Unit rationale, description and aim

Speech pathologists work with children, their families, carers and educators to support children’s development and address speech, language and communication needs. This unit has a focus on building the knowledge and skills required for working with children  across paediatric settings.  

This is the second of seven professional practice units. Students will extend knowledge and skills developed in first year units and participate in activities and experiences that will assist with the development of professional conduct, reflective practice and lifelong learning. The development of these skills will provide students with the opportunity to progress their identity as a speech pathologist and grow their knowledge of person and family- centered practice. Students will engage in speech pathology assessment, analysis and/or intervention in a supported and scaffolded environment which will then provide a foundation for future professional practice units and experiences.  

2025 10

Campus offering

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  • Semester 1Campus Attendance
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  • Semester 1Campus Attendance

Prerequisites

ALHT106 Psychology for Allied Health AND SPHY100 Communication and Development Across the Lifespan AND SPHY102 Anatomy and Physiology for Speech Pathology AND SPHY103 Linguistics and Phonetics for Speech Pathology AND SPHY105 Foundations of 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 conduct, person-centred a...

Learning Outcome 01

Demonstrate professional conduct, person-centred and ethical practice in work with children, families, carers and/or educators
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12

Demonstrate skills related to assessment, analysis...

Learning Outcome 02

Demonstrate skills related to assessment, analysis and interpretation, and/or intervention planning and service delivery for children with communication needs
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12

Reflect on the knowledge, skills and attitudes req...

Learning Outcome 03

Reflect on the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for a speech pathologist to support the participation of children with communication needs as a basis for developing future learning goals
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC9, GC10

Content

Content is provided during class-based activities as well as during professional practice activities which may be off-site or in simulated settings. 

Professional Conduct (Professional Standard 1) 

  • Professional conduct and ethical behaviour (Scope of Practice and Code of Ethics) in paediatric settings 
  • Professional (clinical) reasoning and the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) 
  • Fitness to Practice, ACU mandatory documentation and the Professional Practice Handbook 
  • Speech Pathology Australia standards, policies and practice guidelines 
  • Policies and protocols of the workplace 
  • Supervision roles and responsibilities 
  • Introduction to ethical and medico-legal responsibilities in speech pathology practice in health and education
  • Maintaining records of practice in health and education
  • Establishing a therapeutic relationship in health and education
  • Understanding and responding to a client’s personal history, cultural and social background during joint goal setting 
  • Communication as a ‘basic human right’ 
  • Building safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults in health and education


Reflective Practice and lifelong learning (Professional Standard 2) 

  • Reflective practice 
  • Reflection on action
  • Developing learning goals / plans 
  • Responding to feedback and facilitating change 
  • Differences between practice contexts and transferring knowledge and skills for future professional practice 


Speech Pathology Practice (Professional Standard 3) 

  • Applying the ICF to case history gathering and the assessment process 
  • Principles of assessment in AAC and multimodal communication and common tools of assessment 
  • Analysing assessment data (standardised and non-standardised assessment) 
  • Interpreting speech pathology assessment data 
  • Linking professional reasoning with EBP 
  • Understanding derived scores (e.g.: scaled scores, percentile rank, age equivalence, standard deviation) 
  • Reporting assessment data 
  • Developing person-centred and functional goals relating to communication and participation 

Assessment strategy and rationale

To pass this unit students are required to participate in classroom based and professional practice experiences and receive a satisfactory grade on three hurdle tasks. 

Professional Practice Assessment. Due to the progressive nature of competency development, students will be assessed dynamically throughout their professional practice experiences. The Professional Practice Assessment Tool will enable supervisors to record student progress, assist with goal setting, and assist in determining levels of competency in both simulated and/or real-world settings across Domains 1-3 of the Professional Standards for Speech Pathologists in Australia. 

Clinical skills exam. Students are required to demonstrate independent skills in the administration and analysis of paediatric speech and/or language assessments. 

Professional Development Plan and Reflective Portfolio. Students submit a reflection and clinical documentation / artefacts to demonstrate their emerging reflective practice skills as they report on their achievement of personal goals, acquisition of knowledge, understanding of speech pathology and skills in assessment and intervention. 

In order to pass this unit, students are required to pass the professional practice assessment hurdle by gaining a pass on the professional practice assessment tool as determined by the professional practice educator and Lecturer in Charge. In addition, students are required to pass the other hurdles requirements: the clinical exam and the reflective portfolio. Students who fail the professional practice assessment will not be given a second attempt to pass the assessment. Students who fail the clinical skills exam and/or professional portfolio will be offered one additional attempt to pass these hurdles.

Overview of assessments

Professional Practice Assessment Students will c...

Professional Practice Assessment

Students will complete a professional practice experience and demonstrate novice competency in clinical skills and generic competencies as evaluated on the Professional Practice Assessment Tool.

Weighting

Ungraded Hurdle (pass/fail)

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC10, GC11, GC12
Standards PSSP 1.1, PSSP 1.2, PSSP 1.3, PSSP 1.4, PSSP 1.5, PSSP 1.6, PSSP 2.1, PSSP 2.2, PSSP 2.3, PSSP 2.5, PSSP 2.6, PSSP 3.1, PSSP 3.2, PSSP 3.3, PSSP 3.4, PSSP 3.5

Clinical Skills Exam Students will demonstrate c...

Clinical Skills Exam

Students will demonstrate clinical skills in assessment and/or intervention for paediatric communication disorders.

Weighting

Ungraded Hurdle (pass/fail)

Learning Outcomes LO2
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC2, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12
Standards PSSP 1.2, PSSP 1.5, PSSP 3.2, PSSP 3.3

Professional Development Plan and Reflective Port...

Professional Development Plan and Reflective Portfolio

This task enables students to demonstrate emerging reflective practice skills and identify future learning goals.  

Weighting

Ungraded Hurdle (pass/fail)

Learning Outcomes LO3
Graduate Capabilities GC1, GC2, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC11, GC12

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Learning and teaching strategies for this unit comprise tutorials/workshops as well as supervised professional practice experiences.  

Tutorials and workshops prepare students for professional practice experiences by supporting them to connect theoretical and practical learning, professional frameworks and policy documents as well as workplace protocols and procedures and enable opportunities for practicing clinical skills. Professional practice experiences (simulated and in real-world settings) are undertaken in small group format and facilitated by a professional practice educator/s to ensure scaffolding and support.

This unit provides opportunities for students to engage in community of practice activities and reflect on developing professional identity, confidence and competence to assist in preparing for future professional practice experiences. 

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Cook, K., Tillard, G., Wyles, C., Gerhard, D., Ormond, T., & McAuliffe, M. (2019). Assessing and developing the written reflective practice skills of speech-language pathology students. International Journal of Speech language Pathology,21(1), 4-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2017.1374463 

Hoffman, T., Bennett, S., & Del Mar, C. (2017). Evidence-based practice across the health professions (3rd ed.). Elsevier Australia. 

McAllister, S., Lincoln, M., Ferguson, A. & McAllister, L. (2013). COMPASS®: Competency assessment in speech pathology technical manual (2nd ed.). Speech Pathology Australia. 

Speech Pathology Australia. Code of Ethics. https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Public/About-Us/Ethics-and-standards/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics.aspx?hkey=33c84f2c-2bf2-47b0-b201-d5f5616fb191 

Speech Pathology Australia. Professional Standards for Speech Pathologists in Australia. https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Public/About-Us/Ethics-and-standards/Professional-standards/Professional-Standards.aspx?hkey=34af6d1a-2b96-411b-a4ed-90f0a8aae27c 

Speech Pathology Australia. Scope of Practice. https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Public/About-Us/Ethics-and-standards/Scope-of-Practice.aspx?hkey=6e4daa08-aa40-4489-aede-f2faf685b4ef 

World Health Organisation. (2023). International classification of functioning, disability and health [online resource]. https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/international-classification-of-functioning-disability-and-health 

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