SLPOtherPerspectives of the ASHA special interest groups2023

Using Active Learning Strategies to Strengthen Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Training in Communication Sciences and Disorders Programs.

Maura K O'Fallon, Felicidad Garcia

PMID 37193090

WHAT IT FOUND

Active learning strategies like problem-solving and reflective writing can replace lectures in diversity training.

This approach helps students examine their own biases and practice clinical decision-making, which is crucial when standard tests do not fit a client's background.

Key findings

01Active learning encourages students to examine their own positionality and biases, which is important because unexamined linguistic biases can affect diagnostic decisions.

02Emphasizing skills over content is useful when reliable norm-referenced tests do not exist for certain cultural and linguistic groups.

03Reflective writing and metacognition help students avoid mistaking linguistic difference for disorder by making them think critically about their clinical choices.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat it means for SLPs

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What it does not show

This is a theoretical paper with no empirical data or participant outcomes. The proposed strategies are not tested for effectiveness in this paper. The focus is exclusively on graduate education in CSD, not on practicing clinicians or other disciplines.

Declared interests

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume these strategies have been proven to improve clinical outcomes or student competence. This paper proposes a pedagogical framework based on existing educational theory, but it does not report any data showing that these methods actually work better than traditional lectures in CSD training.

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