Implications of the New Standards for Curriculum and Evaluation

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Implications of the New Standards for Curriculum
and Evaluation

• in the
• Doctor of Audiology Program
• Department of Communication Sciences Disorders
• University of South Florida
• www.usf.edu

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USF Au.D. Program Developed by

• Theresa Hnath Chisolm (Director-Audiology)
• Patricia Blake-Rahter, Ph.D.
• Patricia Carr, M.S./Au.D. candidate
• Sandra Graham, Ph.D. (Clinic Director)
• Arthur Guilford, Ph.D. (Dept. Chair)
• Raymond Hurley, Ph.D.
• Jennifer Lister, Ph.D.
• Nancy Patterson, M.S./Au.D. candidate
• Karen Richardson, M.S./Au.D candidate
• Robert Zelski, Au.D.

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USF Au.D. program

• Admitted 4 Student Cohort Groups
• Fall 1999
• Masters level Clinical Faculty
• Current Practitioners in the Community
• Individualized Programs
• Students in MS program who transferred to Au.D.
  program
• First Year Au.D. students

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Reviewed Curriculum

• Whether or not the objectives and content of our
  current didactic and clinical courses were
  sufficient to prepare the students to meet the
  competencies specified by the New Standards?

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Mostly, but we could do better

• Example
• No specific mechanism to meet -
• D4. Demonstrate the knowledge and skills of
  determining the need for cerumen removal.
• Assumption students learn through clinical
  experiences
• Needed skill to do well in clinical courses

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Mostly, but we could do better

• Some students participated in Cerumen
  Management certification program at Bay Pines
  VAMC
• These students would meet D4
• Assure Competency D4 was met by all students
• Participation in the certification program
• A formal component of Clinical Practicum in Year
  2 of Au.D. program

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Other Curricula Changes resulted from our
realization that ..

• Depth of Course Content Limited
• Primarily due to need to cover so much within 2
  years of MS program
• As a faculty we identified courses whose content
  was in need for more in-depth coverage

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Courses Changed

• Example
• MS Advanced Hearing Science
• Auditory Anatomy Physiology
• Psychoacoustics

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Courses Added

• Developed Several New Courses
• Mathematical Foundations
• Semester I, First Year
• Linked to several competencies
• B13. Demonstrates the knowledge of physical
  characteristics and measurement of acoustic
  stimuli
• Courseware developed by
• Kewley-Port Eddins

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Courses Added

• Another example relates to Competency.
• B20. Demonstrates the knowledge of laws,
  regulations, policies, and management practices
  relevant to the profession of Audiology
• MS Topics were primarily addressed in Practicum
  Meetings
• Added
• History Scope of Audiology, Year 1, Semester I
• Business - Year 3, Semester II

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Changes to Clinical Course Sequence

• In the MS Program.
• 3 Semesters of Clinic at USF
• 2 Semesters of Externship

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Clinical Course Sequence AuD

• Year 1
• 3 Semesters of Clinical Laboratory
• Bridge gap between didactic courses and
  Clinical Practice

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Clinical Course Sequence AuD

• Semester 1
• Academic Course Psychoacoustics -
• Clinical Lab Conduct Pure Tone testing
• Related to topics such as Psychoacoustic Methods,
  MAP, MAF
• Academic Course Anatomy Physiology -
• Clinical Lab Conduct immittance testing
• Related to topics such as middle ear anatomy and
  physiology

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Clinical Course Sequence AuD

• Year 2 In-house practica - 2 days/week (MS-4-6
  hrs/week)
• Year 3 Clerkships Externships - 3 days/week
  (MS-2 days/week)
• Year 4 Full time experience over two contiguous
  semesters

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Clinical Course Meetings

• MS program
• Practicum meetings associated with Clinic I,
  Clinic II, etc.
• AuD program
• Grand Rounds - Introduced
• All students/faculty meet on Biweekly basis
• Case presentations or Journal Club
• Opportunities for Learning
• Opportunities for Formative Assessment

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In evaluating and developing the Au.D.
curriculum..

• re Jay Lubinskys earlier talk
• Use of a Cyclical approach by introducing and
  re-introducing knowledge and skills
• Use of Contextualization, wherein knowledge and
  skills are presented and gained within a set of
  cirucumstances
• Opportunities for Synthesis or the process of
  putting knowledge and skills together

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Exemplified by Course Sequencing

• Hearing Aids Sequence
• In year 1, prior to courses/clinical practica
• Didactic course Mathematics
• (e.g., foundation for understanding digital
  processing)
• Didactic course Audiological Intervention
• Overview and Introduction to Hearing Aids

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Hearing Aids Sequence

• Summer Year 1 Didactic course Hearing Aids I
  Technical Aspects
• Fall Year II Didactic course Hearing Aids II
  Evaluation and Fitting
• Fall , Spring, Summer of Year 2 In-house clinic
  in which students evaluate and fit patients with
  hearing aids

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Hearing Aids Sequence

• Fall, Spring, Summer Year 3 Off-site clinic
  clerkships provide more experience with hearing
  aids
• Year 3 Didactic course Advanced Hearing Aid
  Seminar

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..and Hearing Aids are also discussed in.

• Grand Rounds
• Opportunity for integration of knowledge and
  demonstration of critical thinking skills,
  problem solving, decision making skills related
  to hearing aids
• Grand Rounds is part of

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Developing our Formative Assessment

• Good teaching is inseparable from good
  assessing (Wiggins, 1992)
• Research on Human Learning
• Optimize learning, ASSESSMENT approaches should
  promote reflection, construction of meaning, and
  self-monitoring of learning
• (e.g., Moscovici et al., 1996)

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Formative Assessment

• Formative Assessment is ongoing and periodic
• Involves monitoring students acquisition of
  knowledge and skills specific to goals and
  objectives defined within
• Academic Courses
• Laboratory Courses
• Clinical Practicum Assignments

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Formative Assessment

• STUDENT PORTFOLIO
• Student Managed
• Faculty Monitored and Assessed
• Begin the Portfolio as a part of course History
  Scope of Audiology
• Completed at end of Year 4
• Portfolio Evaluation becomes part of ..

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Summative Assessment

• Measuring the end result of the educational
  training process
• Allows student to demonstrate mastery of
• Knowledge
• Clinical Concepts
• Clinical Skill

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Student Portfolio

• Initial Components
• Biographical Sketch
• Self-rating of Development of Proficiency in the
  Competencies
• Section for Representative Sample of Work
• Section for Feedback on Clinical Experiences
• Section for Faculty Feedback
• Section for REFLECTIONS

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Student Portfolio

• Biographical Sketch Section
• Student expresses his/her personal commitment to
  graduate education
• Discusses why he/she chose the profession of
  Audiology
• Requires Reflection and introspection

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Student Portfolio

• Self-rating of Competency Proficiency
• Rate perceived level of competence on a 5-point
  scale
• Beginning and End of Semester I and then at end
  of each academic year
• Faculty member/student review
• Opportunity for Self-Monitoring

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Student Portfolio

• Section Representative Samples of Student Work
• Students select examples of tests, papers, other
  assignments throughout the semester/year to
  provide support for the demonstration of progress
  in acquisition of the various competencies
• Opportunity for self-monitoring

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Student Portfolio

• Clinical Feedback Section
• Contains Several Components
• Semester I
• Reports on Clinical Shadowing Experiences
• Activity designed to provide students with early
  real-world knowledge and experience about
  practice of Audiology in variety of settings
• Reports on what was learned in each Grand
  Rounds meeting

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Student Portfolio

• Clinical Feedback Section also includes s copies
  of each semesters
• Clinical Competency Checklist
• Always used but needed to update
• Task coordinated by Karen Richardson
• Professional Research Project (Au.D. requirement)

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• Given our curriculum and the need to assess
  progress towards meeting the competencies...
• What level of Clinical Proficiency should be
  expected at the End of 2nd and 3rd Years of
  Program?
• Conducted Focus Groups of Faculty and Practicing
  Audiologist from community

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Student Portfolio

• Faculty Feedback
• Faculty meet to discuss students progress
• Write a short report, relating evaluation to
  progress student is making in meeting the
  competencies
• Mid-term Semester I
• Annually
• Student meets with Faculty Advisors (One Academic
  and One Clinical) to discuss report

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Student Portfolio

• REFLECTIONS
• End of Semester I and annually thereafter
• Student writes an essay in conjunction with
• Up-dating Competency Self-Rating
• Student describes educational experiences that
  support the changes made in the self-rating
• We believe this allows the student to demonstrate
  the construction of meaning across a variety of
  experiences

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Student Portfolio

• Additional Sections
• Scholarly Information
• Presentations at Professional Meetings
• Publications
• Professional Research Project
• Professional Data
• Workshops/conferences
• Resume

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Student Portfolio

• Serves two purposes
• Mechanism for Formative Assessment of progress
  towards meeting competencies
• As one component of Summative Assessment in
  which the student provides evidence of achieving
  the new competencies

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In summary.

• Implementation of New Standards
• Focus on when and where students gain knowledge
  and experience to meet the new competencies
• Continuous student evaluation by the Faculty as a
  whole
• Awareness of the need to document progress as
  the student becomes a
• Doctor of Audiology