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  6. The Discipline Specific Knowledge Comprehensive Evaluation

The Discipline Specific Knowledge Comprehensive Evaluation

The Discipline Specific Knowledge Compressive Evaluation (otherwise referred to as the DSK Comps) is an assessment of the student's knowledge of the specific disciplines established by the American Psychological Associations Commission on Accreditation (APA CoA). The DSK Comps requires that the student develops a written document consisting of nine subsections (one for each DSK area) with each subsection containing an annotated bibliography and a synthesis and critical review of the literature included. 

Purpose of the DSK Comps Evaluation: To determine if a student demonstrates Minimum Levels of Achievement in each of the nine DSK areas set forth by the APA CoA. The DSK areas are 

  • History and Systems of Psychology
  • Affective Aspects of Behavior
  • Biological Aspects of Behavior
  • Cognitive Aspects of Behavior
  • Developmental Aspects of Behavior
  • Social Aspects of Behavior
  • Research Methods
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Psychometrics

Requirements for the Written Document

The DSK Comps involves compiling an annotated bibliography organized by subsections corresponding to the APA CoA DSK areas. The literature included in each subsection should intersect the student's developing area of expertise with that DSK area. Students should include no fewer than five journal articles in each subsection.  The references can be a mix of theoretical and empirical writings; however, at least three empirical studies must be included in each subsection (with the exception of the History and Systems of Psychology area). The references should include seminal works and more contemporary writing that reflects the current state of the literature as it relates to the specific DSK area. 

Each subsection of the annotated bibliography will be followed by a synthesis and critical review of the literature. This synthesis and critical review should integrate the material to demonstrate the student's understanding of the literature as a whole, while revealing problems, contradictions, controversies, and strengths of the literature. Particular emphasis should be placed on advanced synthesis and critique of relevant literature and not on basic epidemiology or knowledge. The review will should also analyze the distinction between authors' interpretation of their data and the actual empirical evidence presented. Each synthesis and critical review section should not exceed 500 words. 

Steps to Completing the DSK Comps (Timeline)

  1. Articulate the Major Topic: The Major Topic of the DSK Comps should reflect the student's chosen area of emerging expertise and, therefore, should be discussed and agreed upon between the student and primary mentor upon entering the CCP Program. When discussing the articulation of the Major Topic, students should make sure that it is stated in a manner that is: (a) sufficiently broad enough to address all of the DSK areas, (b) consistent with the student’s developing program of research, and (c) has the potential to serve as the foundation for a thesis or dissertation literature review. The Major Topic will be submitted as part of PSY500 (Proseminar) during the fourth week of the fall semester during the student's first year in the program.
  2. Collect Relevant Literature: Students should be regularly reviewing literature relevant to their Major Topic throughout their time in the CCP Program. For the purposes of the DSK Comps, students should focus their learning on their Major Topic to coincide with the CCP Foundational Courses taken during the first two years in the CCP Program. For example, students whose Major Topic is the understanding and prevention of suicide could utilize their leaning in Cognitive Neuroscience to inform their learning about cognitive models of suicide and related research on information processing during acute crises and implicit bias, among others. Consequently, such focused reading on the student's Topic Area might also be useful in performing assignments for those courses (e.g., term papers, research proposals, etc.). 
  3. Write the Synthesis & Critical Review: As students would be well-served to collect and annotate their bibliographies during the courses corresponding with the DSK areas, they would also be well-served to draft their Synthesis & Critical Review statements at the end of the semester for each of those courses. Alternatively, the timeline of the DSK Comps Evolution is scheduled such that students would be able to compose these sections during the summer of their second year in the program. 
  4. Submission of the Document: The DSK Comps Document must be submitted to the CCP Faculty/Committee by the end of the first week of the fall semester of the student's third year in the CCP Program, regardless of the Program of Study under which they entered. 

Evaluation

Each of the DSK Comps subsections will be reviewed and rated by three CCP faculty (Core and/or Affiliate) using the DSK Comps Evaluation Form. The review and rating assignments will be made by subsection such that each subsection is reviewed and rated by faculty with expertise in the DSK area. Each committee member will review the document subsection independently with scores averaged across the three raters. Students are determined to have passed the DSK Comps if they receive an average rating of 2 (meets expectations) in all DSK areas. 

If a student receives an average rating less than 2 (below meets expectations), they will be provided with written feedback and allowed to draft a revised document that may include revisions to the annotated bibliography and synthesis and critical review, and a direct response to the written feedback. This revision will be re-evaluated in the same manner as the original submission. 

If, after revision, a student is determined to not meet minimal levels of achievement within any individual DSK area, the student will be placed on remediation plan wherein the identified deficits are described and appropriate supports and benchmarks put in place to ensure that the student meets the minimum levels of achievement in all of the nine DSK areas. Failure to successfully resolve the remediation plan may result in the student being placed in formal probation or being dismissed from the program.