Unit rationale, description and aim
This unit is the final of seven Professional Practice units that provides direct evidence of competencies required by Speech Pathology Australia for entry into the profession. It is a 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 (SPHY400/SPHY403).
During the previous six professional practice units, students have progressively increased their independence, ability to manage complexity, and skills in integrating and analyzing information. In this capstone unit, students will engage in an extended period of professional practice experience across one or more of the Speech Pathology Australia range of practice areas of speech, language, voice, fluency, swallowing, and multimodal communication.
Entry level skills, knowledge and attitudes are fostered throughout the unit, as students prepare for transition to the workforce. By the end of the unit, students will be expected to demonstrate entry level competency in accordance with the Competency-Based Occupational Standards for Speech Pathologists for all range of practice area/s.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.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 knowledge and skills in assessment; an...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate Reasoning, Communication, Learning and...
Learning Outcome 02
Demonstrate ethical, holistic, and culturally resp...
Learning Outcome 03
Demonstrate transfer of speech pathology knowledge...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
The Speech Pathologist as an entry level professional
- Communicating with the consumer, family and support members, and other professionals in practice
- Communication which demonstrates clinical reasoning and professional and clinical competency in practice
- Working collaboratively and respectfully when working in teams
- Provision of speech pathology services which align with the Speech Pathology Australia Code of Ethics
- Engaging in reflection to shape learning
- Identification of points of difference as a graduate speech pathologist of ACU
- Preparing job applications and assimilation of skills for interviews
The Speech Pathologist and practice at entry level
- Assimilating and applying previously learnt knowledge and skills to workplace settings.
- Provision of holistic speech pathology services which consider and integrate:
- person- or family- driven care
- the ICF
- Speech Pathology Australia Code of Ethics
- evidence based practice
- complex presentations
- culturally and linguistically diverse populations
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- allied health work policy
- Working collaboratively and respectfully with the consumer, family and support members, and other health professionals in practice
- Experiences which enable demonstration of entry level skills against the Competency Based Occupational Standards (CBOS)
The Speech Pathologist and community at entry level
- Reflect on, discuss and/or demonstrate the role of speech pathologists in advocating for consumers and the profession
Assessment strategy and rationale
To pass this unit students are required to demonstrate entry level competency on the professional and Competency-Based Occupational Standards (CBOS) set by Speech Pathology Australia for the range of practice areas engaged with on professional practice placement. Students must also demonstrate entry level knowledge and skill via individual standardised competency-based assessments such as oral vivas and/or occupational standards competency evaluations (OSCEs). Student results are ultimately determined by the Lecturer in Charge (LIC) after considering all assessment results.
Professional Practice Placement: All aspects of the student’s daily performance are assessable during the placement period, as competency is developed and assessed dynamically from the first to the last day of placement by the Professional Practice Educator (PPE). Student performance is assessed against behavioural descriptors which reflect/demonstrate a hierarchy of competency development, from novice to intermediate to entry level and form the basis of the rubric used for placement assessment. The student is provided with formal formative feedback approximately midway through the placement, and summative feedback at the end of the placement period using an assessment tool called COMPASS®. Students will also be required to submit a self-assessment at both mid and final placement using this 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. The tool incorporates resource materials to assist the educator and student in the process of developing the student’s competence 1.
Case-based learning: Students will submit clinical documents and participate in oral/simulated activities relating to cases of clients with communication difficulties. The cases have been developed to provide students with exposure to range of practice areas (ROPAs) that they may not have had opportunities to encounter on their final professional practice experiences and to ensure they can demonstrate entry-level skills when working with individuals who have these difficulties. Demonstration of entry-level knowledge and skills across all ROPAs is a requirement of Speech Pathology Australia in order for students to graduate from speech pathology programs. The cases also provide an opportunity for students to prepare for their standardised competency-based assessments (Oral Viva and OSCE).
Standardised competency-based assessment: Students will complete tasks such as oral viva(s) and/or OSCEs to demonstrate entry-level skills across the range of practice areas (ROPAs) and CBOS units/elements for speech pathology. The requirement for entry-level skills in this task reflects the nature of the tasks; that is, they are standardised and case-based, allowing for an equitable, whole of cohort, integrative and independent assessment of students’ knowledge and skills. This is an accreditation requirement of Speech Pathology Australia to ensure students are assessed to be at entry-level competence across all range of practice areas. The standardised competency-based assessments are ungraded hurdles, which students must pass in order to pass the unit.
1. McAllister, S., Lincoln, M., Ferguson, A. & McAllister, L. (2013) (2nd ed) COMPASS®: Competency assessment in speech pathology technical manual. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia, p. 1-2.
Overview of assessments
Completion of Professional Practice Placement in...
Completion of Professional Practice Placement including:
- Completion of mandatory tasks
- A Pass on COMPASS at entry level
- Evidence of a project undertaken on placement (educational, promotional or evaluative) <
Ungraded Hurdle
Case-based learning Students will submit clinica...
Case-based learning
Students will submit clinical documents and participate in oral/simulated activities relating to cases of clients with communication difficulties.
Ungraded Hurdle
Standardised competency-based assessment Studen...
Standardised competency-based assessment
Students will complete oral vivas and/or OSCEs to demonstrate entry-level knowledge and skills across ROPAs in a standardised setting/format.
Ungraded Hurdle
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit 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 multimodal approach to this unit acknowledges that students will be experiencing a range of contexts, supervision styles and client types throughout the semester. Students will also be engaged in professional practice placement at different times during the semester, so staff have designed unit activities to accommodate scheduling of placement.
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 competency as a speech pathologist, and enable the student to develop their skills, knowledge and attitudes within a ‘real world’ context. Students participate in these experiences individually, in pairs, or in small groups and are supervised by qualified speech pathologists who support learning and development of competencies. In addition to the professional practice experiences, approximately 190 hours of additional learning activities including tutorials, group and individual discussions, case-based learning activities and assessment tasks are completed. These activities foster peer learning, reflective practice, clinical 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 to entry level competency across the range of practice areas of the Competency Based Occupational Standards (CBOS) for Entry-Level speech pathologists.