You will be required to attend and participate in a 5 week sessional placement, for up to one full day per week for the first five weeks of term. The nature of this placement, including the clientele and the range of practice areas you will be required to work with, may vary for each student, however the expected outcome will be the same - that is, the demonstration of entry-level skills across all applicable CBOS elements and units, as well as the four generic professional competencies. This sessional placement may also require you to mentor fellow Speech Pathology students from other year levels within the Speech Pathology course.

Further information regarding expectations of students who are completing placements can be found in the Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, which is available on the SPCH14006 Moodle page. This information includes (but is not limited to) details regarding dress code, professional conduct, tracking and recording clinical hours, confidentiality, 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.

This sessional placement is considered preparation for your upcoming eight week block placement. As such, you are required to pass this sessional placement in order to commence your block placement. You will be assessed according to the Competency-Based Occupational Standards (CBOS) as well as the Generic Professional Competencies (GPCs). By the end of Week 5, you must demonstrate entry-level competence in each of these competency units, provided that you have been given the opportunity to do so:

• GPC Unit 1: Reasoning
• GPC Unit 2: Communication
• GPC Unit 3: Learning
• GPC Unit 4: Professionalism

• 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. This manual will also be available on the SPCH14006 Moodle website. In addition, a marking rubric listing each of the relevant elements within the units listed above will be on Moodle. 

100% attendance is a requirement of this sessional placement. If any sessions are missed, these absences must be explained by supporting documentation (e.g. a medical certificate) and alternative arrangements will need to be made between you and the CE, with the approval of the Clinical Education Coordinator (CEC). If satisfactory supporting documentation is not provided and/or missed sessions are not made up, you will be required to attend and pass an additional sessional placement before you are permitted to commence the block placement that is a requirement of this unit.

* Note that failure of this assessment task will preclude students from commencing their block placement. 

This assessment task will provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate how you can use your reflective skills to learn from your clinical experiences ‐ more specifically, the experiences you were involved in whilst participating in your Term 2 sessional placement. Reflective practice is an important skill that you are required to demonstrate during each placement you attend and that you should continue to practise after you graduate from the Speech Pathology program. It assists you to learn from your experiences by prompting you to think about what you did and what happened, and to then decide what you would do differently next time. Reflective practice requires a conscious effort to think about events and to develop insights into them, and it is a skill that can be honed with practice. Please note that a detailed and in‐depth reflection is not just a description of what happened whilst on prac – it goes well beyond this by explaining WHY and HOW things went well or not so well. It demonstrates that you understand what you actually learned from these experiences and what this means for the future. This is based on the premise that every experience can be a positive one, as long as you understand what you have learnt from it. You are therefore required to complete a written reflection based upon your clinical experiences and role as a student clinician whilst participating in the sessional placement during the first five weeks of Term 2. You are expected to reflect deeply upon your experiences, to identify and describe the learning that took place, as well as any challenges that you faced and benefits you gained, and explain how this might affect your plans for your upcoming block placement and beyond (i.e. how this learning experience is likely to shape you as a clinician in the future). Your reflection should be presented in a logical, succinct and well‐structured written format and should address any two of the four generic professional competencies (GPCs) described in COMPASS (reasoning, communication, lifelong learning and professionalism). That is, you will need to describe your experiences in terms of what you have learnt across any two of the GPC units (not all four).

Your written reflection should be between 2000-2500 words and is due to be submitted via Moodle by Friday August 17th at 5:00pm. This assessment item has pass/fail criteria and must be passed in order to achieve a pass grade for this unit. You will be provided with a marking rubric at the beginning of Term 2 that will clearly describe the pass/fail criteria for this written assessment task.

Your written reflection will be assessed on your ability to reflect deeply upon two of the four generic professional competencies described in COMPASS (reasoning, communication, lifelong learning and professionalism), in relation to the following:

• the learning that took place during your most recent sessional placement
• any challenges that you faced and how you overcame, managed or learnt from them during your sessional placement
• the experiences you had during the sessional placement which will/may affect your plans or practice during your block placement and/or as a clinician in the future

You should go well beyond simply describing what happened whilst on placement and instead demonstrate an in‐depth understanding of why and how certain experiences occurred.

You will also be assessed on your writing style, your use of syntax, spelling and punctuation, the professional presentation of your work, your use of APA referencing where applicable, and the overall readability of the written piece.

A marking rubric which describes the pass and fail criteria for this assessment task will be available via the SPCH14006 Moodle page.

You will be attending an eight week block placement (typically four days per week) as part of this unit. The placement is expected to commence in Week 6 of Term 2 (August 20th, 2018) and finish in the first exam week (October 12th, 2018), although some slight variation in the start and finish dates may be necessary, depending on the availability and requirements of the host organisation and/or supervisor/s.

This block placement will provide you with an opportunity to further develop your skills as a Speech Pathologist under the supervision of one or more Clinical Educators (CEs), in a setting that is external to the university, such as a community health facility, a hospital, private practice, or an educational setting. Block placements may involve either an adult, paediatric or mixed caseload and may require you to travel and complete your placement outside of the Central Queensland region. You are required to support yourself financially whilst attending your placement, to source and fund your own travel and accommodation, and to cover any other costs associated with attending the placement.

During your placement, your CE, a qualified Speech Pathologist, will assess your competence across the seven Competency-Based Occupational Standards (CBOS) units and each of the four generic professional competencies (GPCs) at both the mid and final points of the placement, through the use of the COMPASS online assessment tool. The specific assessment details and requirements are as follows:

• you and your CE/s must complete a mid-placement assessment using COMPASS On-line. This will be completed with your CE/s 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/s 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/s with an opportunity to formally raise any concerns with the Clinical Education Co-Ordinator (CEC).

• you and your CE/s must complete a final-placement assessment using COMPASS On-line. This will be completed at the end of your placement. Again, you will be required to complete a self-assessment using COMPASS On-line prior to meeting with your CE/s. This final assessment is summative in nature, meaning that it provides the CE/s with the opportunity to give final marks and feedback regarding the entire placement. At this point you are required to be at entry-level across each of the four generic professional competencies as well as all of the CBOS units. The behavioural descriptors for the entry-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. The specific pass criteria will also be explained in the SPCH14006 Week 1 tutorial.

• you are required to complete a learning contract at the beginning of your placement - this is a learning agreement that is reached between you and your CE/s, generally in the first week of the placement. It enables both you and your CE/s 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.

• you must complete a Clinical Hours Summary form, by recording your clinical contact hours each week and having your CE/s sign off on this form at the completion of the placement.

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

Further details regarding recording hours, completing learning contracts and using COMPASS, as well as the forms required for these procedures, can all be found in the Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, which will be made available on Moodle. In addition, the handbook describes the expectations of students who are completing placements, including information regarding dress code, professional conduct, confidentiality, 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 block placement, you must have met all pre-clinical requirements and achieved a Pass grade for the sessional placement that is an assessment task for this unit.

You will be assessed on the four generic professional competencies and the seven CBOS (Occupational) competencies through the use of COMPASS On-line.

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. 

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 entry-level competence across each of the eleven CBOS and generic professional competency units.

During your eight week block placement you will be required to continue to gather evidence (direct and indirect) that you have entry-level competence in all generic professional and occupational (CBOS) competencies across the Range of Practice areas, with both adult and child caseloads. Following the completion of all other assessment items required for this unit, including your block placement, you must compile and present a completed portfolio of this supporting evidence. Note that for the purposes of this portfolio, direct evidence refers to that which was gathered as a result of working directly with clients and/or in a clinical setting (i.e., whilst you were on placement). Indirect evidence refers to that which was gathered via other means, such as through assignments completed at university, information sessions you have attended, and so on. Portfolios may be submitted as either an electronic document or a hard copy portfolio and will be marked either Pass or Fail. If it does not initially meet the pass criteria, you will be provided with feedback by the Clinical Education Co-ordinator (CEC) and you will have an opportunity to re-submit this assessment piece. Examples of documents that you may wish to include in your portfolio are:

• evidence of assessment planning, administration and analysis/interpretation, such as de-identified assessment reports, progress notes, letters relating to assessment, etc.
• evidence of goal setting and intervention planning, such as de-identified session plans, management plans, assessment reports, case conference minutes, progress notes, etc.
• evidence of the provision of intervention, such as de-identified session plans, progress notes, therapy summary/progress reports, etc.
• evidence of other clinical experiences, such as the evaluation of speech pathology services, the training and education of others, participation in research and/or resource development, etc.
• written self-reflections and CE and peer feedback
• COMPASS results
• unit profiles
• relevant assessment pieces
• certificates of participation in professional development events
• letters of reference

In addition to providing the types of evidence listed above, you are required to complete a specific evidence-based practice (EBP) and clinical reasoning task (described below), evidence of which should also be included in your final portfolio submission. This task will enable you to demonstrate your ability to engage in evidence-based practice and to use the critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills necessary to be considered an entry-level student clinician. There are two parts to this task, which are as follows:

• Part 1 - You must prepare a written case of a child with speech and language difficulties. This case should be based on a real-life client you have worked with or seen whilst on placement during the fourth year of your study. However, if this is not possible due to the nature of the caseload you have worked with as part of your fourth year placements, you may instead describe a paediatric speech and language case that you encountered in the third year of the program. Your case study description should be thorough and complete, and include the child's presenting difficulties, any gaps in case history information collected, the assessments conducted, the assessment findings, an intervention plan, and a description of your first therapy session. You are required to demonstrate your critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills, by providing clear rationales and explanations of each step you took. Your writing should explicitly describe the factors that you considered when drawing conclusions and making decisions regarding appropriate theoretical frameworks and approaches, as well as the thinking processes that took place when integrating and analysing information. When completing this task, you should consider the Range of Practice Principle 1 (CBOS, 2011, p.9), and your use of evidence-based practice and problem-solving abilities should be clearly evident.

• Part 2 - You will participate in a twenty minute interview with an assessor. During this interview, you will be presented with a range of questions which are based on the case that you described in Part 1. These questions will be designed to assess your ability to integrate information and to problem-solve in real-time. They will challenge you to consider alternative scenarios to those which you have described in your case study. For example, you may be asked to describe what you would do if a particular assessment task or therapy activity was either too complex or too easy for your client, and to provide a rationale for your decision. You will be provided with the opportunity to clearly describe the clinical reasoning skills that you apply when problem solving and decision making, and to demonstrate your ability to engage in evidence-based practice. Your responses will be verbal only, and the interview will be recorded to allow for moderation to occur at a later date.

* Please note that the case study you present for this task must be different to the scenario that you use for any SPCH14001 assessment tasks.

It is also important to note that whilst there is no prescribed format for, or presentation of the portfolio, it does need to be complete, well-organised and professionally presented in order to meet the pass criteria. Additionally, in the case where there is a 'gap' in direct clinical experience, you may provide a reflective statement where you claim transferability of skills from other areas. For example, if you are missing direct entry-level evidence of having experience working with children in the area of fluency, but you have evidence that you have demonstrated entry-level competence when working with an adult caseload in this particular Range of Practice as well as when working with children in other areas such as speech and language, you may claim that these skills are transferrable. Essentially however, this is a decision that rests with the CEC, as the nature of the gap is critical.

A copy of the marking rubric will be posted on the unit Moodle site. The rubric will detail the following criteria:

• information included and the manner in which it is organised and presented
• evidence of meeting generic professional competencies
• use and completion of summary spreadsheet
• inclusion of reflective statements to claim transferability of competence
• evidence of meeting CBOS Units 1-4 with a paediatric caseload
• evidence of meeting CBOS Units 1-4 with an adult caseload
• evidence of meeting CBOS Units 5-7
• evidence of the use of evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning

In order to meet the overall pass criteria for this assessment task, all individual portfolio marking areas included in the rubric (available on Moodle) must meet pass criteria. A fail in one or more marking areas will result in an overall fail mark. Should a fail grade be given, the CEC will provide you with specific feedback and request that any necessary amendments be made before re-submitting the portfolio for re-examination. You will typically be required to do this within one week of receiving your portfolio and feedback. If the portfolio still does not meet pass criteria, it is marked as a fail and no further re-submissions are permitted. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to seek assistance from the CEC before re-submitting your portfolio.