Panelists
Jennifer Friberg, EdD, CCC-SLP, Illinois State University
Sarah Ginsberg, EdD, CCC-SLP, Eastern Michigan University
Facilitators
Julie Honaker, PhD, CCC-A, Cleveland Clinic and The University of Akron
Description
As part of the year-long teaching symposium, seven synchronous online peer discussions were
held. In the seventh session, the panelists were asked to address SoTL and clinical teaching, and
attendees were encouraged to engage with the panelists. Below is summary of the discussion.
QUESTIONS/TOPICS DISCUSSED
- Can you discuss the application of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in clinical
education? - What might clinical education in scholarship of clinical education and learning look like,
and where do we get started? - What are other data collection approaches used in the clinical setting, and how do these
compare to approaches in the classroom setting? - What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process for these types of studies?
- How do we get clinical educators on board and properly trained to be guiding their
clinical education with SoTL in mind? - What journals publish SoTL in clinical education work?
- Are there mentoring opportunities for someone wanting to get started in this research?
Can you discuss the application of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in clinical education?
- Clinical education acknowledges the amount of educational effort
in developing professional skills. The term supervision does not quite
acknowledge the same level of contribution to students’ education. - Evidence-based education is related to evidence-based practice, which
is the foundation of clinical practice in our field. - “Evidence-based” should ground all of the work that we do as teachers
and supervisors/preceptors in supporting our learners. The evidence
base that we refer to in our classroom teaching is very different from
[that in] our clinical teaching. Thus, it is important to have a different
designation of “evidence-based clinical education.” - Clinical educators may not be as well-versed in evidence-based
education. Good news: You do not need to be an educator/researcher
or have a research doctorate to do this work. - From the clinical educators’ perspective, we need to balance both
evidence-based practice and evidence-based education. With this
in mind, we can include our clinical educators in the scholarship of
teaching and learning and scholarship of teaching in general. This is
an area of great need that has been under-attended to.
What might clinical education in scholarship of clinical education and learning look like, and where do we get started?
- There are a lot of great intersections between evidence-based
practice and evidence-based education and the clinical educators’
role provides a great opportunity for collection of that evidence,
augmenting of our understanding of that perspective. - An example of SoTL in the clinical setting: We provide clear guidelines
to our students, yet it does not go the way we expect it to. We can go
through a process with the students called think aloud. Specifically,
we can ask them to plan a case and really verbalize how they would
plan the evaluation for the client. Through audio and transcript, you
can capture the students’ perspectives/themes and then compare
that exact same data with [that of] experienced clinicians. Through
this process, you can see what was happening in the students’ heads—
literally—in order to understand why sometimes the evaluation planning
was falling short, why it was sometimes successful, and how that
compared to [planning by] experienced clinicians. Dr. Ginsberg noted
that, as an instructor, that SoTL process really helped her to understand
what was needed to be more explicit to the students and helped her, in
turn, become a better clinical educator in that context. - With SoTL, you are not usually doing full-on experimental design—
instead [you are] doing quasi-experimental design. The research can
be performed without the use of a control group. - Going back to the example above, the research is just understanding
what the students are thinking and experiencing—and that contributes
a significant perspective and understanding of the clinical education
process without necessarily having a control group or experimental
design.
What are other data collection approaches used in the clinical setting, and how do these compare to approaches in the classroom setting?
- Reflective journals, focus groups, interviews, surveys, observation—
anything that you have in front of you could be a data source. - You can get really creative in the type of data you can collect and how
you collect the data. You can and should look to other disciplines. - SoTL is different from traditional disciplinary research in terms of the
number of participants; it is possible to conduct SoTL research with a
very small (n) that can have the same rigorous methods as large (n)
studies. - Dr. Friberg suggested these resources: styluspub.presswarehouse.com/
browse/book/9781620366936/SoTL-in-Action
What is the IRB process for these types of studies?
- First step is to navigate your institute’s IRB and find out what the policies
are when it comes to students. - There is always the concern of informed consent, and threats of
coercion, and managing confidentiality and anonymity. It’s best to find
resources and ask [them] to connect you with people at your institution
to help answer questions related to these concerns.
How do we get clinical educators on board and properly trained to be guiding their clinical education with SoTL in mind?
- Develop communities of practice. Find like-minded colleagues within
your institution and across institutions to help one another. - Find workshops, mentors to help these clinical educators find the value
in evidence-based education.
What journals publish SoTL in clinical education work?
- Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences and Disorders,
The Clinical Teacher - ASHA Perspectives of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs 10 and 11)
- Cross-disciplinary journals (e.g., Teaching and Learning in Medicine,
Teaching and Learning in Nursing). When going this route, it is
important to situate your writing in a way that lots of clinical disciplines
could benefit from the work that you’ve done.
Are there mentoring opportunities for someone wanting to get started in this research?
- Start with your campus teaching and learning center—there is probably
someone who is SoTL involved or SoTL curious on your campus to help
figure out what resources and potential institutional mentors exist. - Talk with your faculty colleagues to see if they have interest or potential
resources on campus or at other universities to help you get started in
this work. - Ask about workshops or grants to support this kind of work.
- Join a community that has already been established—such as SIG 10 or
11—and use the discussion board to see who is doing this kind of work. - Review SoTL that has been published in your field, and consider
contacting the authors. Same for conference/convention presenters.
