2012

Students in counselor education programs are required to have knowledge of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM–IV–TR; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000), diagnosis and understand differential diagnostic procedures. Counselor educators are required to integrate technology into their counselor education programs. The Zalaquett Pluck and Plug Application is an Internetbased program aimed at teaching DSM (4th ed., text rev.; APA, 2000) diagnosis through the use of two case analyses. The program also includes differential diagnosis and provides immediate feedback to users. A sample of 202 master’s and doctoral students completed a survey rating the program. The survey assessed participants’ perceptions of the introduction page, overall instructions, information provided, currency of the diagnostic information, degree in which both diagnoses follow DSM (4th ed., text rev.; APA, 2000) style criteria, differential diagnosis criteria, and usefulness of the program as a teaching tool. On a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high), across categories, students rated the program highly and indicated it would be an effective tool to teach DSM (4th ed., text rev.; APA, 2000) diagnosis to students in training. Implications for counselor educators are discussed