NEW WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVE EXAM OPTION:
Beginning next fall, 2009 students who do not receive a nomination from a graduate faculty member or do not wish to write a master's thesis (Plan A) will have the option to complete a set of written comprehensive exams.
For the Plan B option, students develop their proposed course of study under the TA 260 course in much the same manner that Plan A students develop a thesis proposal. Upon approval by the Graduate Committee, Plan B students then enroll in TA 298 to do the reading, research and preparation for a set of written examinations administered during the final week of the semester. Plan B students will also do an oral "defense" of their examinations just as Plan A students defend their thesis projects.
Here is a sample syllabus for TA 298 which provides more details on the Comprehensive Examination process.
Students already in the program are entitled to pursue the Thesis option (A) under the existing process or you may switch to the Exam option (B) starting in the fall. Successful completion of either plan A or B will serve as the required culminating experience for awarding of the Masters degree.
More information will be posted here soon.
Completing Requirements for the Master's Degree
Thesis (Plan A) or Comprehensive Examination (Plan B) Options With the assistance of a faculty advisor, students develops a proposed Master's degree program according to Plan A or Plan B, as outlined below. The content will be determined by the individual student's background, area of concentration and thesis or examination topic.
Plan A (with Thesis)
TA 299 Plan A, the thesis option will be reserved for students with proven success in academic research and scholarly writing. To pursue the thesis option, students must secure program approval, nomination by a TRFT Department faculty member, and approval of Thesis Proposal by the department graduate committee. The program will include a maximum of four units for the thesis. See Thesis section of this catalog.
A thesis committee has the option of terminating the thesis option if, in the opinion of the three readers, the candidate is incapable or unwilling to write an acceptable thesis in a reasonable amount of time. In that case, if the student wishes to complete the degree the student will be required to take the Plan B - Comprehensive Examination.
With Plan A the thesis candidate must successfully complete an oral examination focusing on the thesis.
Plan B (Research Project with Comprehensive Examination)
TA 298 Plan B students complete a Course of Study for Comprehensive Examination according to the individual student's background, area of concentration and academic program. The program and Course of Study must be approved by the department graduate committee and will include the development of a specified reading list. In addition, in order to complete the degree requirements, Plan B students must submit a scholarly article or conference paper for consideration by a peer reviewed publication or professional association.
The Comprehensive Examination provides an opportunity for the student to demonstrate a thorough grasp of history, theory, practice and pedogogy within and across the disciplines of theatre, radio, film and television. On the exams, students are expected to demonstrate a familiarity with theoretical, aesthetic and historiographical issues, and to follow acceptable rules of grammar, spelling and academic style in presentation. The examination is scheduled toward the end of the fall and spring semesters and students must pass all sections of the examination within three attempts or no degree will be awarded.
With Plan B the candidates must successfully complete an oral defense based on the written examination. |
SEE
GRADUATE STUDIES GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETING THE MASTER'S
A
Master's Thesis
(TA 299) explores unknown intellectual territory,
to discover a truth about something, not merely affirm
what you already know or believe. A thesis demonstrates persuasively
your ability to conduct scholarly research, to solve problems,
and to articulate those solutions through formal writing.
The
thesis is an opportunity for you to find and develop your own
voice, but you will find a voice only to the extent that you
are in tension and in informed dialogue with history and with
others who have thought and written about your topic. What are
you proposing or exploring that others have not? How are you
building on the ideas of others? What are significant limitations
in previous understanding or discussion of the problem? What
in current perception needs changing? What original contribution
will your research provide?
The
Thesis Proposal
The
proposal is developed
under the 2-unit graduate course TA 260. Working with
the Graduate Coordinator, you must find a member of the Television-Radio-Film-Theatre
faculty to endorse your Thesis Proposal and serve as
First Reader. You develop the Thesis Proposal according
to the graduation calendar
and the guidelines below.
PROPOSAL
COMPONENTS:
Statement
of Problem/Question
Begin by stating the problem/asking the question clearly and
concisely. Identify a problem/question to which you have no
answer, and to which previous research provides only inadequate
or incomplete answers. The Thesis Proposal does not argue
a thesis; rather, it sets up the framework for an argument,
the rules by which you will answer the question you have asked.
Significance
Why
is your project important? How does it make a difference? Why
do you care about it? Why should we care about it? Why is now
a good time for this investigation?
Terminology
Indicate
key terms within the proposal which need definition or which conceal
discursive or theoretical difficulties.
Literature
Review
Provide
a brief critique of the previous discourse on the problem.
Outline the major positions of understanding in relation to
the problem. These "positions" come from scholarly
sources, but also from representatives of the popular culture,
from artists, intellectuals and journalists, lawyers, and from
voices in history. Positions are not always articulated in written
form or even in language. Performances themselves, in all media,
articulate ideological objectives and are part of the "literature."
Please
do not waste time (ours as well as yours) claiming that no previous
discourse exists in relation to your subject matter. What do
you intend to study? Discourse on a problem may be much older
and more diverse than the narrow subject matter of interest
to you.
Method
How
do you plan to solve the problem or answer the question in your
Thesis Proposal? Here you discuss the subject matter
which exemplifies the problem/question. What are the chief sources
of evidence? Identify the nature of the evidence (text, images,
statistical data, interviews, surveys, human subjects, biographical
material, videos, archive materials, etc.) and the authority
of the evidence in relation to the problem. How much evidence
do you seek? By what principle do you select the evidence? How
do you plan to use the evidence to structure an argument in
response to the problem? How will you interpret the evidence?
From what theoretical perspective, what position or bias?
Feasibility
Is the problem narrow enough or sufficiently focused for the evidence
to provide a persuasive solution? Do you have the skills or resources
necessary to support your proposed work? Do you have the foreign
language, mathematical, or technical abilities required to solve
the problem with authority? Do you access to necessary archives,
libraries or persons? Do you have the resources necessary to carry
out experimental performance projects or projects involving analysis
of human subjects responses? Does your project require human subjects
research authorization from the University?
Structure
The 10-15 page proposal must give a tentative title for the thesis
project, and this title, along with your name, name of your First
Reader, and the date, should form the cover page for the proposal.
Indicate
a preliminary chapter breakdown. Conventional thesis structure
is five chapters. Don't imagine fewer chapters, avoid more than
seven.
Attach
a preliminary bibliography, which identifies your major sources
of evidence (publications, archives, videos, performance documentation,
interviews, etc.). Use MLA Guidelines for correct reference and
bibliographic citation.
Attach
to your Proposal an Approved Request for
Candidacy form with all courses (exactly 30 units)
defining your graduate program.
Candidacy
serves a dual purpose: 1) It functions as notification to the
TRFT department and to Graduate Studies that you are going to
advance to candidacy (i.e., you do this in our department by successfully
proposing, defending, and passing your thesis proposal); 2) It
states that you are going to graduate eventually (i.e., you graduate
with an M.A. after you complete your thesis).
Pre-Candidacy
Requirements
Most graduate students apply for candidacy after their first year
as a graduate student. Before a student can apply for candidacy
the following requirements must already be met. Please be sure
that you have met the following pre-requisites or your candidacy
application will be denied.
- Have
any planned transfer units already approved (See
Transfer Credit).
- Completed
a minimum of 9 graded units (100 or 200 level courses).
- Have
completed the Competency in Written English. (In our department this
is done by successfully completing TA 200.)
- Be
in graduate classified standing. Students who are still in conditionally
classified standing must submit a Change
of Classification form signed by your graduate advisor.
This form can be submitted at the same time as your candidacy
petition if you have already successfully completed
your Thesis Proposal (TA 260). If you are currently enrolled
in TA 260 then you should submit the Request for Candidacy without
the Change of Classification form; the Graduate Coordinator
with retroactively file the form following acceptance of your
Thesis Proposal.
- Have a
cumulative grade point average of a "B" in all courses taken
as a graduate student. Lower division courses are not included
in this calculation.
Advancement
To Candidacy
Your advancement to candidacy serves as a contract between the
Graduate Office, your graduate department, and you that by successfully
completing the courses listed on the Candidacy Petition you will
receive a master's degree from San Jose State. This will also
be when you state whether you plan on completing a Thesis
or Project. (You must write a thesis Plan A.)
When filling out the Request for Candidacy form the following
requirements must be met:
- At least
half the units listed for your graduate program must be from
200 level courses and a minimum of 60% must be letter graded
courses.
- Only
20% of the courses listed may be from transfer credit work (courses
from other departments at SJSU taken as a graduate student are
not considered transfer work). Transfer credit work listed must
be already approved. See Transfer
Credit for more information.
- Courses
which may not be used on the Request for Candidacy are basic
skills courses (below 100 level), student teaching, 300 level
residence and 400 level extended studies courses taken at SJSU.
- Only
a maximum of 4 semester units of credit for TA 299 thesis may
be listed.
- All courses
listed must be less than seven years old.
Deadlines
& Notification
The deadline to submit your candidacy will depend on when you
plan on graduating. The Graduate Office needs at least a couple
of months to properly evaluate your candidacy petition and notify
you. Please see current
candidacy deadlines to see when you should submit this petition.
After
receiving your candidacy approval, any future course changes from
the original candidacy program must be approved by your graduate
advisor and the Graduate Studies office. You will need to complete
a Course
Substitution form and have your graduate advisor sign it and
submit it to the Graduate Studies office prior to your expected
date of graduation. Please note that completed/graded courses
cannot be removed from an approved Request for Candidacy. So keep
in mind the following You must complete the Candidacy form with
information regarding the classes you have already taken AND with
a prediction for how many units of TA 299 (i.e., the actual thesis
writing “course”) and other courses you will take.
You
must make sure that everything adds up to exactly 30 units including
TA 299 units. No more, no less.
Complete
Human Subjects Review documentation available from SJSU
Graduate Studies and Research Office (ADMIN 223B).
Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (HS-IRB)
Federal and California State statutes as well as University policy
require investigators conducting research involving human subjects
to be knowledgeable about and to comply with regulations for the
protection of human subjects in research. The institutional
Review Board exists to insure that the rights of participating
subjects are protected and to provide the oversight necessary
to assure that all policies regarding the use of human subjects
are adhered to.
All investigators conducting any research using human subjects
must, in accordance with SJSU policy must:
- Obtain
HS-IRB approval prior to soliciting subjects or collecting data.
This includes projects that require HS-IRB approval and/or approval
of requests for exemption from review.
- Provide
potential subjects with information necessary to make an informed
decision regarding participation in the study.
-
Protect the confidentiality of all subjects participating in
research and all data that may be collected from the subjects.
-
Provide special safety procedures, as needed, to avoid any harm
to subjects.
Most
students in our program whose research depends on interviews,
oral histories, and ethnographies are able to file for Exemption
under catagory "g." "Requests for information
from persons who agree to serve as 'primary sources' subject to
attribution in the professional writings of journalists, biographers,
historians, anthropologists, etc."
If
students are going to use category "g" then the main
issue is with consent for the participants. They will need
to use a consent with a signature from the participant and in
the body of the consent, it needs to be clear that the participants
will be quoted, and therefore identified, by name. It is
also important that the researcher submit all items requested
under the instructions part of the form (the seven bullet items).
INTERVIEWS
First, no data should be collected until you receive IRB (Institutional
Review Board) approval. Second, if you are going onto company
property to conduct the interviews, then you do need permission
from the company or production unit on letterhead and this needs
to be part of your IRB submission to Graduate Studies. Once
you receive approval from the SJSU IRB then you must remember
to provide each person you are interviewing a consent letter that
is on letterhead from SJSU. This is the consent letter that
you submit to our office as part of your IRB protocol and we approve
to ensure that all components have been addressed.
PERMISSIONS
Permission from production companies should simply state your
name, the title of your research and the fact that they are aware
of your procedures and agree to allow you to conduct the research
on their site.
IRB
FORMS
Contact
Alena Filip at 408-924-2479. Alena is the IRB/Thesis coordinator.
A
brief Oral Presentation of the Thesis Proposal occurs
on the day before final exams begin. At that time, the Graduate
Faculty will vote on the proposal. Once the proposal accepted,
the candidate is "advanced to candidacy." A Thesis
Committee, consisting of three readers, including your first
reader, is assigned. (At least two persons on your thesis
Committee must come from the TRFT Department, and at least
two persons on your committee must have doctoral degrees.)
To
receive an "Incomplete" in the
course, a student must have completed all of the assignment
benchmarks, regardless of whether he or she decides, with
the recommendation of the First Reader, to submit a final
proposal and defend that proposal to the TRFT Graduate Committee
at the end of the semester.
FORMAL
THESIS INSTRUCTIONS FROM GRAD STUDIES
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