Teaching CSD Graduate Students to Think Critically, Apply Evidence, and Write Professionally

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching modules designed to enhance the use of critical thinking (CT), evidence-based practice (EBP), and professional writing (PW) skills by graduate students in communication sciences and disorders. Three single-session teaching modules were developed to highlight key features of CT, EBP, and PW. Participants were presented with one module per week during the first month of their 2-year graduate program. Each participant’s performance was assessed four times by analyzing his or her written responses to clinical scenarios during the first fall semester and the last spring semester of the program. Results demonstrated that the EBP teaching module was effective in improving the participants’ application of EBP principles. The CT and PW teaching modules were not as effective, suggesting that instruction in these areas requires more than a single-session teaching module.

Assessing and Teaching Critical Thinking in Communication Science and Disorders

“…This finding is in agreement with previous reports that explicit methods of critical thinking instruction resulted in greater improvements in critical thinking ability (Beyer,1987;Burke, et al, 2013). These findings also concur with those of Grillo, Koenig, Gunter, and Kim (2015), who found no change in critical thinking ability among speech-language pathology graduate students after a year of an immersion program. Another interesting quality of the mixed method is the use of both discipline based content with and separate teaching of critical thinking dispositions and skills.…”

Intervention Descriptions in Medical Education: What Can Be Improved? A Systematic Review and Checklist

“…We could not find the additional material for 5 articles (mean score: 13.8 [SD 3.1]). 18,19,44,48,83 For the remaining 19 articles, 22,23,25,35,39,41,50,51,74,78,81,91–93,98,104,110,116,119 scoring included the supplementary material. The mean score of these 19 articles was 18.3 (SD 3.7; range 13–25), significantly higher than the mean score of 15.5 (SD 4.0) for the 81 articles without additional information ( P = .007; 95% CI on the observed difference = 0.8–4.8).…”

Evidence-Based Practice Patterns Among Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists in Saudi Arabia

“…Thus, it is clear that EBP exposure was insufficient and needs to be enhanced in undergraduate training programs. The importance of teaching EBP was emphasized by the ASHA's Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (2017) and by many researchers (Cobus-Kuo & Waller, 2016;Grillo, Koenig, Gunter, & Kim, 2015;Klee, Stringer, & Howard, 2009;Schlosser & Sigafoos, 2009;Spek, Wieringa-de Waard, Lucas, & van Dijk, 2013;Togher et al, 2011). With respect to the barriers to implementing EBP, it appeared that the participants held a positive attitude toward EBP.…”