Doctoral Preliminary Exams

[Peterson, Douglas]

Title: Credit for supervising undergraduate research

We are currently struggling with revising the dreaded prelims (doctoral preliminary examinations) process.  It seems that our number one problem is lacking ideas for alternatives to the status quo.  So far the only thing the faculty are unanimous on is that the current system needs to change, but all suggested changes have failed to meet the required vote (2/3).  I'm appealing to Tipsters in hopes of getting some fresh ideas and thoughts on what prelims should be and why?   Question #1: Is the purpose of prelims to test competency in a solid knowledge base (i.e., content exam) prior to doctoral work or in a general skill set (i.e. stats and methods)?   Question #2: If it is content based should the content be broad (e.g., any topic from PSYC 101) or narrow (in the test takers specialization).    Feel free to respond off list at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or on list - I'm curious to see if the differences of opinion on this list are as great as they are in our department.       Doug     Doug Peterson Associate Professor of Psychology The University of South Dakota Vermillion SD 57069 (605) 677-5295 [EMAIL PROTECTED]     --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]