Mirror effects: Action-oriented approach enhancing metacognitive knowledge in counseling education

Experiential learning has long been used in education, and no other strategy offers as comprehensive, effective, and innovative of an approach in designing curriculum for teaching counseling to enhance the student learning experience. This quantitative study aims to explore the differences in mirror effects (i.e., general, positive, and negative) between the action-oriented approach and teacher-controlled, information-centered approach. Undergraduate part-time social work students were invited to participate in experimental (n = 82) and comparison (n = 39) groups. A Teaching and Learning Questionnaire was used to evaluate students’ experiences, and a Mirror Effect Inventory was used to analyze the three types of mirror effects. First, in comparing the two approaches, the action-oriented approach was rated higher for teaching methods, course content, course arrangement, and learning atmosphere. Second, the action-oriented approach elicited some differences in the positive mirror effect. The scores of general mirror effect were high in the two groups, but neither of the groups showed negative mirror effect. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that metacognitive aspects of experiential learning are the most valuable in inspiring both counseling education and clinical practice.