Press Releases
Saint Xavier University Shares Major Grant to Create Nationwide Reforms to Speech-Language Pathology Curricula
CHICAGO (Oct. 27, 2003) – Saint Xavier University has received a three-year, $499,251 grant that will fund the university’s development of a DVD-based curriculum supplement targeted at enhancing instructional materials for the nation’s 245 graduate speech pathology programs.
Headed by Michael Flahive, Saint Xavier University professor of Communication Science and Disorders, and Michael Chial, professor of Communicative Disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the project will begin Nov. 1.
The grant, awarded by the Federal Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of the Postsecondary Education, will support the development of stand-alone instructional materials in the area of cognitive communication disorders.
These include communication problems found among persons who have had strokes, traumatic brain injuries and dementia.
“The FIPSE grant is one of the most competitive grants in higher education,” said Dr. Christopher Chalokwu, vice president for Academic Affairs. “Saint Xavier University’s leadership role in this multi-institutional project is a testament to the quality of our speech pathology program.”
Flahive said he and Chial sought a project that would enable universities to meet new standards for speech pathology programs.
“A driving force for the project are reforms in the certification process of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (the accrediting body for speech pathology programs),” Flahive said. “
As educators are reviewing and revising curricula, the materials we will be creating will present the core, fundamental principles of working with cognitive communication disorders in an appealing format with a focus on precision instruction. This will include comprehensive outcome measures.”
If implemented in syllabi across the country, the DVDs will free professors to discuss news and trends in the speech pathology field.
Among features of the resources materials will be interactive, engaging scenarios to challenge student development of critical thinking skills; tools to demonstrate clinical applications that address various communication problems; and study components to enhance development of fundamental knowledge within the disorders content.
The instructional materials will provide numerous assessment activities, to assure that basic knowledge and skill development are well-supported by the new technology.
“We plan to organize the materials well enough and attractively enough that they will encourage people to refer to them,” Flahive said. “The DVD medium is becoming less costly, which should allow for use by students in a variety of educational settings.”
In January, Flahive, Chial and a panel of six experts in the project area will meet to determine key plans for material development. Once development of the DVD is complete, 10 other speech pathology programs will serve as “beta sites,” at which graduate students will use the materials to determine their effectiveness.
The collaborating team includes university programs from throughout the country.
Acceptance of the materials could mean use of the DVDs by graduate speech pathology programs nationwide, Flahive said.
Not only would the homogenized materials keep students competitive with one another, but the materials will also have potential to be used by others in the helping disciplines, such as students in nursing, occupational therapy and other fields.
For more information on the program, please contact Iva-Marie Palmer at (773) 298-3325.