Course Description

This course is the transition between the student’s pre-dissertation coursework and the dissertation. This course builds on the student’s previous coursework, and specialized projects done as part of that coursework. The student engages in a critically reflective analysis of his or her previous doctoral studies at WISR, in light of his/her future plans to use their expert knowledge as a professional and/or community leader. The student writes a paper that evaluates, organizes and synthesizes the highlights of what they have learned during their doctoral studies. This paper is written, and discussed with faculty, in light of the student’s future plans and aspirations beyond the doctorate. In order to build a bridge toward their future goals, the student develops and proposes the plan for their dissertation. This proposal is discussed with their Graduation Review Board, and the student makes the needed changes to gain approval of their plan. 

Required course.  2 semester credit hours. This course must be completed prior to beginning the dissertation. 

Main Activities 

1. Three WISR Graduate Faculty (all of whom have earned, accredited doctorates) review the student's completed coursework--written papers, self--assessments, faculty evaluations, and annotated bibliographies--and give the student a qualifying oral exam. First, faculty members review the doctoral student’s completed projects and coursework, after all  of the courses required for the degree program have been completed (except for the dissertation and the exam/dissertation readiness “course”). The purpose of the review is to determine if the student has either completely achieved degree program outcomes, or is able to finish achieving those outcomes while doing their dissertation. In this way the faculty are evaluating if the student is prepared to undertake the rigorous study required for a doctoral dissertation, is able to focus their attention on the dissertation, and is capable of achieving any modest added progress toward degree program outcomes required and identified by faculty. 

Based on their review of the student’s completed coursework, the faculty conduct an oral exam to see if the student is ready to proceed to the Comprehensive Exam Phase, outlined in this two-unit course, EDD 693: Comprehensive Assessment of Student Learning and Plans for Dissertation and Beyond. To evaluate the student’s coursework and the student’s oral exam, they use the Rubric, below for the Qualifying Exam. 

2. The student writes a comprehensive self-assessment paper to reflect on, and articulate, the highlights of the breadth and depth of what they have so far learned during their doctoral studies. More specifically, the student is expected to:

• Write a comprehensive self-assessment paper that successfully evaluates, organizes and synthesizes their learning thus far during their doctoral studies; 

• Articulate and write a nuanced, critical and well-informed statement about their field(s) of specialization;

• Articulate and explore several advanced insights and questions about this emerging, interdisciplinary field of “higher education and social change” and about their field(s) of specialization in particular; 

• Demonstrate the depth and breadth of their perspectives on what they’ve learned, and how they can build on this knowledge as they move forward toward their goals; and

• most importantly, discuss the evidence of the extent to which they have addressed each degree program learning outcome. 

3. The student participates in a comprehensive oral exam and discussion with three WISR faculty--using the comprehensive self-assessment paper as a starting point for the discussion. This comprehensive assessment will:

• identify those degree program learning outcomes which already have been sufficiently met,

• identify those degree program learning outcomes which must still be addressed during the dissertation, and

• determine if the student's progress is sufficient to embark on the dissertation, or if not, what further learning must be demonstrated before the student begins work on the dissertation.

4. The student submits a Dissertation Proposal for Review by the three WISR faculty, and an outside expert in the student's proposed area of dissertation research. The student will develop a coherent, well thought out plan for their dissertation that meets standards for original, ethically-informed action-oriented inquiry, and that will also move the student along toward their goal(s). The Graduation Review Board will either approve the proposal or suggest that the student make further specific revisions and improvements. 

For more details, go to EDD 699, with sections on the Dissertation Proposal and on Ethical Considerations for the Dissertation. 

As part of this process--the Comprehensive Assessment and the development of a Dissertation Proposal--the student will articulate a plan for self-directed learning toward their goals beyond the completion of the dissertation and the doctorate.

Requirements to Complete this Course

Completion of this course requires approval of the Dissertation Proposal and of the student's performance in the qualifying exam, and the written and oral phases of the Comprehensive Assessment. Students may repeat this process as often as necessary in order to pass, and move on to the dissertation.

The three faculty serving on the Graduation Review Board and who are conducting the oral and written exams use a set of rubrics to evaluate the student in each of the following stages of this process:  1) the faculty's assessment of student progress based on previous coursework submitted by the student, followed by an oral exam on what the student has learned and accomplished through their completed coursework, 2) the student's written self-assessment of achievement of program learning outcomes, and evidence supporting their self-assessment in the comprehensive written exam,3) the faculty's assessment of student progress toward program learning outcomes based on the comprehensive oral exam, and 4) the dissertation proposal. 

Required Documents: 

• The approved written Comprehensive Self-Assessment by the student, 

• the three faculty members' approval (with the signature of the chair of the Graduation Review Board) and filled out forms for each of the four stages of the Evaluation Process (qualifying exam, written comprehensive exam, oral comprehensive exam, and dissertation proposal review), "Faculty Evaluation of Student Learning_EDD_693", and

• a copy of the approved Dissertation Proposal, including the approval of WISR's IRB on Ethics, or the Chair or Vice-Chair of the IRB.

Finally, as is the case with every WISR course, upon completing the course, the student is to:

Respond to a questionnaire, evaluating the dissertation process and estimating the amount of time you spent engaged in various activities for the course.  Access the questionnaire at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_VwE8ccfW_-WjGAskNp6Jlz2tY-9TL3ijN5F_PwYzQQ

Go to The Other Pages on this Course Web Site:

Overview: Learning Outcomes and Assessment Activities

More Details

Update re Using and Accessing WISR's Online Forum: 

Learn about the switch from Google Currents to spaces in Google Chat

Content and communities [ such as WISR''s Online Forum] in Google Currents are being moved to spaces in Google Chat.  As part of this change, you won’t be able to use Currents beginning July 5, 2023. If you’re new to Google Chat, use this guide to: 

• Familiarize yourself with the features available in spaces

• Understand how spaces compare to communities in Currents

• Learn how to use spaces

In this article

• About spaces in Google Chat

• What to expect with spaces

• Get started with spaces

• Feature availability