Student Learning of Perceptual Skills Related to Differentiating Motor Speech Disorders

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) graduate students’ perceptual skills improved after taking an MSD course by comparing pre- and posttest performance. The potential relationship between posttest perceptual-skills performance and academic performance was also investigated.Method: Before beginning instruction in MSD course content, students in a Master’s program in SLP were given a pretest (The Baseline & Post Learning Assessment of Listening & Diagnostics Skills (BPLALDS; Duffy, n.d.a)). Throughout the semester, students were exposed to didactic learning in the classroom supplemented by audio and video modules. At the end of the course, the BPLALDS was used as a posttest. Variation in perceptual skills development was described and compared to overall course performance. Results: Scores on posttests of perceptual ability were significantly higher than pretest scores. Post-hoc comparisons revealed that students who learned relatively more were those who generalized perceptual knowledge to novel stimuli. Academic grade assignment correlated strongly with but accounted for only some of the variation in perceptual ability. Conclusion: Although some variation in perceptual ability related to differentially diagnosing motor speech disorders can be accounted for by academic attainment, additional factors, such as students’ ability to generalize knowledge from novel to new cases, likely contribute. The authors reflect on the manner in which learning theory can inform these results.

The effect of verbal and illustrative representation on solving statistical problems by students in elementary school

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of verbal and illustrative representation of the same statistical problems experienced by 56 elementary school students. Students were evaluated on problem-solving skills through six statistical problems as presented in school textbooks. One week later, the students were re-evaluated on problem-solving skills using the same problems that had been illustratively and verbally represented by the researchers. At the same time, we examined the correlation of students' performance to the six given problems in relation to their reading comprehension, verbal and mathematical competence (based on teachers' grade assignment). From the results of the quantitative research method that was used, there was a statistically significant correlation between the verbal representations in a) two out of six problems related to the mean value calculation using α representational table format and b) a bar graph construction based on a representational table format. However, an important finding of the research was the high correlation between students' performance and their reading comprehension, verbal and mathematical competence. Keywords: Verbal representation of a problem, illustrative representation of a problem, statistics.

Reliability assessment of the Biffl Scale for blunt traumatic cerebrovascular injury as detected on computer tomography angiography

OBJECTIVEBlunt traumatic cerebrovascular injury (TCVI) represents structural injury to a vessel due to high-energy trauma. The Biffl Scale is a widely accepted grading scheme for these injuries that was developed using digital subtraction angiography. In recent years, screening CT angiography (CTA) has been used to identify patients with TCVI. The reliability of this scale, with injuries assessed using CTA, has not yet been determined.METHODSSeven independent raters, including 2 neurosurgeons, 2 neuroradiologists, 2 neurosurgical residents, and 1 neurosurgical vascular fellow, independently reviewed each presenting CTA of the neck performed in 40 patients with confirmed TCVI and assigned a Biffl grade. Ten images were repeated to assess intrarater reliability, for a total of 50 CTAs. Fleiss' multirater kappa (κ) and interclass correlation were calculated as a measure of interrater reliability. Weighted Cohen's κ was used to assess intrarater reliability.RESULTSFleiss' multirater κ was 0.65 (95% CI 0.61–0.69), indicating substantial agreement as to the Biffl grade assignment among the 7 raters. Interclass correlation was 0.82, demonstrating excellent agreement among the raters. Intrarater reliability was perfect (weighted Cohen's κ = 1) in 2 raters, and near perfect (weighted Cohen's κ > 0.8) in the remaining 5 raters.CONCLUSIONSGrading of TCVI with CTA using the Biffl Scale is reliable.