Science / Mathematics Education Department

Southern University and A&M College

In addition to the examinations that must be taken within the individual courses, the doctoral student must also demonstrate proficiency at the program level through the following three major examinations: (1) a comprehensive examination in the discipline (for students who do not hold a master's degree in a content area), (2) a qualifying examination for admission to doctoral candidacy, and (3) an oral defense of the dissertation.

1. Comprehensive Examination in the Discipline

The Comprehensive Examination is designed to validate the student's mastery of content, at the level of a master's-degree equivalency in mathematics or a specific science discipline: biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, or mathematics. Students who already hold the Master's Degree in one of these disciplines, and have provided the relevant transcripts and documentation from a fully accredited degree-granting institution, are exempt from this examination.

Students who enter the Program without a master's degree or equivalent in mathematics or a science discipline must take the Comprehensive Examination. Specifically, this requirement applies to students who enter the Program with less than a master's degree, as well as to students who hold a master's degree in a discipline outside of science and mathematics. The examination is normally taken during the semester in which 24 graduate credits of coursework will have been completed in the content area.

The Comprehensive Examination is developed and administered by the graduate faculty of the content-area department (and not by the SMED Department). It is the responsibility of the student, through his/her content area advisor, to notify the chair of the content area department of his/her intention to take the comprehensive examination. Because protocols for scheduling this examination may differ by department, it is important that the student work closely with his/her content-area advisor in meeting this examination requirement.

The Chair of the content-area department transmits the results of the examination to the chair of the SMED Department. Students who have failed the comprehensive examination may repeat it one additional time. However, during any period between the time the comprehensive examination was failed and the time it is subsequently passed, the student may not register for any SMED courses. The purpose of this requirement is to encourage the student to focus his/her time on preparing for the repeat examination.

Any student who fails the content-area comprehensive examination twice will be dismissed from the SMED Program.

2. Qualifying Examination

After the student has completed at least 80% of the Program's previously-described Phase 2 coursework, he/she may petition the SMED Department to schedule the qualifying examination. (Normally, this coincides with the semester in which all of the coursework, exclusive of dissertation research, will be completed.)

The purpose of the qualifying examination is to ascertain that the student has mastered the current literature, theory, practice, and research principles in science and mathematics education, and that the student has sufficient scholarly maturity to begin the dissertation research. Procedures for the Qualifying Examination are discussed in the section on DOCTORAL CANDIDACY.

3. Oral Defense

After the student completes an acceptable research study and writes an acceptable dissertation, the student and his/her Supervisory Committee schedule the Oral Defense. This examination is a public presentation and defense of the dissertation, and attendance is open to any and all members of the University community.

Questions will be posed by members of the student's Supervisory Committee. At his/her discretion, the Chair of the Supervisory Committee (the major advisor) may also invite a limited number of questions from other graduate faculty who may be in attendance.

Immediately after the Oral Defense, the Supervisory Committee will meet in closed session to deliberate the pass/fail status of the student. The student will be notified of the outcome as soon as possible, and ideally the same day. A student who fails the Oral Defense will at minimum be expected to make substantive changes not only to the written dissertation, but also to some essential elements of the research itself. The opportunity to revise the study in such manner and to repeat the Oral Defense in a future semester depends on the discretion of the Committee; however, in no case will a student be given more than three opportunities to satisfy the Oral Defense requirement. In order for a student to receive a pass on the Oral Defense, three of the four committee members must evaluate the student's performance as passing. A student who passes the oral examination may still be required to make changes, in either substance or form, to the written dissertation. This reflects the Department's commitment to having the dissertation demonstrate the highest level of scholarly work. The student's program is complete when the members of the doctoral committee sign the final dissertation document.

Accommodating Students with Disabilities

A student with a verified disability will be permitted to take an appropriately modified version of any or all of the examinations. Approval for modifications is to be requested by the student and approved by the director of the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, prior to the administration of the examination. Modifications will be made in accordance with guidelines specified by the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities.