JSCH_V9_N1_A2 Gina Cicco Journal on School Educational Technology 2230 – 7133 9 1 10 16 Counseling Skill Development; Counselor Education; Experimental Research Design; Online Classroom; Online Courses; Online Instruction; Student Performance Outcomes; Virtual Classroom This article will discuss the need for experimental research to document the effectiveness of online counseling skills courses. There are relatively few published studies that have investigated faculty and student performance outcomes when counseling skills and technique courses are taught through a completely online modality. Various studies have examined the interactions of faculty members and students in online courses and the performance of students in online education courses, but these studies have not considered fully online counseling skills courses, which are unique because they involve the instruction of interpersonal skills without traditional face-to-face communication in a classroom setting (Cicco, 2009; Cicco, 2012; Haberstroh, 2010; Trepal, Haberstroh, Duffey, & Evans, 2007). This article will present a model for innovative research that aims to fill this gap in the existing scientific literature on online counseling courses. The goal of completing such an investigation is primarily to determine whether or not counselors-in-training experience comparable levels of skill development in completely online skills courses as they do in traditional face-toface courses. It is also expected that this type of research may identify areas for improvement in fully online counseling skills courses. The proposed research sample, design, methodology, measures, analyses, and expected outcomes will be addressed. June - August 2013 Copyright © 2013 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=2399