Application:

According to Middle East Technical University Rules and Regulations Governing Graduate Studies, doctoral candidates who completed their coursework within four semesters and has a minimum grade average 3.00 are eligible to go through the doctoral qualification process.

Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Process has three main phases:

Phase I: Submission of the Doctoral Portfolio

Phase II: Written exam on statistics and research

Phase III: Oral exam on statistics and research and doctoral portfolio

The deadlines for applications, portfolio submission as well as written and oral exams are set by the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board bi-yearly. Eligible candidates turn in their application form and doctoral portfolio by the deadline. Submitted applications are pre-reviewed by the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board. All submitted portfolios should be complete, doctoral portfolios which have missing sections will be returned to the candidate and their application will NOT be accepted. Doctoral candidates who pass the preliminary process must provide copies for each member of the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board. Board members then, evaluate each candidate’s portfolio and submit it to the department after filling out the Portfolio Evaluation Form. Doctoral candidates who get at least 65/100 points (minimum 25 of this score must be from publications) will be eligible to take the written and oral exams. Details about the Doctoral Portfolio and evaluation criteria are provided below:

Phase I: Doctoral Portfolio: The primary goals of doctoral portfolio are to allow candidates to develop skills and competencies required to complete the program in their own paces while evaluating their academic progress. Doctoral Portfolio constitutes the %35 of the score required for completing the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam process.

Following content must be included in the portfolio: 

A) Transcript and CV: Vitae must include past professional and academic experiences, certificates, research interests, publications (and citations to these publications) and presentations.

B) Statement of Teaching Philosophy: Candidates are expected to summarize their professional philosophy/attitudes regarding learning and teaching in early childhood period as they develop during their tenure in the program.

C) Letter of Intent: Candidates are expected to write a statement summarizing their contribution to the program, academic and professional skills, research interests, and long term (2-3 years) research agenda. 

D) An Exemplary Paper of Graduate Work: Under this category, candidates are expected to submit a work completed during one of the graduate courses which is believed to best represent the candidate’s research, planning, execution, evaluating and writing capabilities.

E) A Presentation at an International or Two Presentations at National Conferences: Candidates are required to submit evidence that they presented at aforementioned academic conferences.

F) Publications: Publications included to the doctoral portfolio must be submitted or accepted to journals on TR-Dizin, Scopus or SSC Indexes. There is no limit for the maximum number of publications, candidates may submit as many publications as they desire. However, the maximum score a candidate can earn under this category is forty points (40/100).

G) Course Syllabus: Candidates are required to create a syllabus for a unique early childhood education course other than the courses currently being taught at the department. The syllabus must include course description, learning objectives, teaching methods, course content, weekly reading list, resources, course completion criteria (attendance requirements, assignments and tests etc.). The uniqueness of the proposed course and its syllabus will be an important factor during the evaluation.

H) Teaching Demonstration: Candidates are expected to demonstrate their teaching abilities by giving a lecture in a real life undergraduate or graduate level course. Candidates must arrange a teaching demonstration at one of the department’s courses before the submission date of the doctoral portfolio. Candidates can NOT present lectures in one of their academic advisor’s courses. The Demo Lectures will be observed and evaluated by three members of the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board (other than the candidate’s dissertation supervisor).  Each member independently evaluates candidate’s teaching performance and submit the Teaching Observation and Evaluation Form to the department. The average of the points assigned by each member then, is rewarded to the candidate as a final teaching score. Final Teaching Score is added to the portfolio by the department.

Grading:

Minimum Required Score to complete Doctoral Qualification is 65.

Portfolio (%35), Written Exam (Research Methods  %15 + Statistics %15 = Total %30), Oral Exam (%35)

PORTFOLIO SCORING TABLE:

• Each Member of the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board will evaluate each candidate’s portfolio independently. The candidate will be awarded the average of the scores.

2) Phase II: Written Examination: Candidates are tested on their knowledge in topics covered at Statistics and Research Methods Courses. The deadline for the exam is set by the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board on a bi-yearly basis.

3) Phase III: Oral Examination: Candidates are tested on their knowledge in topics covered at Statistics and Research Methods Courses as well as the content of their doctoral portfolios. The deadline for the exam is set by the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Board on a bi-yearly basis.