Speak Out Dec 2016

Branch News

Creating Future Speechies

Research in speech pathology: a student perspective

Victoria

attuned us to the intricacies of child language, which is directly applicable to clinical practice. Tips for student researchers: • Organisation is key! Establish effective systems (e.g. reference management software, summary notes) from the beginning to facilitate finding information. • Keep a research journal handy to jot down ideas; "eureka moments" often happen away from the computer. • Before you begin, develop a timeline with mini-deadlines for each project component and review it regularly. This allows you to break down large tasks into smaller goals, and see your progress. • Create agendas and minutes for meetings with your supervisor. This strengthens communication. • To maximise the clarity of your writing, accept offers of feedback from readers who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the topic. Linda Leem bruggen and Stephanie Mills

Starting our second year of the University of Melbourne's Master of Speech Pathology, we were excited at the prospect of completing a research project. Having learned about the importance of evidence-based practice, the opportunity to contribute to the literature was compelling. We would be investigating communication development in children under the supervision of Katherine Sanchez and Angela Morgan at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. As our project concludes, we can reflect on our experience of being novice researchers. We valued being able to direct our project and problem solve its mechanics. It was satisfying to delve deeply into a topic, apply our knowledge of statistics, hone our skills in scientific writing and author an original piece of research. Understanding the process better, we now feel more confident asking questions of researchers. We noted the relationship between research and clinical practice. As students, it was sometimes difficult to interpret results and consider clinical implications without much clinical experience ourselves. We feel that research is something we may return to after gaining clinical experience. At the same time, the months spent analysing data

VIC 1911 members as at October 2016

Linda Leem bruggen and Stephanie Mills

38

December 2016 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out