A strong ability and willingness to engage in reflective practice is a key ingredient to becoming a competent speech pathology clinician. It is a vital part of implementing evidence-based practice, developing professional reasoning skills, and engaging in the process of lifelong learning (Lewis, 2013). Throughout the CB87 Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) course, you will have many opportunities to reflect on your skills, knowledge and experiences as a student clinician. 

This assessment task will require you to demonstrate and develop your reflective skills as well as your understanding of how skills and knowledge may be transferred from one context to another. You will be expected to provide a written reflection that describes how you have, or how you could in the future, transfer skills and knowledge from one area to another, such as across range of practice areas, from adult to paediatric caseloads (and vice versa), or between different workplaces or clinical settings. 

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 in theory you should be able to transfer certain skills across different settings but that in reality this has proven to be quite challenging for you in the past, you should go beyond simply stating that this is something that was an area of difficulty. You should explain why you found this challenging, why it may (or may not) have been an issue, how you know it was (or wasn’t) an issue, how you might address it in the future (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's Moodle page. These criteria will be based on the following:

• your ability to describe and reflect upon previous clinical experiences and to identify the learning that has taken place thus far
• your ability to link this learning to the CBOS and Generic Professional Competency (GPC) units
• your understanding of how skills may or may not be be transferable from one context to another
• your ability to understand your strengths, as well as the areas for improvement, specifically in relation to CBOS and the GPC units, and to identify strategies that you may use in the future to address these areas requiring improvement
• your use of appropriate writing conventions, including accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation, cohesion, clarity, and organisation, and your ability to adhere to the assigned word limit and accurately use APA referencing

This task is worth 50% of your overall mark for this unit. In order to pass this assessment task, you must obtain a minimum mark of 50%. You must pass this assessment task in order to pass the unit.

This assessment task will provide you with the opportunity to present case information about a specific client to others in a simulated case conference scenario. Effectively communicating information about clients is an important skill to have as an allied health professional, and this assessment task will therefore enable you to further develop your ability to communicate information in a clear, succinct and useful manner. During this case presentation, you will be required to provide relevant background information about the client and to discuss the assessment process and any goals that were developed as a result. You will also be expected to describe the intervention that has been provided and progress that has been made, and to provide recommendations for the future. You should be prepared to share your thoughts and ideas about the client's management, demonstrate your clinical reasoning skills and answer questions about your particular case. Your overall presentation should be clear, well organised and easy to follow, must be presented within the time allotted, and should take into account the audience.      

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

• present relevant and appropriate case information about a particular client you have worked with during your Term 2 placement
• demonstrate that you have thoroughly considered the ICF framework, evidence-based practice and client-centred care when presenting information about your client
• clearly articulate your clinical reasoning in relation to the management of your client
• conduct yourself professionally within a work-integrated learning setting
• communicate clearly, succinctly and effectively, taking into account the needs of the other participants in the simulated case meeting
• respond appropriately to questions about your client
• summarise key information in a timely manner

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.

As part of this unit you will be attending a sessional placement. This placement typically takes place one day per week across twelve weeks, however in some instances there may be some variability to this (for example, a placement may require you to attend two days per week but across a shorter time period).The placement will provide you with the opportunity to develop your practical skills under the supervision of a Clinical Educator (CE). Some placements may be on-campus whilst others may be off-campus. If you are allocated an off-campus placement, you are required to organise your own travel arrangements.

It is expected that there may be some variability across the different clinical placements that you and your fellow students participate in. This variability will be dependent on a range of factors, including the caseload (e.g. children versus adults), the clinical educator (supervisor), the clinical setting, and the range of practice areas that are the focus of each placement (e.g. speech versus language versus swallowing, etc.). The timing of your placements (i.e. the start and end dates) may also vary amongst students. The overarching aim of your placements that occur across the third year of this course (as part of both SPCH13001 and SPCH13006) is to provide you with work-integrated learning opportunities that allow you to broaden your experiences and develop your competence when working with adults and children. Therefore, if you participated in an adult placement as part of SPCH13001, you will attend a paediatric placement as part of SPCH13006, and vice versa.

For each placement, you will need to complete the following:

• mid-placement assessment using COMPASS On-line. This will be completed with your Clinical Educator (CE) at the mid-point of your placement, however you will also be required to complete a self-assessment (also using COMPASS On-line) prior to meeting with your CE for this assessment. The mid-placement assessment is formative in nature, which means that although it does not technically count towards your final mark at the end of the placement, it provides you with a formal opportunity to discuss your strengths and areas for improvement - that is, the areas to focus on for the second half of the placement. It also provides your CE with an opportunity to formally raise any concerns with the Clinical Education Coordinator (CEC).

• final-placement assessment using COMPASS On-line. This will be completed at the completion of your placement. Again, you will be required to complete a self-assessment using COMPASS On-line prior to meeting with your CE. This final assessment is summative in nature, meaning that it provides the CE with the opportunity to give final marks and feedback regarding the entire placement. At this point you are required to be at intermediate level across each of the four generic professional competencies as well as the CBOS (2011) Units 1-7. The behavioural descriptors for the intermediate-level student can be found in the COMPASS Assessment Resource Manual which is available on COMPASS On-line and will also be posted on Moodle. These behavioural descriptors include the following: a moderate-low degree of supervision is required, the ability to draw some accurate conclusions about a client and to develop some plans for action, and the ability to recognise some important aspects of the total clinical situation. It is expected that you will still require support to recognise and prioritise all aspects of a situation and to flexibly apply problem-solving strategies, principles and theory.

• learning contract - this is a learning agreement that is reached between you and your CE at the beginning of the placement (i.e. in the first week). It enables both you and your CE to identify and discuss any particular areas which need to be focussed on and developed throughout the placement. The contract is to be reviewed at the mid and final points of your placements, in order to determine whether the goals you have set for yourself have been achieved. A copy of this contract will be provided to you by your Unit Coordinator.

• any additional documentation that is required by the CE or placement organisation, such as written reports and information for client files.

Further details regarding learning contracts and COMPASS can all be found in the 2020 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, which is available on Moodle. In addition, the handbook describes the expectations of students who are completing placements, including information regarding dress code, professional conduct, confidentiality, attendance and absences, and managing a range of issues during placements. Students should ensure that they are familiar with the content of the Clinical Education Handbook prior to commencing any placement.

This assessment item has pass/fail criteria and must be passed in order to achieve a pass grade for this unit.

Also note that in order to commence this placement, you must have met all pre-clinical requirements (a.k.a. mandatory checks) and these must remain current for the duration of your placement. Information and instructions regarding pre-clinical requirements can be found on the SONIA database or obtained from the Work-Integrated Learning Office via email: smas-clinicalplacements@cqu.edu.au. Different workplaces may also have additional pre-clinical requirements that relate to their particular workplace/facility/organisation, such as training related to the use of telepractice or infection control, or specific vaccinations such as the influenza vaccination (this is particularly the case when working with vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and immuno-compromised individuals). It is up to you as the student to ensure that you have met all of these requirements. Any student who fails to comply will risk not being permitted to commence their placement, which may therefore affect their ability to complete this assessment task.

In order to determine whether you have passed this assessment item, your Clinical Educator will assess your competence using the COMPASS® On-line assessment tool. You will be required to demonstrate intermediate-level (or above) competence across each of the four Generic Professional Competencies and the Competency-based Occupational Standards (CBOS) Units 1-7 (as described in the Behavioural Descriptors section of the COMPASS® Assessment Resource Manual).

The generic professional competency units are:

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

The CBOS units are:

• CBOS Unit 1: Assessment
• CBOS Unit 2: Analysis and Interpretation
• CBOS Unit 3: Planning Evidence-based Speech Pathology Practices
• 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 On-line: https://compass.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/compass/portal/portal.jsp. This manual will also be available on the SPCH13006 Moodle website.

Prior to meeting with your CE/s to complete your mid-placement and final-placement assessments, you must first complete the self-assessment component through COMPASS On-line. You must also bring the learning contract that was developed at the commencement of the placement, for you and your CE/s 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 intermediate-level competence across each of the eleven CBOS and generic professional competency units. Both the pass and failure criteria that apply to clinical placements are described in detail in the 2020 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook. The Clinical Education Co-ordinator (CEC) must consider all available evidence of a student’s performance and competence and determine that a pass grade for that particular clinical placement is appropriate. Other evidence of performance and factors that need to be considered by the CEC may include (but are not limited to) variability / inconsistency in performance and opportunities to demonstrate required level of competence. As stated in the Clinical Education Handbook, the Clinical Education Coordinator will make the final decision regarding a student's results, based on all available evidence relating to the student's performance whilst completing the placement.

A range of important policies, procedures and additional information regarding work-integrated learning (placements) can be found in the 2020 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook. Students should ensure that they are highly familiar with the content of the handbook and that they abide by the rules and guidelines included in this document. Students should also familiarise themselves with the behavioural descriptors and competencies described on COMPASS, including the four generic professional competency units and the seven CBOS units.

As you complete your sessional placement as part of this unit, you are required to track and record your work-integrated learning experiences by logging your hours on the electronic spreadsheet provided to you on Moodle. The instructions required to complete this process can be found in the 2020 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, as well as on the record form itself. To help ensure the accuracy of this hours record, it is strongly recommended that you enter your hours into the spreadsheet at the end of each placement day. 

It should be noted that Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) does not specify the number of clinical hours that students must complete during the course of any Australian university’s Speech Pathology program. SPA instead places the focus on the minimum level of competence, skills and knowledge required for entry into the workforce as a qualified and competent speech pathologist (The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited, 2005). CQUniversity's approach is consistent with SPA’s philosophy and therefore does not have a specific requirement regarding the minimum number of clinical hours each student must complete by the end of the Speech Pathology course. Submission of the record form for this unit is therefore a pass/fail assessment requirement. You should be aware however that you are also expected to track this data and keep copies for your own records, as evidence of clinical hours may be required if you are requested to provide evidence of clinical experience when applying for work as a speech pathologist overseas.

In order to pass this assessment task, you must complete and submit an electronic copy of the Speech Pathology Work-Integrated Learning Record provided to you by your Unit Coordinator, within one week of completing your placement. Instructions for completion can be found in the 2020 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, as well as on the record form itself.