RALF SCHLOSSER

Ralf Schlosser
Associate Professor
Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Bouve College of Health Sciences
106A Forsyth Building
617-373-3785

PRACTICE-ORIENTED EDUCATION AND EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

The field of speech-language pathology requires a master’s degree in order to become licensed to practice. Once the students graduate, they engage in a Clinical Fellowship Year under the supervision of a licensed practitioner, after which they become licensed by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Therefore, this proposal is aimed at POE and graduate education. Graduate students in the SLPA Department gain work experiences through in-house clinic experiences as well as off-campus clinical placements in schools, hospitals, early intervention sites, geriatric facilities and so forth.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) can be defined as using current research and the best available evidence in order to make decisions about client assessment and intervention (Schlosser, 2003; Schlosser & Raghavendra, in press). Originating in the field of medicine (Sackett, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 1997), EBP has taken various health care fields by storm and is gradually taking hold in speech-language pathology as well. At Northeastern, EBP knowledge and skills are currently taught in SLA G211 Research and Evidence, and plans are under way to infuse it throughout content courses. During this class, students are taught the steps involved in the EBP process, including the asking of well-built questions, the searching for evidence, the appraisal of that evidence, the application of the evidence, and the dissemination of the findings.

This project will explore the impact of EBP instruction within the context of POE by:

1. Developing a concept paper on the overlap and differences of POE and EBP in order to identify mutually rewarding synergies.


2. Studying the barriers, as perceived by the students, to applying taught EBP knowledge and skills during clinic placements, case conferences, and clinical fellowship year.


3. Studying the effects of EBP knowledge and skill instruction on students’ perceived self-efficacy in implementing EBP in clinic placements, case conferences, and the clinical fellowship year.


4. Examining the effects of general case instruction on the acquisition and generalization of skills pertaining to the acquisition and generalization of appraising research evidence.

References

Sackett, D. L., Richardson, W. S., Rosenberg, W., & Haynes, R. B. (1997). Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM. New York: Churchill Livingstone.

Schlosser, R. W. (2003a). The efficacy of augmentative and alternative communication: Towards evidence-based practice. New York: Academic Press.

Schlosser, R. W. & Raghavendra, P. (in press). Evidence-based practice in augmentative and alternative
communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication.