| Tips for Taking (and Passing) a Comprehensive Examination |
|
| Keep in mind in preparing for a comprehensive exam that each discipline has its own version, and the best way to find information is to contact your own graduate advisor or graduate coordinator for details. The general points below can get you started in preparing for this major academic event. |
|
|
| Comprehensive Exams |
| The University of Central Florida Graduate Catalog describes the comprehensive exam as an appropriate culminating academic experience required of all master’s degree students. It may include a thesis defense, written or oral examination, research report, capstone course, presentation and defense of a portfolio of student work, or other appropriate scholarly activity of a type that has been approved by the Graduate Council. |
|
| Purpose |
| Usually, these examinations have time limits of three to eight hours and can be administered over the course of two separate days. Most disciplines use a comprehensive test to appraise your broad knowledge of a generalized area within your field of study. This assessment of your knowledge helps the department to monitor your ability to analyze the required material, as well as your basic comprehension of the information you are expected to be familiar with. |
| |
| Strategies for Preparing to Take the Test |
- Become familiar with your department’s requirements for taking the test. Ask how long the test lasts and where it is usually located. Also inquire about testing procedures and sample questions that may be useful for your study and preparation. Find out the dates for when the test is offered, and ask fellow students if they are planning on taking the test at the same time.
- Form a study group with fellow students. If your examination covers a large area of information (for example, the English literature exam includes a reading list of 50 works), then it may be extremely useful to divide the work among several people. Meeting every two to three weeks and assigning each person a task, such as researching a particular author or area of study, decreases the workload for each member of the group. Becoming a member of a study group also helps to keep you on-task. Preparation for a comprehensive examination is a lengthy process, typically covering at least an entire semester, so it is beneficial to have a partner or group to help keep you on track.
- Create practice questions. Making a list of relevant themes and then creating practice questions can be a valuable tool in preparing for your exam. Talk to your professors about typical question format and expectations, and then based on your research and studying, create a master list of possible questions. Then practice answering random questions under simulated test conditions.
- Create a timeline or breakdown of your study strategy for the semester preceding your comprehensive examination. Many disciplines require you to do extensive reading for the comprehensive examination. Breaking down the reading into several weeklong sections allows you to meet more manageable goals, making the task seem not so daunting. This timeline will also allow you to know from the beginning of the examination process whether or not your schedule and course-load will allow for the preparation needed to pass the exam.
|
| |
| Writing Strategies for Taking an Essay Test |
- Plan out a writing strategy. Since you know in advance what will be expected of you in terms of what is on the test, it makes sense to plan out how much time you will spend on each section of the exam. By preparing for this ahead of time, you can practice questions according to the amount of time that you planned on spending on each problem. It may also be a good idea to include a period of preparation time before you begin answering the questions and a proofreading period at the end. This will give you a chance to look for minor errors and to review what you have written.
- Warm up beforehand. We all perform better after we get into a rhythm, so take a few minutes to write down any thoughts or ideas that you may have in response to the questions on the test. This few minutes of prewriting will give you direction and focus in your writing and calm any apprehension. This period of warm-up can be fitted into your writing strategy and actually improve the clarity and flow of your answers.
- Start writing, write in your own language, and write only one draft. Once you have decided on the amount of time that you are going to spend on each question and how you are going to answer it, start writing. A quick introduction with a few sentences that directly answer the question posed is an effective way to get started on each section. However, try to avoid lengthy introductions and get to the meat of the question. Also, it takes time to translate your writing into someone else’s style, so write with focus and clarity, but in your own language. Since time is limited, it is also essential that you only write one draft. If you write a few lines and then change your mind, just cross them out and keep going.
- Take intermittent breaks. Continuous writing can be exhausting. It may be a good idea to schedule short breaks into your writing strategy to take a moment to rest, stretch, and have something to eat. It might also be a good idea to keep some snacks handy during the test to keep your energy level high without having to leave your desk.
- Follow directions slavishly. Because test questions tend to be lots of small, specific tasks, as you write your way into the essay it takes on a life of its own and you might forget exactly what you set out to do. One solution is to itemize and number the instructions at the outset, and reread them halfway through the essay. Also remember that no matter how brilliantly you think you have answered the question, if it does not address what was asked, then it does not count.
- Structure to help the panelists read and grade your essay quickly. Structure rigidly, conservatively, and blatantly. Outlining is strongly recommended. Have a thesis for each question and state it up front. Let the panelists see when you are doing each assigned task (such as defining, contrasting, or giving reasons).
- Proofread for meaning and mechanics. If your writing strategy has been planned out in advance, there should still be time remaining to proofread your exam. This will help you to look for garbled meaning, misspelled words, and general punctuation errors. Although the panelists grading your exam will probably not fail you just because you have grammatical errors, an essay that is peppered with mistakes can be a distraction from the message that you are trying convey.
|
| |
| |