The comprehensive examination is designed to challenge you to step back from the

The comprehensive examination is designed to challenge you to step back from the specific deliverables expected in courses and reflect critically on your discipline through synthesis and integration of your knowledge, skills, and experiences across significant topics in your academic discipline. Fulfilling the comprehensive examination requirements is a critical step in your doctoral program. You started your doctoral journey with coursework and PhD residencies. Once you have successfully completed the comprehensive examination, you will be ready to continue your journey as an independent researcher as you complete your dissertation. Completion of the comprehensive examination signals a learner’s transition to PhD Candidacy and is a significant achievement. To progress to the dissertation stage of your doctoral program, you are required to receive a Satisfactory grade on the written examination. Successful completion of this stage requires high-level, polished, scholarly responses to three examination questions developed by program faculty. Your Comprehensive Examination Facilitator will select three examination questions that address the identified program outcomes for your specialization, with focus on three different themes: • Theme 1. Synthesizing and Applying Theory • Theme 2. Reviewing the Scholarly Literature • Theme 3. Understanding and Applying Research Methodology Your responses should represent your best scholarly writing and critical thinking. In writing your comprehensive examination responses, you are expected to integrate critical thinking and evidence your ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and apply scholarship in your specialization. At this level of writing, learners demonstrate mastery of program learning outcomes and authenticate their readiness for the scholar-practitioner research of an independent research project and dissertation.
satisfactory responses to comprehensive examination questions have typical characteristics: A high quality response to a comprehensive examination question generally incorporates no fewer than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles as sources, avoids referencing more than 3 textbooks and ranges between 12 and 17 pages in length, not including the cover page, question pages, and reference pages. Comprehensive examination responses should generally be limited to no more than 17 pages for each question, excluding cover page, question page, and reference pages Each comprehensive examination response must have its own reference section, which must immediately follow that response in the comprehensive examination document. The reference list for each comprehensive examination response should reflect only the sources used in that comprehensive examination response. Both foundational (seminal) and recent (published within the last 5 years) scholarly literature should be incorporated into each examination response as applicable. General audience dictionaries and doctoral dissertations are typically not considered peer-reviewed scholarly work and as such should not be included in the 20 recommended references for the comprehensive examination responses. However, one or two dissertations that provide new information that may be of particular relevance to the learner’s topic may be used in addition to the other references. Due date is November 15th.