Study on Education and Mentorship of Students in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Curriculum

Overview and Purpose of the Study

The problem addressed by this study is related to the mentorship and education of students in the communication sciences and disorders curriculum. There is concern that there could be a decrease in the number of speech-language pathologists available for the long-term. The specific problem is related to the unknown effect of not allowing undergraduate and graduate clinic internship hours to be counted toward ASHA certification.

The ASHA has proposed that there be a reduction or complete nullification in counting student intern and clinical hours toward their certification. The policy mandate is still pending and the effect this may have on the future pool of SLPs is not known. The basic objectives of this study are as follows:

1. To examine the attitudes of SLP and CS&D professionals toward proposed nullification of college-level clinic and intern hours as counting toward ASHA certification.

2. To understand how such attitudes of these professionals tends to bridge the knowledge gap as identified in this study.

3. To elucidate those factors or variables associated with the professional's attitudes toward such a policy (demographics, field of practice, etc.).

4. To cross-examine those identified factors or variables from objective #4 against attitudes from such professionals on the future of the SLP and CS&D profession.

5. To recommend future avenues for research in this topic of study.

This research has significant implications with regard to SLP learning. The proposed changes could discourage students from learning in an experiential setting such as a clinic or practicum. This means they will be less likely to comprehend how the theories they are learning in the classroom can be applied in a real-life situation. This could result in students who are not as skilled at applying theories in their work with clients. This becomes a quality of care issue for those being served by the SLPs.

Several studies have indicated that there is a wide variety of advantages for internships and practicums. Some of these advantages include helping newly graduated students avoid feeling overwhelmed due to a lack of experience. The experience gained in the internship or practicum allows them to feel more comfortable with the role as an SLP. In other words, it is not sufficient for the newly graduated SLP practitioner to be fully versed in theories, but have no practical experience.

Elaboration and Interpretation of the Findings as Related to the Research Questions

This was a mixed methods study with both a qualitative and quantitative portion. Therefore, there is a research question which corresponds to both portions of the study. The research questions are as follows:

QUANTITATIVE:

R1: Can the attitudes toward the nullification policy by CS&D and SLP professionals predict a potential outcome upon the future of the profession?

QUALITATIVE:

R2: What factors does an SLP/CS&D professional see as significant toward maintaining a skilled and talented professional base?

With regard to the quantitative question, over 50% of the respondents indicated that the lack of a mentor associated with a practicum or clinical experience reduced the chances of a positive outcome for the SLP and CS&D.

The qualitative question was answered through the responses to the interviews. Question 3 asked the respondents about their perceptions regarding the quality of the profession of SLP as it now exists. There was a wide variety of answers from the respondents. These ranged from a positive assessment such as "very intelligent" to "quality is lacking within certain settings." There was an overall favorable response to the question with a caveat that not all SLPs were providing quality services.

Question 4 asks about the respondent's opinion of the professional organizations. All the respondents mentioned the ASHA. There were two respondents to mention the NBASHLA. Only one of the respondents indicated a relatively neutral feeling about the importance of these organizations. The remainder of the respondents believed that the organizations gave them support, opportunities for networking, and a way to stay updated with regard to advances in the profession.

Question 15 asks the respondents to indicate what they believed the effect would be of eliminating practicums or internships for students learning to be SLPs. Without exception, the respondents indicated that elimination of the internship and practicum would result in negative effects on the profession. Generally, the respondents believed that the students would be unprepared to work in the field if they had not experienced an internship or practicum. A long-term concern was voiced by one of the respondents who indicated that the entire profession could come under criticism due to a lack of quality services to clients. There was agreement among these respondents that without the internships and practicum, the new batch of students would be ill-prepared to provide quality services to clients.

Conclusions

Both the qualitative and quantitative analysis indicate that the SLP as well as the CS&D professions will suffer if the ASHA adopts its proposed policy of no longer providing credit for internships and clinical practicum with regard to ASHA certification. This result is what would be expected according to previous studies.

There are a number of reasons that internships are vital for the SLP and CS&D professions. One of the most important advantages of an internship is that it allows students to gain actual work experience. This means it is much more likely that the graduate will be able to locate a job when their degree is earned. Most employers are reticent to hire students who have little job experience in the field. However, there are often happy to hire students who have successfully completed internships and have strong recommendations from those they have worked with.

Many times an internship will provide an opportunity for a first-time job seeker. Employers often view the interns as possible employees and may offer positions when the internship is completed. In fact, internships are one of the most common ways for employers to locate staff with advanced degrees. The intern can conceptualize the experience as being a long interview and evaluation.

Another significant advantage of the internships in SLP and CS&D is that they allow students to determine how well they are suited for the profession. Many times, studying a subject in the classroom is quite a bit different than working in the profession for which the knowledge can be used. The internship is a time-limited situation in which a student can determine if they enjoy working in the profession. There can also be more specific instances than the entire profession. For example, an intern may learn that they do not enjoy working with young children. However, they may be especially skilled at working with adolescents with speech problems. Another intern may find that their bilingual skills are particularly suited for immigrants with speech difficulties.

There is a significant psychological factor involved with internships in the SLP and CS&D professions. As the student can apply their classroom knowledge, they can earn praise from those at the work site. Over time, this builds confidence in their skills regarding the profession. This means that the student will be more confident when are asked in a job interview if they believe they can successfully meet the demands of a job.

Context of the Findings in Relation to the Literature

The findings of this study that internships and practicums are an important part of learning for SLPs as well as CS&D students match findings in the literature. For example, Gregory pointed out that a significant aspect of oncogenic learning involves sensory experiences. Information gained in this way is generally better retained. The traditional coursework approach involves high volumes of material with low sensory input. The internships and practicums provide focused information with high levels of sensorial input. This type of learning is more likely to be retained and incorporated into behaviors.

A study done by Caracciolo, Morrison, & Rigrodsky investigated the perceptions of supervisors and undergraduate students with regard to growth in the SLP field. They discovered that there was a relationship between supervision, experience, and the clinical effectiveness of students entering the field. The study concentrated on the need for undergraduate students to be provided with practicum opportunities and supervision. The students reported a positive relationship with their supervisor. They were found to appreciate constructive criticism.

Research done by Ciocci & Miller found that growth of individuals entering a profession was partially determined by the experiences they had with their supervisors during the clinical practicum. The SLP students were discovered to have significant advantages with regard to learning how to apply the theories and concepts from the classroom to the actual work setting. The study supported the idea that having a practicum or internship in which the SLP student maintains a positive relationship with their supervisor, is associated with higher levels of professional growth.

There is evidence from other professional fields, which highlights the importance of mentoring for students becoming professionals. One framework for understanding the importance of mentoring is the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). According to SCCT, the factors of reaching achievement goals, interest development, and self-efficacy are important with regard to career choice. According to the SCCT model the background of the student and their experiences will lead to formation of certain self-perceptions and self-efficacy with regard to professional interests. These levels of self-efficacy and self-perceptions lead to certain goals in life. With regard to the SLP student becoming a professional, their developmental background and history interacts with the internship or practicum to help them become a more skilled professional.

Implications of Findings

It was noted in the introduction to this study that there is an increasing trend for universities and colleges to no longer count the clinical practicums and internships as part of the requirements for clinical hours in achieving certification by the ASHA. This results in a situation in which many SLP and CS&D students are discouraged from participating in these work-study situations. This is especially troubling since this study and the literature in general, point out the importance of internships and clinical practicums. In fact, there are some who believe the entire profession will suffer as graduating students will be unprepared to apply their knowledge. This could then lead to situations in which SLP professionals provide poor quality services and the reputation of the profession suffers.

The ASHA began accrediting graduate programs in speech-language pathology and audiology during 1965. These accreditations are now handled by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA). This type of accreditation is essential for graduate programs to attract skilled students. Unaccredited programs are generally not taken seriously, and students have difficulties practicing upon graduation. Therefore, the policies of the ASHA, which apply to the CAA, are crucial in determining the type of education the majority of SLP programs will provide. If no internship or clinical practicum is necessary for accreditation, many institutions will no longer provide this training. This is because the one-to-one mentoring relationship associated with this approach is more expensive than traditional classroom teaching.

Eliminating the internship or clinical practicum is likely to do considerable damage to the SLP and CS&D professions in the long run. Students would no longer be able to take advantage of work experience during school. This decreases the likelihood that these graduates will secure gainful employment once they have completed their degrees. Most employers are hesitant to hire individuals who do not have work experience. This means many of the graduates would be unable to find employment in the profession and never gain the work experience necessary to be hired. This would result in a high unemployment rate among graduates from SLP and CS&D programs. This is likely to reduce the number of individuals interested in the profession.

Limitations of the Study

This study used information gained from both questionnaires and interviews. Both approaches have specific strengths and limitations.

The interview is often limited by the skill level of the interviewer. In the case of this study, the interviews were done by the researcher. While every effort was made by the researcher not to give unconscious signals or cues to the respondent, there is no way to know with certainty that this did not occur and affect the responses to the interview.

Another limitation of the interview approach is that it is expensive and time-consuming. Considerable time and effort were devoted to interview a mere eight subjects. The same amount of time and effort spent on an online survey could have yielded thousands of respondents. While the information gained in the interviews was qualitative and does not suffer from statistical power problems, there are, nevertheless, limitations created by the small number of subjects. For example, it could be that the subjects interviewed are not representative of the general population of SLP professionals.

A significant drawback to the interview method for gathering information is that one can never be certain if the respondents are answering questions truthfully. There is a plethora of reasons those being interviewed may not answer any truthful manner. Some of these reasons are not conscious. For example, some people may not have accurate recall of the information being sought. This is especially problematic as this study involves questions regarding experiences when the respondents were in school, which may have been several years in the past.

Those responding to an interview can psychologically view the opportunity as a method of explaining their behavior. In other words, the interview allows the subject to reflect on previous behaviors and make sense of what was done. There is often a significant amount of rationalization involved with this type of response, which may lead to inaccurate data. This is not a conscious lie, as the person will believe that they are providing truthful information. However, the explanation given for the behavior may be significantly different than that which was experienced at the time by the respondent.

The questionnaire approach to gain information also has its disadvantages. The questionnaire is a format in which it can be difficult to gather information regarding complex opinions and issues. This is especially true when open-ended questions are not used. The respondents must answer in a limited fashion which may miss the richness and detail of the actual opinion.

Whether the questionnaire is delivered in the traditional postal fashion, or it is done online, the researcher can never be completely sure who has answered the questionnaire. The problems with this situation with regard to this study are obvious. If the questionnaire which was sent out by the ASHA was not completed by a SLP or CS&D professional, the information is likely to be wholly inaccurate.

Another problem with the questionnaire approach is that the researcher is not physically present when the respondent answers to questions. This can lead to situations in which the respondent does not fully understand the question. It can also lead to different respondents interpreting the question in distinctive ways.

A final problem of the questionnaire is that the sample of respondents may be self-selecting. In other words, since there were not 100% response rates to the questionnaire, there is no way to know for certain if this significantly affected the results. For example, the professionals who answered the questionnaire could be different in some way from the general population of professionals.

Recommendations for Future Research and Practice

It is recommended that institutions training students to become SLP or CS&D professionals have significant programs for internships or clinical practicums. This means there may need to be a push by interested parties such as groups of SLP or CS&D professionals to require educational institutions to offer these programs for accreditation.

A recommendation for further research is to investigate the precise amount of clinical practicum or internship training, which is optimal for learning. This study established that it is not advisable to eliminate the internship or practicum. Clearly, it is not likely to be desirable to do the opposite and have only an internship or practicum and no coursework. The best approach will most likely be something between these extremes. Research could be done to determine the optimum level of coursework versus practical experience.

References

ASHA (2012). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association | ASHA.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Biber, S. N. (2010). Mixed methods research: merging theory with practice. New York: Guilford Press.

Morse, J. M., & Niehaus, L. (2009). Mixed method design: principles and procedures. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Left Coast Press.