Attendees:
GSO/DEI: Fox Foley, Shania Nichols
GSO: Jane Glanzer, Aaron Trigg
GCC: Juhan Frank, Thomas Corbitt, Param Singh
Meeting time: 57 min
1. Feedback from graduate students from survey before meeting (2 responses)
Recommending using class final grades as sub for qual
Using a project like a review article from a different field as a sub for the qual
2. GCC has been discussing having a final oral exam or interview as an alternative if a student hasn’t passed the written exam after all available attempts but know student has potential to be a good scientist. Would have to get advisor to speak in favor of that or have the student and the advisor write to the committee and petition for the exam
The idea of an oral exam is preliminary and not fully thought out but has suggested to maybe be comprised of a few questions related to students research as well as some questions outside of research area to be comprehensive
Shania brought up the idea of giving the student the problems then giving them say a week or 24 hrs (depending on # of problems) to work them out then present to a committee
3. Passing the qual in sections has been brought up in the GCC before but faculty do not like the idea because they believe students will “abuse” it and only study for one section per chance to take the test
Juhan said they can continue talking about it though
4.Final grades of grad courses deemed not an adequate sub for the qualifier by the GCC
5. Qualifier *should* be at lower level than the grad courses so that’s why GCC eliminated some problems from test bank ( too lengthy, too much algebra, or memorizing weird tricks)
Not entirely done with that and may in the future add some problems to cover some areas that need it but mostly paying attention to keeping problems at the same level
Interactive process - be transparent about that
Ultimately want the test bank narrowed down and to reflect most important and useful problems in each section while also covering appropriate breadth of the topic as well as appropriate difficulty and fits in time constraints of test
6. There has been the question of getting rid of the test bank in favor of a sample bank (problems *similar* to what would be on the qual, but not the exact same problems as we do now)
Asked what us students thought, want to get feedback from larger grad student body about this
Appeal of a sample bank gives the committee who chooses the questions the freedom to tweak problems to make them easier for students rather than being stuck only being able to use the exact same problems that may be more difficult or even outdated
7. Questions from the test bank are chosen by a committee of 6 people appointed by the chair, usually divide up 2 people per subject area and converse and choose 2 problems that aren’t too similar to give to the qual committee.
Ideally they would provide solutions as well to show the chosen problems aren’t too difficult or lengthy, but that doesn't always happen
Also ideally, the committee would review the problems and also make sure of ;hat, again, doesn't always happen
There is actually not a conscious decision to make the Spring qual easier than the Fall qual, despite rumors among grad students
8. Discussed wanting to be able to get raw data on the problems from the test bank like which problems are put on the test more often than others and how well students perform on them -- possibility of the GSO helping out with that since sometimes the qual committee can feel overburdened with qual work
Don’t know how to work around keeping students data safe but would be really useful in rounding out the test bank
9. Having a 1 credit course or simply just an elective course that doesn’t count as credits for graduate students to brush up on Math skills for physics would be incredibly helpful
A qual prep course during the semester that gives students a sequestered amount of time and help studying problems to take the exam would be helpful as well
10. Having the qual in August has proved beneficial for study time for students since studying during the semester is difficult juggling different responsibilities, the possibility of moving May qual to August permanently was discussed and may happen in the future
11. The August 2021 qualifying exam will have the same rules as the January 2021 exam (equation sheet, picking 2 out of 3 problems per section, offered both in person/over zoom)
Can also expect the January 2022 exam to follow the same rules as we do not have enough time to fully implement any changes, would be too soon
12. Ultimately want to keep channels of communication open and keep discussing the qualifying exam and alternatives and keep coming back to it
TL;DR -
No changes to the qual in the near future
Alternatives such as an oral exam, research project/paper were discussed
Test bank needs improvement still
Want to support students by giving more time to study so August qual is good idea as well as prep courses to help students succeed