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SPCH12001 - Introduction to Research

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This course introduces students to clinical research in speech pathology and presents an overview of the research process and main types of research design and methodologies. Students will evaluate claims associated with pseudoscientific approaches to treatment brought to clinicians by overwhelmed clients. The course focuses on describing data and simple measurement, including sampling, descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency and dispersion (variation); standard deviation; normal distribution; standard scores; validity & reliability of measurement. A major purpose for this focus is that students will be able to understand and use formal tests of speech and language.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisites:-

MEDI11004 Professional Practice; and

ALLH11004 Anatomy and Physiology for Health Professionals 2; or Human Body Systems 2 and

HLTH11029 Health Promotion Concepts; and

PSYC11009 Social Foundations of Psychology; and

 

Corequisites:-

SPCH12002 Communication Development and Disorders in Early Childhood; and

SPCH12004 Speech Pathology Skills and Practice 1; and

SPCH12006 Linguistics and Phonetics 1

 

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2014

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2014

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Presentation and Written Assessment 20%
2. Group Work 40%
3. Written Assessment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

No previous feedback available

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Teaching Staff feedback : personal reflection of CC
Feedback
Some students found the transition to PBL difficult and were reluctant to participate in class. Assessment 1 in this course interested and motivated students (review an Internet site offering a communication disorder treatment). This assessment could be changed to a presentation to develop students' confidence to speak in class and teach professional communication requirements. However, a written component will be retained as an early indication of professional writing requirmants and to identify any students who may need assistance to acheive these.
Recommendation
Assessment 1 is changed from a written assessment to a presentation with a written summary
Action Taken
course revamped by new instructor to consider these recommendations.
Source: Have Your Say - Moodle
Feedback
Students wanted information about assessment requirments and marking criteria to be availalbe earlier.
Recommendation
Assessment criterai have now been written and so can be made available as soon as Moodle course profiles are published.
Action Taken
course revamped by new instructor to consider these recommendations.
Source: Have Your Say - Moodle
Feedback
Students did not like the number of group assignments (2/3) nor that they did not get a mark based on individual contribution.
Recommendation
Add an individual performance component to assessment marking rubric. Change assessment 3 from a group to an individual assessment.
Action Taken
course revamped by new instructor to consider these recommendations.
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Discuss the importance of research to clinical practice, describing the sources of knowledge used in the profession.
  2. Use a checklist to differentiate between science and pseudoscience.
  3. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of descriptive, exploratory, experimental and survey research.
  4. Define and provide examples of independent and dependent variables and describe how variables and confounding factors may be controlled in a research project.
  5. Define and describe the differences in levels of measurement and provide an example of each level of measurement.
  6. Define validity and reliability, discuss their importance in research and describe their various subtypes.
  7. Discuss sampling procedures and techniques in both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
  8. Explain different methods of descriptive statistics and reasons for evaluating tests and treatments.
  9. Define terms related to testing: true/false negative, true/false positive, specificity, and sensitivity.
  10. Apply specific criteria to critical evaluation of tests of speech and language with regards to construction, validation, reliability, sensitivity, specificity, interpretation.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Presentation and Written Assessment • •
2 - Group Work • • • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Communication • • • • • • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • • • • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy •
5 - Team Work • • • • • • • • •
8 - Ethical practice •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Presentation and Written Assessment • • • • •
2 - Group Work • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • •