Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours)

Students who achieve a grade point average of 5.5 or better in the first two years of the Bachelor of Speech Pathology may enrol in the Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) program in Year 3.

Other students may be admitted at the discretion of the Faculty Board, subject to specific conditions.

• Admission requirements
• Course aims
• Learning outcomes
• Program of study
  

Admission requirements

To progress to Year 4 of the Honours program, a student must have attained at least a credit average across all third year topics including a credit grade in SPTH3902 Professional Studies & Communication Sciences 4A and SPTH3908 Professional Studies & Communication Sciences 4B, which have specified honours assessment requirements.

Course aims

The BSpPath (Hons) program is open to students enrolled in the BSpPath degree and runs concurrently with years 3 and 4 of the ordinary degree. It has the following additional aims.

• The primary educational aim of the honours program is research training. 

The key educational goals are to:

• Provide knowledge and skills relevant to conducting research, especially for entry to higher degree courses
• Develop an advanced level of knowledge in the area of specialisation
• Further develop verbal and written skills relevant to advanced studies.

Learning outcomes

At the completion of the honours program, students should be able to:

• Understand the major research paradigms
• Define and delimit a research problem
• Formulate a research question
• Structure and undertake an extensive literature review
• Critique research and scholarly literature for the strengths and weaknesses in their conception, design, analysis, and presentation
• Apply knowledge of the research process, from development of a research question through design, data collection, and analysis, to write-up and publication
• Design and conduct a research project within at least one research paradigm
• Discuss the ethical requirements and constraints of human research
• Prepare an ethics approval application
• Analyse data using the methods of at least one research paradigm
• Describe the different genres of presentation and publication of research
• Write for presentation and publication
• Prepare a dissertation
• Present their research project to an audience of peers, and manage questions from the audience
• Use information technology to support research
• Participate as a colleague in a research endeavour
• Pursue higher degree studies by research.

Program of study

To qualify for the Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) a student must complete 153 units with a grade of P or NGP or better in each topic, according to the program of study below.

Normally at least 31.5 units must be completed at a given level before proceeding to any higher level topics.

Core - Year 1 topics

36 units comprising:

 SPTH1102  Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1103  Anatomy and Physiology of Speech  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1104  Clinical Skills and Practice 1  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1105  Child Development and Learning  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1201  Psychosocial Aspects of Speech Pathology  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1202  Research Methods in Speech Pathology  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1506  Linguistics and Phonetics 1  (4.5 units)
 SPTH1509  Linguistics and Phonetics 2  (4.5 units)

Core - Year 2 topics

36 units comprising:

 SPTH2901  Professional Studies & Communication Sciences 1A (Communication Development & Disorders: Birth to Pre-School)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2902  Professional Studies & Communication Sciences 2A (Communication Development & Disorders: School Age to Adolescence)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2903  Clinical Skills and Practice 1A (Communication Development and Disorders)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2904  Clinical Skills and Practice 2A (Communication Development and Disorders: School Age to Adolescence)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2905  Professional Studies & Communication Sciences 1B (Motor Speech Disorders)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2906  Professional Studies & Communication Sciences 2B (Voice and Swallowing Disorders)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2907  Clinical Skills and Practice 1B (Motor Speech Disorders)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH2908  Clinical Skills and Practice 2B (Voice and Swallowing Disorders)  (4.5 units)

Core - Year 3 topics

36 units comprising:

 SPTH3901  Professional Studies and Communication Sciences 3A (Acquired Language Disorders 1)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3902  Professional Studies and Communication Sciences 4A (Acquired Language Disorders 2)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3903  Speech Pathology Practicum 1  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3904  Speech Pathology Practicum 2  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3905  Clinical Skills and Practice 3 (Complex Disorders - Paediatrics)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3906  Clinical Skills and Practice 4 (Complex Disorders - Adults)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3907  Professional Studies and Communication Sciences 3B (Complex Disorders - Paediatrics)  (4.5 units)
 SPTH3908  Professional Studies and Communication Sciences 4B (Complex Disorders - Adults)  (4.5 units)

Core - Year 4 Honours topics

45 units comprising:

 SPTH4901  Speech Pathology Practicum 3  (13.5 units)
 SPTH7000A  Honours Thesis A  (9 units)
 SPTH7000B  Honours Thesis B  (9 units)
 SPTH7003  Speech Pathology Honours Practicum  (13.5 units)

Except with the permission of the Faculty Board:

• the course must be completed within seven consecutive years or, where credit has been granted for previous work, a period determined by the Board;
• a student may not undertake more than 40.5 units in any year, unless enrolled in the fourth year honours program;
• no topic may be attempted more than twice.

The award of a grade of Fail (F) in the same topic on more than one occasion or failure to complete the course within seven consecutive years may constitute prima facie evidence of unsatisfactory progress for the purposes of the University&##39;s Policy on Student Progress.