What Are Graduate Students Really Thinking?: A Metacognitive Example

The ability to integrate academic and clinical knowledge to achieve a metacognitive level of performance is paramount to being a strong clinician in the field of speech-language pathology. The support and encouragement provided by supervisors strengthens the students' abilities to develop and integrate their knowledge and strategy use in the clinical setting. This article examines the development of metacognitive thinking skills of two first-year graduate students enrolled in a graduate-level speech-language pathology program during their first semester of clinical practicum. A pilot study utilizing a qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews and video-taped therapy sessions was conducted to illustrate how differently graduate clinicians can mature in their clinical program.