This assessment task requires you to not only engage in reflective practice, but to also demonstrate your understanding of the role that reflective practice plays in both professional and personal development. You must therefore demonstrate that you have conducted research into the topic of reflective practice and that you understand the premise behind its use by allied health clinicians. That is, discuss the evidence-base that exists in regard to reflective practice. You should then discuss your findings in light of your own reflective practice and what it means to you. This might involve commenting on pieces of information that you found whilst conducting your research which were interesting and/or that you were previously unfamiliar with, or information that you either agreed or disagreed with, and so on. In essence, you should reflect upon your own ability to reflect and demonstrate an awareness of both your strengths and areas for improvement.

Additionally, you should discuss the potential impact that reflective practice skills may have on two of the four generic professional competencies: Reasoning, Communication, Learning and Professionalism. That is, make it explicit as to how developing your reflective practice skills could potentially assist your growth in any two of these four areas of competence.

A general tip when writing in-depth and insightful reflections is that the reader should not be left wondering ‘why?’ or ‘how?’ The answers to these questions should be provided within the reflection. For example, if you identify that reflecting verbally with a supervisor immediately after you have finished a session with a client is difficult for you, you should go beyond simply stating that this is something that needs improving. You should explain why you find this challenging, why it may (or may not) be an issue, how you know it is (or isn’t) an issue, how you are going to address it (if in fact it is a problem), and so on.

A marking rubric containing specific assessment criteria for this task will be made available on the unit Moodle site during term. These criteria will be based on your ability to:

• research the use of reflective practice, describe its evidence base in regards to allied health professionals, and reflect on this in terms of your own practices
• reflect upon your clinical skills, knowledge and experiences, as well as your own reflective practice skills
  
• make links between reflective practice and two of the four generic professional competencies (GPCs) described in COMPASS (reasoning, communication, lifelong learning and professionalism)
• use appropriate writing conventions, including accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation, cohesion, clarity, and organisation
  
• use APA referencing

Throughout the term, as part of this unit you will be actively involved in a range of clinical experiences which will provide you with the opportunity to apply theory to practice when assessing, treating and managing clients with communication and/or swallowing disorders. This particular assessment task will enable you to reflect upon and demonstrate the learning that has taken place during these experiences, and to highlight the skills and knowledge that you have acquired as a student clinician.

For this assessment task, you will be required to present to the class a particular assessment or therapy technique or an assessment or therapy tool that you have used whilst on placement and have found to be useful when assessing and/or treating a client's communication and/or swallowing difficulties. Your presentation should be engaging and interactive and should also aim to provide your fellow classmates with information and ideas that they may find useful in the future. You should reflect upon your own experiences using this technique/tool when discussing both the pros and cons of using your particular technique or tool, and also include information about the rationale for using it, the clientele that it is and isn't suitable for, issues or challenges that may be faced during its implementation, and any other considerations that may need to be made when deciding whether or not to use this particular technique or tool.

During your presentation you should also make links to and demonstrate your understanding of the importance of at least one of the four generic professional competencies - reasoning, professionalism, communication, and lifelong learning. For example, you may choose to refer explicitly to communication and the pros and cons of developing and using a script when explaining to a client how to engage in a particular therapy technique. Or you may describe the reasoning and problem solving skills that are required when a particular assessment tool does not provide you with the information that you intended to gather about an individual client.

As part of your presentation, you are also required to provide and refer to a handout which explains the key elements that you have addressed in your presentation. For example, it should describe what the assessment/therapy technique/tool is, the benefits and disadvantages of using it, and any considerations that may need to be made when determining it’s suitability for a particular client and/or context. This handout should have a visually appealing and professional presentation, be easy to read and  informative, and it must be no longer than one double-sided A4 page. The use of pictures, diagrams, dot points and separate sections are all encouraged if they increase the readability of the document.

The intention is that each student’s handout will be compiled to create a collection that other students in future years can refer to and use as a source of ideas, information and inspiration whilst attending clinical placements.

For this task, you will be assessed on your ability to do the following:

• describe a particular assessment or therapy technique or an assessment or therapy tool that you have used whilst on placement
• provide a comprehensive analysis of its use that is based on a combination of the research that you conduct into this approach or tool and your own personal experience of using it whilst on placement. This analysis should include (but may not be limited to) the pros and cons of using the technique/tool, the rationale for using it, the clientele that it is most suited (and not suited) to, and issues or challenges that may be faced during its implementation. Any further considerations that may need to be made when deciding whether or not to use this particular approach or tool should also be discussed.
• demonstrate an understanding of the role and the importance of at least one of the four generic professional competencies (reasoning, professionalism, communication and lifelong learning) when using your chosen technique/tool
• explain how the implementation of the technique/tool during your placement allowed you to apply theory to practice when assessing and/or treating clients with communication and/or swallowing disorders in a clinical setting
• communicate effectively and engage an audience when giving an oral presentation
• present a professional and informative written handout that serves as an effective means of providing key information to other student clinicians
• use appropriate referencing, formatting and conventions, including spelling and syntax, in all information presented to the audience (including powerpoint presentations and handouts) 

A marking rubric will be made available via Moodle and will include specific marking criteria in detail. Students must obtain a minimum mark of 50% for this assessment item in order to meet the pass criteria.

This term you will be attending two sessional placements, each of which will be up to one day per week. These sessions will occur on a weekly basis throughout the term and will provide you with the opportunity to develop your practical skills under the supervision of a Clinical Educator (CE). For each placement, your CE, a qualified Speech Pathologist, will assess your competence across the seven CBOS units and each of the four generic professional competencies at both the mid and final points of the placement, through the use of the COMPASS online assessment tool. You will also be required to complete a self-assessment at each of these placement points, also through COMPASS online. In addition, at the commencement of each placement you will need to complete a learning contract which is to be reviewed by you and your CE as part of the mid-placement and final-placement assessments. By the end of your placement/s you are expected to demonstrate novice-intermediate level competence across each generic professional competency and the majority of the CBOS Units, provided that you have been given the opportunity to do so.

All students should be aware that it is expected that there will be a high level of variability across the different clinical placements that each student participates in. This variety will be dependent on a range of factors, including the caseload (eg. children versus adults), the supervisor, the clinic setting, and the range of practice areas that are the focus of each placement (eg. speech versus language versus swallowing, etc). The variety of placements that are available to students provide you with the opportunity to broaden your experiences and develop your skills across different areas relevant to Speech Pathology.

You will be assessed on the following four generic professional competencies through the use of COMPASS online:

• Professional Competency Unit 1: Reasoning
• Professional Competency Unit 2: Communication
• Professional Competency Unit 3: Learning
• Professional Competency Unit 4: Professionalism

You will also be assessed on the following seven CBOS Units:

• CBOS Unit 1: Assessment
• CBOS Unit 2: Analysis and Interpretation
• CBOS Unit 3: Planning Evidence-Based Speech Pathology Practice
• CBOS Unit 4: Implementation of Speech Pathology Practice
• CBOS Unit 5: Planning, Providing and Managing Speech Pathology Services
• CBOS Unit 6: Professional and Supervisory Practice
• CBOS Unit 7: Lifelong Learning and Reflective Practice

Further information regarding each of these units can be found in the COMPASS Assessment Resource Manual, available through COMPASS online: https://compass.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/compass/portal/portal.jsp

Prior to meeting with your CE to complete your mid-placement and final-placement assessments, you must first complete the self-assessment component through COMPASS online. You must also bring the learning contract that was developed at the commencement of the placement, for you and your CE to review, as this will aid the discussion you have about the progress you have made and any objectives you may have achieved.

At the final-placement assessment, your COMPASS results must indicate that you have demonstrated novice to intermediate level competence across each of the generic professional competency units and the majority of the CBOS units (including CBOS units 1-4), provided you have had the opportunity to do so. You must also show that you have made progress in each of the generic professional competency units (i.e. based on the mid-placement assessment results).