SPCH12005 - Voice and Fluency

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will study two separate speech pathology range of practice areas: voice and fluency. You will advance your knowledge in the aetiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and management of fluency and voice disorders for children and adults. The use of interprofessional practice will be emphasised and you will explore evidence-based practice in the diagnosis and treatment of voice and fluency disorders. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and current research evidence will provide the framework to assist you in developing interventions. The principles of interprofessional and reflective practice will be embedded throughout the unit.

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

Pre-requisites:

  • SPCH12003 - Functional Anatomy of the Head, Neck and Thorax
  • ALLH12007 - Research Methods for Therapy
  • ALLH12006 - Evidence Based Practice for Health Professionals
  • SPCH13004 - Communication Disorders across the School Years

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 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2024

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. Written Assessment 25%
2. Practical Assessment 25%
3. Written Assessment 25%
4. Practical Assessment 25%

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

Term 1 - 2019 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 87.50% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 100% response rate.

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: Have Your Say In-class evaluation
Feedback
Students responded positively to the practical and interactive nature of this unit for both Voice and Fluency. The comment - "I found the practical components of both the fluency and voice section to be very beneficial to my learning" is reflective of the overall responses to this unit.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the practical nature of teaching and learning will continue for both Voice and Fluency in 2019 as students actively engage with this process.
Action Taken
Students were provided with varied and 'real-life' practical learning experiences for both voice and fluency in 2019.
Source: Have Your Say In-class evaluation
Feedback
Students provided positive feedback about the practical and 'real life' learning they experienced as a result of the assessment tasks. Comments such as "the assessment tasks were very practical and supported my learning well" and "the practical assessments - putting our knowledge into useful resources" supports the alignment of assessments, teaching and lifelong learning experiences.
Recommendation
As students responded well to the authenticity of assessments in SPCH12005, these assessments will continue to map to real life expectations for entry level speech pathologists.
Action Taken
Students were provided with 'real-life' (authentic) assessment tasks appropriate to the topics of voice and fluency in 2019.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
Positive comments were received about the quality and timeliness of feedback including "my feedback was delivered quickly and helped me understand what I could do better in future".
Recommendation
As per student requests, it is recommended that quality feedback continue to be provided in a timely fashion to support learning experiences.
Action Taken
Students were provided with timely and relevant feedback from both lecturers in SPCH12005 in 2019.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
The students enjoyed peer learning strategies employed in this unit which is reflected by the comment - "I felt working together and having groups of us students explain aspects really helpful".
Recommendation
Due to students' positive responses to peer learning strategies, it is recommended to continue experiential learning opportunities in future iterations of the unit.
Action Taken
The lecturers continued to implement peer learning strategies for both voice and fluency in 2019.
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
Students commented that although the assessment tasks were intensive they provided authentic learning opportunities that mapped to real-life experiences.
Recommendation
It is recommended that students will continue to be provided with assessment tasks that are authentic and align with the learning outcomes for the separate voice and fluency units in 2020.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
The students enjoyed the interactive nature of teaching and learning such as role plays and practical activities that were interspersed with theoretical content to consolidate learning.
Recommendation
It is recommended that interactive and 'real-life' activities continue to be an integral part of learning and teaching in the separate voice and fluency units in 2020.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
Students commented that separating the two topics of voice and fluency in future years is a positive change as it will provide more time to comprehensively cover content and assessment and consolidate their learning.
Recommendation
It is recommended that both lecturers and unit coordinators for the separate voice and fluency units provide students with increased opportunities for consolidation of learning across the entire term for both of these topics.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Have Your Say
Feedback
Students indicated that they were satisfied with the level of support provided by the lecturers and their approachable nature.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the lecturers and unit coordinators for voice and fluency in 2020 continue to provide students with support to complete the unit requirements.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Discuss the different theories, behaviours and characteristics of fluency disorders in children and adults
  2. Explain the vocal mechanism and the multifactorial elements impacting voice production in children and adults
  3. Apply the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework in the management of voice and fluency disorders in children and adults
  4. Demonstrate and justify current evidence-based practice in the evaluation, interpretation and treatment of voice and fluency disorders in children and adults.

Range of Practice Areas:

  • Adult - voice
  • Adult - fluency
  • Child - voice
  • Child - fluency

Competency based Occupational Standards for Speech Pathology (CBOS, 2011):

Unit 1: Assessment - Elements 1.1,1.2,1.3,1.4 to entry-level.

Unit 2: Analysis and Interpretation 2.1,2.2,2.3,2.4,2.5 to entry-level.

Unit 3: Planning evidence-based Speech pathology intervention - Elements 3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4,3.5,3.6,3.7 to entry-level.

Unit 4: Implementation of Speech pathology Practice - Elements 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 to entry-level.

Unit 5: Elements - 5.4, 5.6 to entry-level.

Unit 7: Elements 7.2 and 7.4 to entry-level.

Competency Assessment in Speech Pathology (COMPASS) Generic Professional Competencies:

Unit 1: Reasoning - Elements 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 to entry-level.

Unit 2: Communication - Elements 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 to entry-level.

Unit 3: Lifelong Learning - Elements 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 to entry-level.

Unit 4: Professionalism: Elements 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5 to entry-level.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •
4 - Practical Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
9 - Social Innovation •
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 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •
4 - Practical Assessment • • • • • • • •