Masters of Speech Pathology Course Changes (Starting 2027)

Impetus for Course Changes and Background

• The course director for speech pathology, Associate Professor Suzanne Hoff, oversees the implementation of changes to the Masters of Speech Pathology starting in $2027$.

• Several factors served as the impetus for these structural revisions:

  • Student Feedback: Student representatives identified "pressure points" in the current curriculum, specifically during the second year of study and the final year involving external Work Integrated Learning (WIL) block placements.

  • University Policy Alignment: The university no longer supports $12\,\text{credit point}$ theoretical subjects, such as SPH $530$ and SPH $531$. These must be restructured to comply with standard unit values.

  • Indigenous Australian Curriculum Framework: The course required updated content to meet the Indigenous Australian curriculum framework. SPH $504$ is being developed to replace the former Indigenous content (SPH $534$).

  • Enrollment and Placement Misalignment: In the previous model, students could begin external placements in January but not be formally enrolled in a subject until March. This created issues regarding indemnity insurance and administrative oversight.

  • Professional Standards: Updates were necessary to align more closely with Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) standards, particularly by integrating hearing-related material in a more structured, manageable format.

Overview of Structural Curriculum Changes

• Research Subject Reduction: Based on accreditation feedback, the research load has been reduced from $2$ subjects (SPH $516$ and another) to $1$ subject. Comparative reviews of Australian speech pathology masters programs indicated that the current course had a heavier research focus than the industry standard for a masters by coursework. The remaining research subject is HLT $505$ (Research in Healthcare Practice), which is shared with other health disciplines.

• Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Expansion: While theoretical subjects cannot be $12\,\text{credit points}$, WIL subjects can. The external block placements, formerly SPH $515$ and SPH $525$, were identified as being overloaded regarding student workload relative to their credit value. These have been increased from $8\,\text{credit points}$ to $12\,\text{credit points}$ to reflect actual clinical demands.

• Credit Point Total: Despite the internal shuffling of subjects, the total credit point value for the degree remains at $144\,\text{credit points}$.

• Graduation Timeline: The previous two-tiered graduation process—where some students finished in December and others in the following months—is being unified. From the new implementation onward, all students will finish their studies in March and graduate during the April conferral period.

Specific Changes to First-Year Curriculum

• Subject Retirement: SPH $511$, which combined heavy theoretical content with $4\,\text{days}$ of WIL and a $4$ or $5\,\text{day}$ intensive school, has been removed.

• Subject Replacement: The content from SPH $511$ is split into a theoretical core subject and a new $4\,\text{credit point}$ WIL subject named SPH $551$.

• Intensive School Timing: The intensive school for first-year students will move from August to November each year to better accommodate learning schedules.

• Indigenous Studies: SPH $504$ (Indigenous Australian Peoples Community) will be the new first-year subject within the Indigenous Australian curriculum framework, replacing SPH $534$. It is currently in development with the School of Indigenous Australian Studies.

Restructuring of Second-Year Curriculum

• Session 1 (Assessment Focus): The split between sensory-motor skills (SPH $512$) and language/cognition (SPH $513$) remains. A June intensive school is still required for these units.

• Session 2 (Intervention Focus): The former $12\,\text{credit point}$ intervention subjects have been broken down into specific PRACTICE areas:

  • Pediatric Intervention: Speech, language, hearing, and cognition.

  • Adult Intervention: Speech, language, hearing, and cognition.

  • Fluency: A discrete intervention subject.

  • Swallowing: A discrete swallowing subject.

• Intensive Schools and WIL: SPH $552$ replaces SPH $505$. Clinical skills formerly taught in intensive schools are now integrated into WIL subjects. Depending on full-time or part-time status, these intensive components will occur in either November or February.

Final Year Modifications and Professional Practice

• Research Subject: HLT $505$ (Research in Healthcare Practice) is the designated research subject. It has no prerequisites, allowing students with capacity earlier in their degree to potentially bring it forward.

• Clinical Reasoning: SPH $532$ and SPH $533$ remain unchanged as core clinical reasoning subjects.

• Revised WIL Subjects:

  • SPH $553$ replaces SPH $515$.

  • SPH $554$ replaces SPH $525$.

  • These units are offered in varied session codes (e.g., Session $91$, $63$, or $32$) to ensure enrollment aligns with the actual dates of clinical placements.

• Professional Practice Subject: SPH $544$ now runs over two sessions (Session $2$ and Session $3$) instead of one, helping to spread out group tasks that previously overlapped heavily with placements.

Impact on Current Students and Transition Arrangements

• Roll-out Strategy: The changes are being phased in to ensure minimal disruption for existing students. Subjects like SPH $511$, SPH $516$, and SPH $534$ are being retired.

• Curriculum Variations:

  • Students who have completed SPH $534$ ($8\,\text{credit points}$) are not required to do SPH $504$ ($4\,\text{credit points}$). To maintain the $144\,\text{credit point}$ total, these students will take the $8\,\text{credit point}$ version of the final placement (SPH $525$) instead of the new $12\,\text{credit point}$ version (SPH $554$).

  • Students who have not completed SPH $516$ (Research) will instead enroll in HLT $505$.

  • If a student has already applied for forward credit for the Griffith research subject against SPH $516$, that credit will still be honored.

• Maximum Timeframe: Students have a maximum of $7\,\text{years}$ to complete the degree.

Specific Enrollment Patterns by Commencement Year

• 2024 Commencement (Three-Year Program): These students are unaffected as they finish at the end of the current year.

• 2024 Commencement (Four-Year Program): Significant changes apply to their final year ($2027$). They will swap SPH $534$ for SPH $504$ in session $90$ and take the $12\,\text{credit point}$ SPH $554$ to balance the total points to $144$.

• 2025 Commencement (Full-Time): SPH $516$ will be replaced by HLT $505$. Because they will likely have done SPH $534$, they will remain in the $8\,\text{credit point}$ SPH $525$, graduating in April $2028$.

• 2026 Commencement: These students will follow their original handbook for years $1$ and $2$ (completing SPH $530/531$ in $2027$). Transition to the new research and indigenous subjects will occur in $2028$.

Questions & Discussion

• Subject Availability: SPH $504$ will not be available until the end of $2027$ (Session $90$) as it is still under development and pending university approval. It cannot be taken early in session $90$ of $2024$ or $2025$.

• Conferral and Work: Students expressed concerns about graduation dates for employment. While the study might finish in February, formal conferral occurs in April. This aligns the subject enrollment with clinical placement timing to prevent indemnity issues.

• Placement Locations: The timing of external placements like SPH $515$ remains dependent on the Work Integrated Learning team's ability to secure host sites, but the subject enrollment will now follow the placement rather than being fixed to a specific session.

• Individualized Patterns: Students who commenced in $2022$ or $2023$ or those with complex part-time needs are encouraged to email their student number and desired completion timeframe (e.g., $3$, $4$, $5$, $6$, or $7\,\text{years}$) to the Course Director for a personalized enrollment plan.