Hort, Jeremy (2021) Examining the Relationships Between Postgraduate Psychology Supervisee Competence, Supervisor Quality and Practicum Experiences. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Supervised practicum is an integral component of the training required to become a practicing psychologist, yet supervision and competence research has been slow in adopting a scientific approach. This historic lack of recognition concerning the necessity for empirical evidence has resulted in general assumptions of efficacy based on anecdotal evidence. The current study aims to address this issue by adding to the emerging base of empirical findings. Quantitative data from 95 Post-Graduate Diploma of Professional Psychology supervisees’ feedback forms were analysed to examine the relationships between supervisee competence and practicum experience (supervisee appraising practicum activities), supervisor quality (supervisee appraising supervision), and practicum quality (supervisee appraising overall experience), respectively. Additionally, these four constructs were compared using the novel variables of internal and external status of supervisors and practicums.
A weak but significant positive relationship between supervision quality and supervisee competence was found indicating a positive influence of the supervisory alliance. In contrast, neither practicum experience nor practicum quality had a significant relationship with supervisee competence, questioning the utility and validity of supervisee practicum appraisal. While supervisees’ appraisals of practicum experience, practicum quality and supervisor quality were significantly higher for internal than external practicums, no difference was found for supervisee competence scores. This suggests that the higher ratings received by internal placements and supervisors does not translate into greater professional competence in post-graduate psychology supervisees. These findings reinforce the importance of the supervisory alliance in the professional training of psychology students for registration, and suggests the type of practicum placement does not impact on students’ overall professional competence.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Lorelle Burton |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jul 2025 23:28 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Jul 2025 23:28 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | practicum ; supervision ; competence ; efficacy ; exploratory |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52424 |
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