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Candidates meet the 33-hour requirement through course work and completion of one of the following capstone options
The thesis provides an opportunity for students to conduct original research on a topic of their choice. Students choosing this option are expected to gather and analyze original data. Students are encouraged to begin exploring possible research topics as soon as their first semester.
The following information outlines deadlines for full-time students taking 9 credit hours per semester. Part-time students will work with their supervisors to craft time lines which are appropriate to their individual needs.
While these deadlines are somewhat flexible, the final date to submit the graduate research to the graduate office is a published deadline designated each semester. This date is not flexible and it is the student’s responsibility to insure that this deadline is met.
Please consult with your thesis director for more specific timelines for your individual research project.
The thesis must be submitted electronically and must adhere to additional guidelines which are available on the School of Graduate Studies website. It is the student’s responsibility to review the most current guidelines to insure compliance. Referencing must adhere to formats found in the most current edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).
The TESOL Professional Portfolio is an integrated composite of the student’s studies and reflects the student’s beliefs and practices concerning the teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Through the compilation of this portfolio, students have the opportunity to review their academic progress and document professional development. The portfolio contains a variety of items that reflect the training experience of the participant. In some instances, the items are an outgrowth of assignments in coursework that are revised and modified as the student’s knowledge base is broadened through training and experience.
Most students will complete their portfolios during their last semester of coursework. When filing their application for candidacy, they should notify their advisor that they plan to complete a portfolio.
A draft of your portfolio must be submitted to your supervisor (the supervisor of your portfolio may but does not have to be your academic advisor)
Portfolio must be approved by supervisor
Portfolio must be approved by second reader
Portfolio and approval sheet (with signatures of supervisor and second reader) must be filed with the Chair's Office
The portfolio must be submitted electronically and may take the form of a website. The organization of the portfolio should be explicit to the reader and include a table of contents and section labels. Students who design a website should share a link to the site and submit screen shots of the site.
The graduate paper is a capstone project that demonstrates knowledge of scholarship or explores an essential question in the field of TESOL. Most students will complete their graduate paper during their last semester of coursework.
Students can use any paper they have already written for TESOL courses but the draft written in TESOL courses should be revised several times before the final submission as a non-thesis. The requirements for the non-thesis are similar to the final paper in TL 630 class but the evaluation criteria are much higher. In other words, if you earned a good grade for your paper in TL 630 class, that does not mean it can be accepted as a non-thesis without further revisions.
The comprehensive exam is conducted online. It is composed of three questions to which written answers must be submitted within the allotted time.
To take the exam, students must be registered in TL 698. Contact your advisor before registering. You are responsible for confirming that you are registered and can access the Moodle page to complete the exam. The following must be done in the semester you plan to graduate:
Check Moodle to confirm that you are able to access the page for the comprehensive exam and that you understand the guidelines and expectations of the exam.
Each question will be read for relevance, balance, development, organization, and use of sources. A failure of one question indicates failure of the exam. When providing a failing evaluation of an area of the exam, faculty will specify the problem area(s) needing to be corrected.
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