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L. McAllister
School of Communication Disorders, The University of Sydney
L. Mortensen
Department of Linguistics, University of Newcastle
L. Worrall and V. Dawson
Department of Speech and Hearing, University of Queensland
The development of competency based occupational standards for the speech pathology profession in Australia led to the initiation of a collaborative CAUT project by those institutions offering undergraduate speech pathology courses. The acceptance of a holistic view of competence, embracing moral, ethical and cognitive dimensions, provided the impetus for the development of an educationally sound model for the acquisition of professional competence.The project sought to develop support strategies and resources for independent student learning. This support took the form of independent study modules, a tutorial introducing students to the professional competencies, and an applied theoretical framework: the Indicators of Emerging Competence. The Indicators of Emerging Competence were intended to provide students with a user-friendly framework of learning to assist them in independently mapping and guiding their acquisition of professional competency. A three tiered framework was developed which included hierarchical teaching and learning strategies linked to the professional competencies.
This paper will discuss a conceptualisation of the acquisition of skills and knowledge within a framework of emerging professional competence. The learning framework for the Indicators of Emerging Competence will be presented. Potential applications of the Indicators of Emerging Competence to students and educators will be discussed.
The university speech pathology degree programs recognised the need to review and develop their curricula to enhance student learning and monitoring of emerging competence, and to make the end-point assessment of competence as educationally sound and efficient as possible. This need lead the staff responsible for clinical curricula in the six university programs to successfully apply for a CAUT grant (Worrall et al., 1994). This paper presents one of the student-focussed learning tools which were developed from this grant.
A further approach to competence which marries the generic attributes approach and the atomistic approaches, to create an integrated or holistic view of competence (Hager, Gonczi & Athanasou, 1994) is congruent with the goals of university professional education. It is this approach to competence which has been taken by the professions in Australia, allowing the incorporation of cognitive, ethical and affective components of performance and multiple views of competent practice, whilst acknowledging the importance of the contexts of professional practice. This conceptualisation of competence is similar to what Stephenson (1996) refers to as capability. The integration of the cognitive, affective, ethical and technical aspects of competent performance, described within the contexts of professional practice, we believe provides the basis for educationally sound applications to higher education settings.
Accessing research literature (Unit 7 / Element 1),In addition a learning package entitled Developing Competencies in Speech Pathology Students, which outlines the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders. Lastly, a learning tool which would help students target the competency standards, and monitor their emerging competence was also developed. This learning tool - The Indicators of Emerging Competence - is the focus of this paper.
Report writing (Unit 1 / Element 6),
Integrating observational assessment and interview information (Units 1 & 2),
Community education - health promotion (Unit 6 / Element 1), and
Application of scientific principles to the workplace (Unit 5 / Element 6).
It was hypothesised that the development of the Indicators would provide a useful learning tool for students by: (i) Highlighting for students the integrated and holistic nature of their emerging competence since students would be able to apply the indicators to their learning regardless of specific content or context; (ii) Providing students with a useful tool to map and guide their own learning. In doing so the development of independent learning would also be supported.
Developing the ability to use such integrated, independent, professional knowledge, skills and personal qualities, has been considered to sit at the intersection of education and training. This represents the domain of learner-led learning rather employer- or teacher-led (constrained) learning (Stephenson, 1996). As such, the role of student-led learning in professional practice settings during their undergraduate education was a crucial element.
The challenge facing students and educators in such a professional practice setting was to move students from being able to deal with familiar problems in a familiar context to dealing with unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts (See fig 1) (Stephenson, 1996). This requirement for independence was reflected in the parameters of independence specified for the performance indicators for each element of the C-BOS (AASH, 1994). The development of the Indicators sought to provide an easily understood conceptualisation of the levels of learning students moved through in making the shift from quadrant Y (familiar problems and a familiar context), to quadrant Z (unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts).
Figure 1: Becoming Competent / Capable
There was already a well developed understanding of the experiential teaching and learning practices inherent in clinical education (Boud & Walker, 1992). The activities of such teaching and learning might be understood from the perspective of models of experiential and reflective learning (Schon, 1983; Kolb, 1984) and structures of teaching and learning (Goldhammer et al., 1980). The processes involved in learning might be interpreted from the perspective of experiential learning models (Jarvis, 1994). There was however no suitable model or framework available which captured how the activities and processes could vary with the development from novice to expert.
In seeking to develop the Indicators as such a framework, a variety of models of knowledge and learning were considered as a basis (Biggs & Collis, 1982; Habermas, 1972; Boud & Walker, 1992). The most suitable model examined was Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom, 1956). The attraction of this model was its incorporation of cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of performance. In developing a useable framework for students, the focus was on structuring a hierarchy of suitable, easily understood learning activities, which would support students in their acquisition of professional competence.
A set of suitable key descriptors was selected from Bloom's original taxonomy. These descriptors were identified on the basis of the authors experience as clinical educators as representing three stages of student development - beginning, intermediate and advanced. The descriptors reflected the cognitive, affective and moral dimensions of speech pathology practice. The descriptors selected for each level were:
| Beginning Level: | Seeks information about Observes Participates Describes |
| Intermediate Level: | Applies Interprets Compares Critically questions Analyses |
| Advanced Level: | Critically evaluates Selects Integrates Creates Plans |
The set of descriptors on its own is useful only in that it focuses the students attention on key aspects of their learning. Such a set of descriptors can only achieve a significant impact when it is related to a particular context or practice (Boud & Walker, 1992). For each level of the learning hierarchy, examples of the descriptors of teaching and learning activity were provided using the competencies to provide the context. These examples of the learning activities were the Indicators. They reflected the level of emerging competence for students at three stages in a developmental continuum. The Indicators were not intended to provide a comprehensive description of learning activities. They were intended only as examples of applications of the descriptors in the context of the C-BOS. They provide the student with examples of behaviours which they can target to achieve competence in the various units and elements of C-BOS. For example:
for Unit 1 - Assessment of the Client, Element 1 - Interviews and takes a case history, beginning level students might set as a learning goal observing your clinical educator interviewing a client and taking a case history; recording the information s/he gathers, whilst an advanced level student might target reviewing the referral information you have been given for a client and critically evaluating the implications for conducting an assessment.
In all subject descriptions for the clinical and professional development streams of subjects, the descriptors have been used in the language of the subject objectives. These objectives incorporate both learning process and learning outcome objectives, as shown in the overhead. A start has been made in using the Indicators and the descriptors in the construction of subject descriptions for other subjects, traditionally viewed as 'the theory subjects' which underpin clinical practice (see overhead example).
All clinical and professional development staff, with all students, were introduced to the Indicators, the descriptors and new subject objectives in a workshop prior to the start of the new academic year in 1996. The educational basis and value of the Indicators were explained, the subject objectives incorporating these were discussed, and other ways in which the descriptors and Indicators could be used to support student learning were brainstormed. Discussions with staff about the use of the Indicators is ongoing in staff development sessions, and students will participate in group debriefing and feedback-to-staff sessions at the end of each semester.
Having been shown some of the ways in which the Indicators can be used, staff and students have been creative in the applications they are making of the document. When staff are presenting materials to students or engaging them in learning experiences, they have been heard to make comments such as "this task is a beginning level task that fits with Unit X" or "Use this experience to sharpen your ability to analyse and interpret..."
Students are making similar uses of the Indicators. They are using them to identify gaps in their experience, saying things to their educators like: "I need experience planning, running and evaluating group therapy sessions "or" I haven't yet participated in a health promotion session; can this placement offer me that opportunity?". Students are also using the Indicators to analyse their current levels of performance eg. "I can pick holes in other people's work (critically evaluate) with these sorts of clients, but can't seem to see the problems with my own work yet".
The range of applications for the Indicators is large. As more speech pathology programs around Australia begin to integrate them into their programs, further innovative and educationally sound applications will no doubt emerge.
Australian Association of Speech and Hearing (AASH), (1994). Competency-Based Occupational Standards for Speech Pathologists. Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Association of Speech and Hearing.
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Hager, P., Gonczi, A & Athanasou, J. (1994). General issues about the assessment of competence. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 19(1), 3-16.
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential Learning. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Schon, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. New York: Basic Books.
Stephenson, J. (1996). Beyond Competence to Capability and the Learning Society. The University of Sydney, Centre for Teaching and Learning International Seminar Program.
Worrall, L., McAllister, L., Barrie, S., McAllister, S., Franke, M. & Mortensen, L. (1994). Developing professional competency in speech pathology students.
| Authors: S. C. Barrie, Centre for Teaching and Learning, The University of Sydney S.Barrie@ctl.usyd.edu.au Fax: (02) 351 4331 L. McAllister, School of Communication Disorders, The University of Sydney Lindy.McAllister@cchs.su.edu.au Fax: (02) 646 4853 L. Mortensen, Department of Linguistics, University of Newcastle lnlm@cc.newcastle.edu.au Fax: (049) 21 6933 L. Worrall, Department of Speech and Hearing, University of Queensland lworrall@mailbox.up.oz.au Fax: (07) 365 1877 V. Dawson, Department of Speech and Hearing, University of Queensland v.dawson@mailbox.uq.oz.au Fax: (07) 365 1877 Please cite as: Barrie, S. C., McAllister, L., Mortensen, L., Worrall, L. and Dawson, V. (1996). Pathways to professional competence: Supporting student learning. Different Approaches: Theory and Practice in Higher Education. Proceedings HERDSA Conference 1996. Perth, Western Australia, 8-12 July. http://www.herdsa.org.au/confs/1996/barrie.html |