Comprehensive Exams

Following completion of coursework (or during the final semester of coursework), students are required to pass a comprehensive exam. The purposes of this exam are for the student to demonstrate mastery of the coursework content and preparation for professional application.

For the M.A. comprehensive examination, you are required to (a) create an online portfolio and (b) orally defend your portfolio to a committee of faculty members in a virtual or face-to-face setting.  

• For your online portfolio, you must include the following items: (a) an argumentative essay about what you have learned in your master’s program and (b) multiple exhibits of exemplary work that you produced in your master’s program as evidence to support the arguments made in your essay. More details are provided below under “Online Portfolio Documents”.
• For your oral defense, you must (a) give a 10-minute presentation on your portfolio and (b) answer questions from faculty. Oral defenses are scheduled for 45 minutes.  Oral defenses can be scheduled virtually or face-to-face.

• Online Portfolio.
  • A Canvas site entitled "DE MA Comprehensive Examination" will be set up for you after applying for and being cleared to take the comprehensive examinations. This Canvas site will serve as your online portfolio. Upload your portfolio documents into the "Assignments" tab. When you finish uploading your documents, complete this form to alert your committee that your documents have been uploaded and are ready for review. 
• Comprehensive Exam Committee.
  • You are not responsible for forming a committee of faculty members, as a committee will be assigned to you. Committees are determined each semester by program faculty and rotate on a regular basis. Committees are comprised of three faculty, with at least one faculty in the student’s concentration area. After a student’s eligibility to take the comprehensive exam has been confirmed through the application process, the student will be informed via email as to who is on their committee.  
• Application and Clearance to Take the Comprehensive Exam.
  • The comprehensive exam can only be taken during the final semester of coursework, or thereafter.
  • Students must be enrolled in at least one graduate-level course during the semester in which they take the comprehensive exams. If students have already completed all coursework, they can enroll in a 1-credit Comp Exam Contingency course GC 5100.
  • Students must state their intention to complete the comprehensive exams by the following dates:
    • Fall Semester: September 15.
    • Spring Semester: January 31.
    • Summer Semester: May 15.
  • Apply to take the comprehensive exams
• Oral Defense Scheduling
  • Once your eligibility to take the comprehensive exam is confirmed via the application process, you will be contacted via email with more information on scheduling your oral defense. The final dates to complete your oral defense are as follows:
    • Fall Semester: October 31.
    • Spring Semester: March 31.
    • Summer Semester: June 25.
• Deadline for Finalizing Your Online Portfolio
  • All portfolio documents (i.e., argumentative essay, exhibits, and comprehensive examination form) must be finalized and uploaded into your online portfolio two weeks prior to your oral defense. You are not permitted to modify portfolio documents during this two-week period, as your committee will be in the review process.   
• Evaluation of Comprehensive Exams
  • The online portfolio and oral defense of the comprehensive exam will be considered together by the assigned committee of faculty, with possible outcomes at the conclusion as follows:
    • Accept with distinction
    • Accept
    • Accept after revisions
    • Do not accept
  • “Accept with distinction” or “Accept” indicate passing the exam with no further revision needed.
  • “Accept after revisions” indicates that revisions are needed. Students will have two weeks from their defense date to make recommended changes and resubmit them for their committee’s approval. Failure to meet the revision deadlines will result in their evaluation being changed to “do not accept”. Only one resubmission will be reviewed by the committee of faculty, with possible outcomes at the conclusion as follows: “Accept” or “Do not accept”
    • Follow the procedures below to revise and resubmit your work:
      1. Submit all documents related to your revisions in the "Assignments" tab in the Canvas site entitled "DE MA Comprehensive Examination".
      2. Create a new document entitled "Overview of Revisions." In this document, outline all of the changes you made to your portfolio materials and explain how you have addressed each of your committee members' suggested revisions.
      3. When revising your argumentative essay document, be sure to turn on "tracked changes" in Microsoft Word, so that every revision you make is tracked. Make sure to upload two versions of this document: one version with tracked changes (add the word "tracked" at the end of the file name) and one version with all changes accepted (add the word "clean" at the end of the filename).
      4. Before uploading your argumentative essay, ensure that each exhibit is cited correctly in the text and corresponds with the title of the exhibit uploaded in your revised portfolio.
      5. When modifying exhibits, you might be asked to remove, add, or revise an exhibit. Be sure to document all additions, deletions, and revisions to exhibits in your "Overview of Revisions" document.
      6. Upload all exhibits in the "Revisions" folder, even if no changes were made to them. If the exhibit is new, add the word ("new" at the end of the file name). If the exhibit was revised, add the word ("revised" at the end of the filename). If you were asked to remove an exhibit, do not include it in your revised portfolio.
      7. Ensure you have made all revisions requested by your committee and complied with points 1-6 above.
      8. When you are ready to submit your revised work, complete the comps revise and resubmit form (please note: once you submit this form your revisions are final and cannot be modified thereafter).
  • Students earning an evaluation of “do not accept” must wait until the next semester to retake the examination. They will have one opportunity to retake the examination. The procedures for the comprehensive exam will be the same as on their first attempt with one exception: failure to achieve a rating of “accept” or higher (after revisions, if applicable) on the second attempt will result in the student being dropped from the program.
• Outside Assistance and Academic Integrity
  • In completing the comprehensive exam, students cannot consult with faculty except for general questions about the process. They cannot work with others (peers, colleagues, tutors, etc.) in any capacity. However, group work is permissible to submit as an exhibit (see the “Exhibits” section below for more details). 
  • Texas State University expects both faculty and students to respect and follow the Honor Code. For students, this means that all academic work will be done by the individual to whom it is assigned, without unauthorized aid of any kind. Read the full Honor Code.
  • Please note that special accommodations can be requested with approval from the Office of Disability Services at Texas State University.

1. Argumentative Essay (approximately 10-12 pages)
   1. Generate a detailed argument with supporting evidence demonstrating that you have (a) mastered critical knowledge and skills in your graduate program, (b) are prepared to apply these knowledge and skills in professional contexts, and (c) are prepared to serve diverse populations of students.
   2. In your essay, support your argument by citing and discussing the exhibits included in your portfolio. Each exhibit serves as evidence to support your argument.
      1. When citing an exhibit in your essay, indicate the specific exhibit to which you are referring (e.g., Exhibit A or Exhibit B).
      2. Each exhibit must be labeled alphabetically in the order in which it first appears in your argumentative essay.
      3. When applicable, it is acceptable (but not required) to cite and discuss the same exhibit multiple times in your paper to support different points in your argument.
         1. For example, you might use an exhibit to demonstrate that you have mastered content knowledge in your concentration area and then later use that same exhibit to show that you mastered skills at analyzing research articles.
      4. For more details on what should be included in an exhibit and examples of different types of exhibits, see item 2 “Exhibits” below.
   3. In your essay, reference scholarly literature and discuss aspects of that literature. In addition to your exhibits, your incorporation of scholarly literature provides further evidence that you have mastered literature and are prepared to apply it professionally. Throughout your essay, when applicable, incorporate literature to support your points and ideas. Include a reference section at the end of your essay. Make sure all in-text citations are listed in the reference section and vice versa. For example: 
      1. When you describe an exhibit in your essay, elaborate on some of the literature within that exhibit and reference that literature in your essay.
      2. When you discuss how you are prepared to apply (or have already applied) course content in professional contexts, discuss (and reference) literature from the course and how you are prepared to (or have already) applied it.
   4. Your argumentative essay must demonstrate that you have mastered content in the following areas:
      1. Developmental education as a field of research, policy, and practice.
         1. Generate an argument with supporting evidence showing that you have mastered core knowledge and skills related to developmental education as a field of research, policy, and practice.
         2. Discuss how you have applied and/or will apply these knowledge and skills in professional contexts to serve diverse populations of students.
         3. Courses that might be particularly relevant to this section of your essay include, but are not limited to, the following: DE 5375, DE 5365, DE 5324, and DE 5305.
      2. Research methods in education and developmental education
         1. Generate an argument with supporting evidence showing that you have mastered skills at critically analyzing research articles and designing research studies.  
         2. Discuss how you have applied and/or will apply these knowledge and skills in professional contexts to serve diverse populations of students.
         3. Courses that might be particularly relevant to this section of your essay include, but are not limited to, the following: CI 5390 and DE 5339.
      3. Concentration coursework (developmental mathematics, learning support, or literacy).
         1. Generate an argument with supporting evidence showing that you have mastered (a) specialized knowledge in your concentration area and (b) specialized skills at using research to inform practice in your concentration area.  
         2. Discuss how you have applied and/or will apply these knowledge and skills in professional contexts to serve diverse populations of students.
         3. Courses that might be particularly relevant to this section of your essay include, but are not limited to, the following: all of your concentration courses.
2. Exhibits
   1. Exhibits are examples of work you produced. You use these as evidence in your argumentative essay.
   2. Exhibits must use a generic title (e.g., Exhibit A, Exhibit B). Also, exhibits must be arranged alphabetically in the order in which they first appear in your argumentative essay. In other words, the first exhibit you cite in your essay would be Exhibit A and the second exhibit you cite would be Exhibit B.
   3. The file name of the exhibit should be identical to the title of the exhibit.
   4. Each exhibit should include a title page with the following information.
      1. Title of the exhibit (e.g., Exhibit A, Exhibit B).
      2. Your name.
      3. Exhibit description. Address the following in your description:
         1. Briefly describe the exhibit and the purpose for which you originally produced it (e.g., class assignment).
         2. Explain why you decided to highlight this exhibit in your portfolio and how you used it as evidence in your argumentative essay.
   5. After the title page, include the actual piece of work you want to exhibit.
      1. If you want to revise your work, you can. However, it is not required. For example, if your exhibit was a paper you wrote in one of your courses, you are free to revise the paper before uploading it as an exhibit in your portfolio.
   6. Examples of different types of exhibits:
      1. Papers you wrote for class.
         1. Position papers.
         2. Research-to-practice papers.
         3. Scholarly research reviews.
         4. Research proposals.
         5. Policy papers.
      2. Other class assignments or activities.
         1. Exceptional forum posts.
         2. PowerPoint presentation you made for class.
         3. Projects you completed for class.
         4. Website you created.
         5. Videos or audio clips you produced as part of class (in this case upload a separate exhibit title page along with the video or audio clip).
      3. Any other form of evidence you want to include.
      4. Please note: although exhibits of group work are valued and can be included, exhibits of independent work and the aspects of group work on which you took a lead role should be emphasized.
3. Comprehensive Examination Form
   1. Download the “Master’s Comprehensive Examination Report Form”.
   2. Fill out the top part of the form.
   3. Upload the form in your online portfolio and entitle the file: “Comp Exam Form [add your last name]”