Senior comps provide tool for professors
The senior competency exams, simply known as “comps” to many, are taken in the spring semester of their senior year. Some students study hours studying because the test is over material from all four years of college within a student’s major.
Many students have the mentality to simply not fail. In some majors, a student must receive a C. In others majors students only have to get a D minus including chemistry, which bases the score on the national average for chemistry students, said professor Shannon Teeters-Kennedy.
Professors still rely on the scores students receive to see if they’re teaching the courses well enough.
Vice President of Academic Affairs David Brailow said that despite what students may think, these tests are important.
“Senior comps are one of the best ways to evaluate how well students have achieved the overall learning objectives of the program,” he said.
The different departments benefit from the competency exams because it lets the professors know how well they are teaching the course. Brailow discussed how the professors benefit from the exams.
“Professors frequently make changes to the program based on competency exam results,” Brailow said.
Senior political science major Grant Krevda said he spent substantial time preparing.
“I was not sure what comps involved before I signed up for them, but I spent about five hours studying for the exam and probably 15 hours or so on my large paper,” he said.
Brailow said the exams are a good way for students to pull together all they’ve learned over the years and to demonstrate that knowledge.
“The exams ensure that students really have learned what they needed to learn so that Franklin College can demonstrate that it provides an education of high quality,” Brailow said.
