Pros and Cons of Standards on Education and Training PDF

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The Ethics Code is a general rule book for Psychologist and warn them of what training is necessary in order to perform at their best in their practice. With every standard, the Ethics Code comes with advantages (Pros) and disadvantages (Cons) because the book is very broad, not perfect, and always...

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PROS AND CONS OF STANDARDS ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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Pros and Cons of Standards on Education and Training

Every standard stated in the Ethics Code comes with advantages (Pros) and disadvantages (Cons). The text is not perfect, very broad, and in process of updating and revision upon every published edition of the text. With the implementation of the Ethics Code, psychologists are given strict standards and guidelines to protect themselves and the public and stakeholders they serve. One of the standards which needs to bring to light is Standard 7: Education and Training. The standard reviews the design and descriptions of education and training, accuracy, student disclosure of personal information, mandatory therapy for individuals and groups, assessing student and supervisee performance, and sexual relations with students and supervisees. One advantage of the standard is the first established sub-standard, 7.01: Design of Education and Training Programs. Psychologists are responsible for education and training and are obligated to establish relationships of loyalty and trust with their institutions, students, and members of society who count on academic environments to conduct knowledgeable skills and career and opportunities within the degree program. This is a review of Ethics Code Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility. Not only the psychologists are responsible for providing education and training, Department chairs and other faculty responsible for criteria development need to ensure course requirements, such as knowledge and skills, are fundamental to the discipline. Chairs or directors of doctoral programs are to educate graduates to make responsible research ethical decisions within the program. Internship programs must ensure supervisory and training experiences meet the standards of specific areas of psychological practice, appropriate state and professional accreditation criteria, and state licensing board programs.

PROS AND CONS OF STANDARDS ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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Another advantage of the standard is the clarification of modifying course content or requirements within the standard 7.03: Accuracy in Teaching. The syllabi may include unintentional errors, required reading which may become unavailable, and changes to teaching schedule in which causes conflicts with dates for exams. In many cases, psychologists have valid academic reasons for changing course content or requirements during any point of the semester. Modifications to course content or requirements do not violate this standard as long as students are notified as soon as possible in a clear and timely manner to fulfill course requirements due to hardships. This standard should take into account if a professor who has not discussed nor made clear of how students will be evaluated until the last week of class or fails to update the syllabus would be in violation of this standard. Last advantage of the standard is how the term “reasonable steps” is defined and implemented throughout the standard. Reasonable steps recognizes the efforts to ensure current information which was published in course catalogs in a timely manner. Creators of websites are not directly supported by the department or program. Psychologist may have limited control over given institutional functions. Recall when we said that the Ethics code is not perfect source of text and that the document is being updated per edition. There are advantages of Standards of Education and Training, but with every advantage we trust upon, there are some disadvantages within this standard due to living in a time where everything is based on digital media. One disadvantage with digital ethics is the online distance education to provide online psychology curricula and provide distance learning. When distance learning could be a handy tool for learning psychology and earn certification and degrees, it is easily accessed when offered easily like a regular in-person class course. Psychologist teaching online distance education may

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have to consider a list of questions—Can this course information be useful to students and be properly evaluated? Does this meet accreditation, certification, licensure, or other requirements? Does the technology work in higher education or does it undermine students? Are the program goals met? Can ethical values of discipline be successful of whether or not a student cheats on an exam? Are the faculty trained to provide and online distance education? The second disadvantage with digital ethics is disclosure of student personal information through social media. Its common that Psychologists use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, chat rooms, and other forms of social media to engage with students is discussions, regarding academic material or university events. Students may feel inspired to use these sites to share or link information to themselves or other students about broad psychological topics of any nature. According to Standard 7.04, students or supervisees are not obligated to provide teaching psychologists with specifics in the realm of personal information unless conditions were disclosed. The disadvantage could lie in Standard 7.06B, Assessing Student and Supervisee performance. Psychologists who plan to utilize electronic media for instructional purposes should clarify in advance restrictions on the type of information that can be posted online through social media. Educators should take charge to educate students on their responsibilities and strategies to avoid privacy violations that may arise when academic sites are linked to other sources of social media. Not only the style of teaching to a student’s education—in-class or online—but psychologist should be made aware of many subtexts within Standard 7. Education and Training. Digital ethics should be carefully evaluated in terms of use to receive proper education and certification of becoming a proper psychologist. Within online distance education, it may be believed that a student is cheating on a test just by googling the correct answers like it was an

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ordinary homework assignment. With the use of social media, sharing psychological information should be closely evaluated and credited. Digital ethics may be a downfall to a psychologist’s education due to uncredited and unreliable sites as resources. The disadvantage of digital ethics could overwrite the in-class teachings of Standard 7 due to the reason of the digital era of the 21st century....