synchronous (live), weekly faculty supervision through Zoom to help students to refine their counseling skills and prepare you for professional practice. Our online MA in Counseling program offers students maximum flexibility without compromising the learning process so that students are well prepared to serve God and neighbor as professional counselors.