Unit rationale, description and aim
Speech pathologists are required to engage in professional, ethical, and evidence-based practice, drawing on skills in reasoning and reflection to provide appropriate services for individuals, families and communities that address communication and swallowing needs and enable human flourishing. This unit is the final of seven professional practice units and enables students to apply their knowledge and skills from all previous theoretical and professional practice units to demonstrate readiness to enter the profession.
In this unit, students undertake an extended period of professional practice experience, consolidating their knowledge and skills in assessment, analysis and interpretation, intervention planning and implementation of intervention with the population and contexts of practice. It is a Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) requirement that competency in working with both child and adult populations is demonstrated in penultimate or final 4th year placements. Consequently, in this unit, students will work with a different population than in the previous professional practice unit (SPHY413).
This unit contains a learning outcome from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework (HCF, 2014) specifically addressing the HCF cultural capability-Self Reflexivity.
Additionally, students will demonstrate skills in professional conduct, reflective practice and lifelong learning, showing transferability of skills and knowledge across contexts and populations.
The aim of this unit is to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in working with children or adults across the continuum of care, at the level required for entry into the profession, to enable a successful transition into the workforce.
Finally, Honours students will have further opportunity to demonstrate their developing skills in critical analysis, evaluation and translation of research literature to speech pathology practice.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Demonstrate professional, ethical, and evidence-ba...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate theoretical knowledge and skills to e...
Learning Outcome 02
Critically reflect on the transferability of knowl...
Learning Outcome 03
Critically analyse, evaluate and translate researc...
Learning Outcome 04
Design practical strategies to enable ongoing self...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
Competency and Range of Practice Areas of focus:
· Skills required for entry to the profession
· Assimilating and applying previously learnt knowledge and skills to workplace settings, populations and practice areas.
Professional Conduct (Domain 1)
· Worldview and sociocultural perspectives: Diverse world views
· The role of speech pathologists in advocating for consumers and the profession.
· Ethical challenges and the Speech Pathology Australia Code of Ethics.
· Independent use of sound EBP processes to support professional reasoning and decision-making
· Communication which demonstrates professional reasoning and professional and clinical knowledge and skills
· Communicating with the consumer, family and support members, and other professionals in practice
· Working collaboratively and respectfully when working in teams
Reflective Practice and Lifelong learning (Domain 2)
· Using critical reflection skills independently in clinical practice beyond graduation.
· Professionalism
· Identification of points of difference as a graduate speech pathologist of ACU
· Reflect on future opportunities to apply learnt knowledge and skills.
· Using Critical reflection to develop goals for professional development.
· Using reflexivity to guide culturally responsive practice
Speech Pathology Practice (Domain 3)
· Time and caseload management.
· Service delivery models.
Assessment strategy and rationale
Completion of professional practice assessment: Students participate in a professional practice experience on which they are assessed with the COMPASS® assessment tool. COMPASS® is a psychometrically validated assessment instrument that provides a measure of speech pathology student competence, and is recommended by Speech Pathology Australia. COMPASS® has been developed to assist in the evaluation of speech pathology students’ performance in the workplace, to identify their learning needs and to determine their readiness to enter the professional workforce.
Professional development plan: Students will identify their professional development goals and learning plan at the start of their placement, and opportunities for application of learnt knowledge and skills based on a reflection of current strengths in knowledge and skills and areas for improvement. At the conclusion of their placement, they will prepare a critical reflection which will explore their development relative to their goals and opportunities, discuss their own perspectives and those of others during their placement and identify professional learning supports they will need as they enter the profession. Students will specifically address their development of cultural capability and practical strategies that will enable ongoing reflexivity. The critical reflection will also provide the opportunities to develop a plan for learning goals beyond graduation and entry into the profession. The plan will identify learning goals, activities that will be undertaken to address those goals and a timeframe for completion.
Honours students are required to produce evidence of their ability to critically analyse and evaluate research literature to transform speech pathology practice. Students will be required to submit written documentation that demonstrates how they have used research literature to improve or modify practice whilst on near entry-level placement. This documentation could take a number of different forms including an annotated bibliography or contribution to a journal club.
In order to be successful in this unit, students must pass all assessments items. A students who fails Assessment 1 (completion of professional practice placement) will not be given a second attempt at this assessment. A student who fails Assessment 2 (professional development plan) and/or Assessment 3 (critical analysis of research literature) on their first attempt will be offered the opportunity to re-submit the assessment task. If the task is passed on the second attempt, the student will pass the unit. If the assessment task is failed on the second attempt, the student will fail the unit.
Overview of assessments
Assessment 1: Completion of professional practice...
Assessment 1: Completion of professional practice placement
This task enables students to complete a Professional Practice Placement and demonstrate:
• Completion of mandatory tasks
• A grade on COMPASS at entry level
Ungraded
Hurdle
(pass/fail)
Assessment 2: Critical analysis of research liter...
Assessment 2: Critical analysis of research literature
This task enables students to undertake a critical analysis of research literature to improve or modify practice.
Ungraded
Hurdle
(pass/fail)
Assessment 3: Professional development plan and c...
Assessment 3: Professional development plan and critical reflection
This task enables students to prepare a professional development plan outlining learning goals, activities and timeframes for completion which will allow for critical reflection of learning on placement.
Ungraded hurdle
(pass/fail)
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This is the final professional practice unit, and as such, is the final opportunity for students to gain workplace exposure prior to entering the profession. The blended approach to this unit acknowledges that students will be experiencing a range of contexts, supervision styles and practice areas and populations throughout the semester.
This unit is comprised of approximately 250 hours of professional practice experiences, which are conducted external to the University or within on-campus speech pathology clinics. These experiences are integral to the development of speech pathology skills, knowledge and attitudes within a ‘real world’ context. Students are supervised by qualified speech pathologists who support learning and development of competencies. In addition to the professional practice experiences, approximately 50 hours of learning activities including tutorials, group and individual discussions, self-directed learning activities and assessment tasks are completed. These activities foster peer learning, reflective practice, professional reasoning and shared problem solving, and expose students to workplace contexts which they might not individually experience.
All content is designed to assist the development of students’ professional skill and identity as a speech pathologist readiness to enter the profession.