Simulated learning environments in speech-language pathology: An Australian response

Abstract

The rising demand for health professionals to service the Australian population is placing pressure on traditional approaches to clinical education in the allied health professions. Existing research suggests that simulated learning environments (SLEs) have the potential to increase student placement capacity while providing quality learning experiences with comparable or superior outcomes to traditional methods. This project investigated the current use of SLEs in Australian speech-language pathology curricula, and the potential future applications of SLEs to the clinical education curricula through an extensive consultative process with stakeholders (all 10 Australian universities offering speech-language pathology programs in 2010, Speech Pathology Australia, members of the speech-language pathology profession, and current student body). Current use of SLEs in speech-language pathology education was found to be limited, with additional resources required to further develop SLEs and maintain their use within the curriculum. Perceived benefits included: students’ increased clinical skills prior to workforce placement, additional exposure to specialized areas of speech-language pathology practice, inter-professional learning, and richer observational experiences for novice students. Stakeholders perceived SLEs to have considerable potential for clinical learning. A nationally endorsed recommendation for SLE development and curricula integration was prepared.

Keywords::

• Clinical education
• speech-language pathology
• practice
• learning
• simulation
• virtual patients
• Avatars

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the technical report developed for the HWA Simulated Learning Environments Curricular Project (Theodoros et al., 2010). Each of the 10 universities offering speech-language pathology programs in Australia in 2010 contributed to the development of the national approach to integrating SLEs into the clinical education curriculum through a consultative process. Universities represented were: Charles Sturt University, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Flinders University, James Cook University, La Trobe University, Macquarie University, University of Newcastle, The University of Queensland, and University of Sydney.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Financial support for this project was provided by Health Workforce Australia.