Comprehensive Examinations
M.A. Students in Speech-Language Pathology who choose the non-thesis option must pass written comprehensive examinations. The following is intended to help you prepare for this process. Please contact the exam coordinator for additional information when necessary. This page has been updated for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Students admitted to or entering the MA (Speech-Language Pathology) program in or after Fall 2008 will take their Comprehensive examinations under the most recent format, available here. Click here to view detailed guidelines, including study guides, for Spring 2010 exams (and onwards). Students who were admitted prior to Fall 2008 will be tested under the old format.
The information on this webpage applies to those students who will be taking the comprehensive examination Spring 2010 and onwards.
Table of Contents:
Prerequisites
The following prerequisites must be met in order to take
the comprehensive examinations:
- Completion of all prior academic course work. No incompletes.
-
Final approved candidacy paper. The first and second
reader of the candidacy paper must have signed the candidacy
paper approval form before the
deadline.
- Not on academic probation.
- Comprehensive examinations are also offered during the Fall semester for students who do not meet the above deadline or need to re-take their examinations for having failed their first attempt.
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Format
Format
The comprehensive examination is administered in a single day and involves answering three two-hour questions. There will be a half hour break between questions.
Sample Schedule
9:00-11:00 - question #1
11:30-1:30 - question #2
2:00-4:00 - question #3
For each two-hour question slot, you will be given two questions, from which you will choose one to answer.
Content
Questions will cover at least two disorders (1-7 below) or will combine a disorder area (1-7) with a Basic Science area (9-11 below) or with Diagnostic Procedures (8).
1. Language disorders in children
2. Fluency disorders
3. Phonological and articulatory disorders
4. Aphasia and related disorders
5. Voice disorders
6. Aural rehabilitation
7. Dysphagia
8. Diagnostic procedures
9. Neurological bases of communication
10. Acoustic and perceptual phonetics*
11.
Research design
*
Given the small number of students who take this course, comprehensive exam questions that cover this area will not be prepared unless a student specifically requests a question in this area (for example, a student who has taken this course).
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Grading System
Each comprehensive exam answer is read by two faculty members who specialize in the relevant disorder or topic area. The readers are generally (but not always) the individuals who taught the relevant courses.
Will grading be anonymous?
Yes, faculty members will not know your name or any other identifying information for grading purposes. This is why you will be assigned a unique code number on the day of the test. Should a re-test be necessary, then a new unique code number will be assigned to the student taking the test. The coordinator will let a faculty member know what grades they assigned to each individual student but only after that faculty member handed in their final grades.
What grading system will be used?
Each topic area will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Within the pass category, a distinction is made among a "high pass", "pass", and "low pass". The following general criteria are used to assign grades:
High Pass: All facts are completely accurate, comprehensive and thorough response to all aspects of the question, highly detailed, frequent citing of the appropriate literature*.
Pass: All facts are accurate, comprehensive response to the question, may be missing minor detail, some citing of appropriate literature*.
Low Pass: Not as strong of an answer as we expect from a graduate student, significant amount of content may be correct, but other minor portions are vague or incomplete, limited citations*.
Fail: Factual inaccuracies, unsatisfactory answer which does not completely address the question (for a graduate level), no or inaccurate citations*.
*acceptable citations are original peer-reviewed, published journal articles only; references to textbooks, classroom instructors, presentations at meetings, and trade journals are not acceptable.
See the retake policy below.
When can I expect to get my grade?
Please allow for a few weeks to receive your grades. Faculty members receive the answers to their topic area(s) on the day of examination and are given one-to-two weeks to complete their grading.
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Academic Honesty
All students taking the MA comprehensive examinations are expected to adhere to campus policy on academic integrity. In particular, cheating and/or plagiarism on the examinations will result in immediate referral to the Student Honor Council.
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Retake Policy
- Any student who fails one comprehensive exam question may take a make-up question in the same areas during the same semester on the scheduled re-take date. A student who does not pass any re-administered questions will be required to re-take the comprehensive examination during a subsequent semester .
- A student who fails two or more examination questions will be judged to have failed the comprehensive examination and will have to re-take the entire exam during a subsequent semester.
- Note that topic areas and their question combinations for re-takes in another semester will be different than what the student was originally examined on.
- Any student may take the entire comprehensive examination only twice. Failure to pass any questions on the second full administration of the comprehensive examination will result in termination from the program without earning a diploma. (see MA Handbook).
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Schedule
Comprehensive examination dates for Fall 2009 are Friday November 6th and Monday November 9th.
The re-examination day for failed questions will be announced shortly.
The Comprehensive examination date for Spring 2010 will be Friday April 2nd. NOTE: For students who entered in Fall 2008 (or entered as non-HESP students in Fall 2007), comprehensives will be held on a single day (Friday April 2). Students who entered before this time but had a delayed graduation will take comprehensives over the course of 2 days, Wed. March 31 and Friday, April 2.
Click here for Fall 2009 schedule.
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Location
The M.A. Comprehensive examinations are administered via computer in the BSOS Open Labs in Lefrak Hall, Rooms 0225, 0227, 0229 and 0231. Only one or two of these rooms will be used for the exams. A door sign, posted on the day of the exam, and the definite testing schedule, will indicate which one(s).
Students are expected to type responses to comprehensive examination questions, using MS Word on the BSOS network (note that Word Perfect is not available because it is/was phased out from the network during the Fall of 2001). Students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the computer instructions and with the Open Labs in Lefrak Hall prior to their comprehensive testing date. back to top of page
Computer Instructions (Spring)
The proctor will use the first halfhour of the first comprehensive
testing day to give you the following computer instructions.
However, you are encouraged to read them prior to the comprehensive
testing days.
You are not allowed to bring your notes or books with
you; please store them somewhere else. Neither food nor
drink will be allowed inside the open labs. You will be
assigned a PC. You will use the same PC throughout the entire
examination day. Only you and the proctor will have access
to it.
What you will receive from the proctor?
-
A code number, which will be unique to you, to preserve
your anonymity. This will be given on the first day of
the exam. You will use the same code number for all topic
areas for both exam days.
-
USB memory stick
-
A blank sheet of paper to organize your thoughts, which
will be collected with your answer.
How to save your answers?
-
Your answers in each topic area should be saved in a
single file. The file name of each topic area will be
a combination of the question number and your code number.
For example, if you are writing on question #1 and your code
number is 02, your filename will be Q1_02.
- Use a header to number all your pages and label the
top of every page with its filename.
When you're done
- When you have finished answering the questions in a topic area, save your file and return the memory stick to the proctor. Also return the question sheet and scrap paper to the proctor.
Important Exam Tips
It is STRONGLY encouraged for all students to thoroughly read the study guide for important test taking tips, as well as information on preparing for, writing, and the grading of the comprehensive exams.
Information you must provide to the Exam Coordinator:
-
What information?
- First name
- Last name
- Phone
- Email
- Address
- Semester
- Year of your comps
- Basic Science Course
- Name first and second reader of your candidacy paper
- Name of your academic advisor
- Status candidacy paper (approved or to-be-approved)
- Preferred way to be informed of your comprehensive examination grades (email or phone)
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Exam Coordinator
For further questions please contact the Department's Coordinator of the M.A. Comprehensive Examinations:
Dr. Yasmeen Faroqi Shah
yshah@hesp.umd.edu
