Name
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)About
Location
MarylandOrganization/Facility
Health CareWebsite
ASHAStudents Preparing for Academic-Research Careers (SPARC) Award
Initiative Category
Focus Areas
- Cultural Responsiveness
- Deaf/Hard of Hearing
- Dialect
- Disability
- Gender
- Health Equity
- Language access/inclusion
- LGBTQIA+
- Mentoring
- Multilingualism
- Neurodiversity
- Race/ethnicity
- Social Determinants of Health
- Socioeconomic status
- Trauma Informed Care
Summary
The Students Preparing for Academic-Research Careers (SPARC) Award aims to cultivate student interest in pursuing
- a research doctorate (PhD) in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) and
- a career as a faculty-researcher in CSD.
Twelve awards of $1,000 each are granted annually, including up to two awards dedicated to students attending master's and baccalaureate universities.
Preference will be given to those applications that focus the mentored teaching and/or research (including the scholarship of teaching and learning) component on the following:
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Clinical Practice Research. Clinical practice research in CSD is distinct from research aimed primarily at understanding the mechanisms underlying normal or disordered processing. Rather, it refers to research that focuses on the prevention, diagnostics, treatment, implementation, and outcomes measurement of communication, swallowing, and balance disorders. Clinical practice research, due to its applied nature, has the potential to impact clinical practice in the near term.
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Culture, Language, and Identity. Individuals’ lived experiences, communication profiles, and cultural backgrounds shape how they learn and participate in educational and clinical settings. This area focuses on how differences in language, worldview, and identity interact with systems not originally designed for all communities. Work includes examining how these systems create barriers to care and education, understanding the impact of those barriers on opportunities and outcomes, and developing practices that more effectively support all learners and clients.
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Implementation Science. "Implementation science is the scientific study of variables and conditions that impact changes at practice, organization, and systems levels; changes that are required to promote the systematic uptake, sustainability and effective use of evidence-based programs and practices in typical service and social settings," (Blasé & Fixsen, 2010, National Implementation Research Network).
- Interprofessional Education and Interprofessional Practice (IPE/IPP). ASHA has adapted the World Health Organization's (WHO) definitions of IPE/IPP as follows:
- IPE occurs when two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve outcomes for individuals and families whom we serve.
- IPP occurs when multiple service providers from different professional backgrounds provide comprehensive healthcare or educational services by working with individuals and their families, caregivers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care across settings.
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is defined as the combination of three components: rigorous study of teaching and/or learning, peer review of these studies, and public dissemination of findings to advance pedagogical practice (Shulman, 2004). To this end, SoTL places the focus of education on the learner, investigating the effectiveness of pedagogical approaches to support the transfer of discipline-specific knowledge and subsequent learner success. (Source: CAPCSD SOTL Position Paper, June 2024 [PDF])
For More Information
See the SPARC Award website or contact Judy Blackburn at jblackburn@asha.org.
This initiative was submitted on May 21, 2024.