Modernizing Training in Psychotherapy Competencies With Adaptive Learning Systems: Proof of Concept

Area of Science:

• Social Work Education
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Clinical Psychology Training

Background:

• Training social work students in evidence-based practices like client engagement is crucial but challenging.
• Traditional training methods may not always be scalable or efficient for developing these skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) as a supplementary tool for BSW students.
• To enhance training in client engagement strategies for social work practice.

Main Methods:

• Co-development of the ITS with undergraduate students.
• Pilot testing with BSW students in a telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy (tCBT) course.
• Assessment of student competencies through expert review of role-plays and analysis of ITS usage time.

Main Results:

• High pass rates in clinical skills role-plays (81.8% in Wave 1, 100% in Wave 2).
• A positive correlation between faster progression through the ITS and higher tCBT competency ratings.
• Demonstrated feasibility and acceptability of the ITS in a real-world training setting.

Conclusions:

• Intelligent tutoring systems show promise for streamlining and scaling the training of evidence-based practices in social work.
• ITS can be an effective adjunct to traditional classroom training for developing essential clinical skills.
• Further research can explore optimizing ITS design for diverse clinical training needs.