A comparison of classroom-based and online multicultural training course within a marriage and family therapy training program

Abstract

This study contributes to an emerging area of research on online learning within marriage and family therapy training programs while responding to the need for research on the effectiveness of multicultural training marriage and family therapists receive. Using 32 students in a marriage and family therapy program and a pretest–posttest design, this study focused on student outcomes across a classroom-based multicultural training course and an online section of the same course. Support was found for the effectiveness of each instructional modality in delivering multicultural training. Findings also indicated that student gains did not significantly differ across students in the two course sections. This is the first study to provide evidence that online learning does not compromise the effectiveness of multicultural training for marriage and family therapists and adds evidence to the claim that the multicultural training marriage and family therapists receive is effective in achieving its aims.