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SPCH14003 - Speech Pathology Work-Integrated Learning 5

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will engage in your first entry-level clinical placements, where you will have the opportunity to work with children and/or adults with a wide range of communication and/or swallowing difficulties. These placements will provide you with work-integrated learning experiences which will enable you to develop and demonstrate entry-level competence across the majority of the Competency-based Occupational Standards (CBOS, 2011) and the generic professional competencies described in the Competency Assessment in Speech Pathology (COMPASS®). You will develop a clinical portfolio that contains emerging evidence of entry-level competence across different range of practice areas. A focus will be placed on the application of your clinical skills within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework, through a combination of tutorials, a sessional clinical placement, and a block clinical placement. Your ability to engage in reflective practice will be developed through participation in on-line group discussions, where you will share your knowledge and experiences with peers. Prior to the commencement of the unit, you must complete all pre-clinical requirements, as outlined in the Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, and maintain these requirements throughout the unit.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 4
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites:

  • SPCH12005 Voice and Fluency
  • SPCH13006 Speech Pathology Work-Integrated Learning 4
  • SPCH13008 Neurogenic Communication Disorders 2

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 1 - 2018

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 1 - 2018

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 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Professional Practice Placement 0%
2. Online discussion forum 0%
3. Professional Practice Placement 0%
4. Portfolio 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2018 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 4 (on a 5 point Likert scale), based on a 42.86% 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' student evaluation survey
Feedback
Students felt that the weekly tutorials were useful and relevant and that they prepared them well for their first block placement. They enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with other students about their experiences, to debrief and to learn from one another as well as the lecturer. They also enjoyed having Glenn Skinner, a qualified counsellor, as a guest lecturer. They did not however feel that speaking to the third year students was at all beneficial for either party.
Recommendation
Weekly tutorials will continue to be provided to students during the first five weeks of term, with the aim of assisting students to prepare for their upcoming block placements. Part of this will involve inviting counsellor Glenn Skinner to continue to work with the students in order to assist them to prepare mentally for their placements. Plans to continue shared sessions between the third and fourth year students will be carefully reviewed in 2018, to ensure that the purpose and benefits are clear and evident.
Action Taken
Students were provided with weekly tutorials during the first five weeks of term, which focused on preparing them for their block placements. This included a workshop with counsellor Glenn Skinner, focusing on mental preparation, which students provided complimentary feedback about. Students enrolled in this fourth year unit also engaged with third year students in a mentoring relationship in a clinical setting, which yielded mixed responses from those students involved.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student evaluation survey and student's verbal reports to the Clinical Education Coordinator
Feedback
Students reported that the sessional placements were well organised and provided them with useful opportunities to practise a range of skills, such as gathering a case history, administering assessments, and mentoring other students. Some students felt that they did not have enough time at these placements and/or that there were issues related to client cancellations which had a negative impact on their experiences.
Recommendation
Students will continue to be provided with opportunities to participate in sessional placements and to mentor other students. The length of the weekly sessions will be considered when planning future sessional placements, to ensure that students have an optimal clinical experience whilst still having adequate time to complete other university work.
Action Taken
Students participated in sessional placements during Weeks 1 to 5 of term and, as a part of this experience, had the opportunity to mentor third year Speech Pathology students. Issues relating to client non-attendance and therefore perceived limited opportunities in the clinic setting were addressed by clinic supervisors who provided students with specific learning tasks to assist them to fill any 'gaps'.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student evaluation survey
Feedback
Students reported that their block placements were excellent learning experiences and that their Clinical Educators provided helpful and practical feedback. They also felt supported by the Clinical Education Coordinator who listened to their preferences, kept in good contact throughout the placement, was supportive and provided useful advice regarding any concerns the students had.
Recommendation
The Clinical Education Coordinator will continue to allocate block placements to students based on all available information, including student preferences. Regular contact and support between the Clinical Education Coordinator and the student, as well as the Clinical Educator, will be maintained throughout student placements.
Action Taken
The unit coordinator, who is also the clinical education coordinator (CEC), assigned students to block placements based on a range of available information, including that related to student preferences and gaps in direct clinical experiences. Regular contact was maintained between the CEC and students, as well as the CEC and placement supervisors, throughout the placements.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student evaluation survey
Feedback
Student reports regarding the assessment tasks were variable. Whilst some felt that the assessment tasks were relevant and due at appropriate times, others had negative experiences due to a lengthy delay in receiving results from their sessional placement. Some feel that the requirements regarding the portfolio were not well explained.
Recommendation
The Clinical Education Coordinator will explain all assessment tasks thoroughly to students, including the portfolio. This will include an explanation of the portfolio marking rubric, examples of documents that may be included in the portfolio, and an example of a completed portfolio. All appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that students receive assessment feedback in a timely manner.
Action Taken
The CEC worked through the portfolio marking rubric with the students, explaining each of the criteria and also providing an example of a completed portfolio. Results from sessional placements were provided to students within 1-2 weeks of their completion, as promised.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student evaluation survey and student's verbal reports to the Clinical Education Coordinator
Feedback
Students did not feel that the workload whilst they were on placement was reasonable. They reported that there were too many other university commitments to juggle (for example, fourth year projects) and that as a result they were unable to give the required amount of time and energy to their placements, which then had a negative impact upon their stress levels as well as their final results.
Recommendation
The Clinical Education Coordinator will discuss workload, time management and organisation skills with students in tutorials and encourage them to plan their time carefully for their upcoming block placement. Discussions will also be held with the Speech Pathology team to look at ways in which the workload might be made more manageable in the future.
Action Taken
The CEC spent time during tutorials in Weeks 1 to 5 discussing issues relating to workload, time management and organisational skills, with the intention of helping students to make improvements in each of these areas. These discussions continued in the second half of the term with students who were experiencing difficulties related to time and workload management whilst completing their block placements. In addition, issues relating to workload during students' placements were discussed with the Speech Pathology team and changes have been made accordingly to address these identified areas of concern. These changes will be implemented in 2019.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student satisfaction survey
Feedback
Students felt that the ongoing support and contact from the unit coordinator whilst on placement was beneficial.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will continue to provide ongoing support and maintain regular contact with both students and supervisors during the students' block placements, to ensure that everyone involved is well supported and that any issues are addressed in an appropriate and timely manner.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student satisfaction survey
Feedback
The students reported that having Glenn Skinner, a qualified counsellor, as a guest lecturer was beneficial and the timing of this class before commencing the first block placement was ideal.
Recommendation
Counsellor Glenn Skinner will continue to be invited as a guest lecturer to assist students with their preparation for their block placements.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: 'Have Your Say' student satisfaction survey and verbal student feedback
Feedback
Students provided mixed feedback regarding the online discussion forum assessment task. One student felt that the forum was an excellent way of staying connected with other students whilst on placement, and hearing about and learning from their experiences. Two students felt that the requirements of the forum needed to be more clearly explained.
Recommendation
The online discussion forum will continue to be an assessment requirement for this unit, as it provides students with the opportunity to remain connected with one another, to share their experiences with others, and to learn about a range of topics related to their work-integrated learning experiences. However the unit coordinator will ensure that the instructions and expectations are more clearly explained, both verbally and in a written task description and marking rubric.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Provide direct, indirect and inferred evidence of entry-level competence across a variety of practice areas as well as the four generic professional competencies and the seven Competency-based Occupational Standards (CBOS, 2011), as described in the Competency Assessment in Speech Pathology (COMPASS®) assessment tool
  2. Use reflective practice skills to improve clinical decision making as an entry-level student clinician.

The range of practice areas covered within this unit will depend largely on the nature of each student's clinical placements. Each placement will, however, allow students to have the opportunity to demonstrate entry-level competence with an adult and/or paediatric population across one or more of the following range of practice areas:

  • Voice, Swallowing, Speech, Language, Multi-Modal Communication, Fluency

Students will be assessed across each of the following four generic professional competencies (GPCs) described by the Competency Assessment in Speech Pathology (COMPASS®) assessment tool:

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

Students will also be assessed across each of the following seven Competency-Based Occupational standards (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

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2
1 - Professional Practice Placement •
2 - Online discussion forum •
3 - Professional Practice Placement •
4 - Portfolio •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2
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 - Professional Practice Placement • • • • • • • • •
2 - Online discussion forum • • • • • •
3 - Professional Practice Placement • • • • • • • • •
4 - Portfolio • • • • • •