Comprehensive

Please review the comprehensive exam document and provide feedback on what the committee has done to date. We would like feedback by March 7, 2008. Thank you for your input.

click here for comprehensive exam material

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Just a comment: before we proceed with setting up this capstone option, we might want to survey our students. We have 250+ students doing inquiry seminars at this center, and it's doubtful very many would want to do a comprehensive exam.

Mary, Good point! Before we do any additional work, is this what our students want? --Deanna Romano 13:51, 5 March 2008 (EST) (When adding your comments, you can add your signature by selecting the second button from the end)

Schar COE

Comprehensive Exam

In the Master of Education Program there are some departments (we are making the assumption that not every department will opt for a comprehensive exam) that provide students with opportunity to take a comprehensive exam to fulfill the capstone requirement. The comprehensive exam must cover the basic Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions, as defined in the capstone guidelines, for a given content area. A question covering some aspect of the Foundational areas should be incorporated into the exam.

The comprehensive exam procedures could be the following:


 * The student must be eligible for graduation.
 * Permission to take the exam must be granted by the department advisor and chair.
 * The comprehensive exam must be given in the semester in which the candidate completes the work for the degree, and no later in the semester than 20 working days before graduation.
 * Students who fail the first exam may be given a second examination to be taken no earlier than the next semester or summer session. No third attempt is permitted.
 * A comprehensive examination committee is to be formed which consists of at least two faculty members from the student’s major department.
 * A series of topics will be developed by the comprehensive examination committee that will cover the content and foundational areas. The committee will meet with the candidate and discuss the topics and advise as to the type of resources that are needed to prepare for the comprehensive exam. The formatting of the questions should include questions that will focus on the relationship between theory and practice. The exam will have at least one question that pertains to a Foundational area.
 * The comprehensive examination will have a written and an oral component. The written portion of the exam will be up to four hours which is to be supplemented with a one hour oral exam.
 * The comprehensive exam will be read and graded by the committee members and the department chair.

Discussion Topics


 * How do we grant permission for the student to take the exam?
 * Faculty load. Major issue, especially if we have oral and written parts to the exam. Load issues for preparing in content and core areas, plus administering and grading the exam. Possibly create a cohort like we do with inquiry seminars. Also, load issue for the second reader.
 * What kinds of courses would the student take in place of the capstone hours? Do we say that the student must have enough hours to graduate and then allow the exam? Should we provide the student the opportunity to take the link building servicesexam the next term after the course work is completed? (could be a summer term)
 * Oral exams – Require a presentation time where several candidates provide a summary of their exam responses. What about the oral exam being waived if the written exam is superior? We would need to define superior gsce coursework.
 * Is a C- a passing grade? If a C- is a passing grade, do we allow the student to retake the exam to get a better grade?
 * Investigation portion of the exam: Students would identify questions relevant to their work or field of study and then be prepared to answer the questions as a part of the exam.

I am posting to show you how easy it is. --Deanna Romano 11:33, 15 August 2008 (EDT)